Atherton Christmas!

We arrived at my mother's house in Atherton on Friday 20th December, as we had hoped!  It was so nice to see my mother's new house and be able to spend Christmas with her and Aaron!

 Off to the Christmas markets at Yungaburra...!

 Nahlia enjoyed opening her Christmas present... then she helped Mamma and Dadda open theirs too!  Note the glass of mango smoothie on the coffee table.

 Kauri Creek, a freshwater creek in the rainforest which flows into Tinaroo Dam, was a lovely place for a swim on Christmas Day...

 and a great place to enjoy some Kefir ice cream pudding too!

 A family shot with my cousin Megan and her two girls on Boxing Day.

 Nahlia trying on a bicycle helmet after Aaron and I went for a ride in the bush.

 Macca's playground... ssshhhh!

 Mango madness.... at first we thought it was a bargain to get a tray of mangoes for $10, then we ended up with two boxes full for free!  Mango smoothies abound!

 Into it early... it didn't take me long to get a batch of sourdough bread on among things...

From left to right: sourdough culture; ginger bug; rye and spelt sprouting in a bag; and kefir straining to make yoghurt.

Malanda Falls - our favouritre local swimming hole.  Nahlia loves our swimming excursions!

Storytime with Uncle Aaron...  LOVE it!

 And that's how we celebrated Christmas in 2013.  Ahhhh... it's good to see my family again and have some good memories together before we leave the country.

Gladstone to Atherton

 Aaron helped Ulf to check the bearings on the car before we left Gladstone.  We were safe on our way on Monday 16th December... it was getting close to Christmas, but we were hoping to reach my mother's house in Atherton by Friday the 20th...

 We stayed two nights at Home Hill, again at a rest stop with free shower and facilities, AND a library with airconditioning, toys and books for Nahlia, and some free internet!  We were disappointed that the op-shops were closed, though...  Home Hill was a lovely spot to stop, and Nahlia also enjoyed walked under a sprinkler which was watering the grass 24 hours a day!

 Nahlia loves her Daddy and her Daddy loves her!  Awwwww.....!

Before we reached Townsville, we hit 333,333kms on the car's odometer!

 Some of the beautiful scenery along the long stretches of open road...

 We made it to Kurramine Beach on Thursday 19th, and found a lovely little caravan park directly on the beach!  It had been raining, so there were lots of little puddles for Nahlia to play in!

 Fresh coconut - what a treat!  Ulf did well to get it open and it was beautiful!  Yum yum!

 

A tiny green tree frog was the security man in the ladies' toilets!

After a very windy night with hard rain and light rain and everything in between, we found a little creek inlet, which ran out to the ocean, just next to the caravan park.  We had a nice little play in the sand and water before we started our last 'pack up' and left for Atherton. 

Gladstone - Aaron's place!

 We arrived at my brother Aaron's house in Gladstone on Thursday 12th December.  It was great to see him again!  We parked our caravan under his carport, out of the sun, and enjoyed some quiet nights (no highway noise as in Tiaro and Benaraby) and slow days.... apart from the odd few hours of loud music and drunken singing from next door! Hahaha, that was funny to hear!

 Aaron took us to a swimming hole called 'Blackman's Gap', a 1.5 hour drive from Gladstone.  It was beautiful and refreshing.  There were small freshwater fish swimming around us and the pebbles/rocks along the riverbed were various shades of pink!  Some friends of Aaron's also came along and it was lovely to get to know them a little too. 

Nahlia and I strumming the guitar together, hahaha!  It was nice to relax at Aaron's place for a while and spend some time with him.  On Sunday night he gave his testamony at his church so we went along.  It was nice to hear it and to be there for him.  We left Gladstone the next day, to continue our journey north to Atherton.

Harlin to Gladstone

 Nahlia playing with her clothes...  she loves changing her clothes now and playing dress-ups!

 Nahlia and I outside our 'camp' at the farm at Harlin.  We said goodbye on Monday 9th December and started our northward journey.

 After a shopping stop at Nambour and Yandina, we camped out at Tiaro, where there was a free shower, free 15 minute internet sessions at the library across the road and of course the library provided an airconditioned play area in the middle of the day for Nahlia too!

 Nahlia enjoying the sand around the playground at Tiaro.

Helping Dadda wash up.... Tiaro.

An odd thing happened at Tiaro... one morning an old man arrived in his large car and caravan.  As soon as he had stopped his vehicle, he got out and called to Nahlia, "Here you go sweetheart," walking towards her with a lolly!  She walked to him and although I asked him what it was, he did not answer me.  I was too far away to stop Nahlia from going to him and unfortunately when I got to her I had to take the lolly from her and throw it in the bin straight away.  Sorry Nahlia.  But what a strange man.... I guess he doesn't know how socially unacceptable that behaviour is these days!

We left Tiaro after dinner and drove through the night to save on fuel (no air-con needed and we could drive 70 km/hr with less traffic). We stopped just before Benaraby, south of Gladstone for the night.  The next morning we met a french-albanian couple with the cutest little 2 year old daughter and a single aussie mum with an 8 year old son.  Their kids were riding their bikes around the park and Nahlia wanted to join them!

We arrived in Gladstone on Thursday 12th December, about 3pm.

Harlin Summer Days

 The beautiful Sommerset Dam - our favourite swimming hole!

 Ulf trying out his muscles...

 LOVing climbing ladders

 Ulf milking the goat.

 Baking carob cookies in a wood-fired oven... inside!

 Working on the dome house.... truly inspiring!

 From the outside.... Dome houses uses 30% less energy to heat or cool than traditional houses with corners.

 Dehydrating zucchini in a solar dryer - using only the heat of the sun.  This little pile of chips is one large zucchini.

Our second visit to Sommerset Dam saw Nahlia discovering the tap... I think she spent more time playing with that device than she did swimming in the dam!

 Ahhhh..... afternoon nap after much swimming and tap water play!

The adventure continues..... with loads of learning and innovating ideas.  We love the concept of the dome house; the food forest and abundant vegetable gardens; the milking goats and the cheese; the homemade pasta and pizza nights; learning about new plants and creative ways of making animal shelters and other useful things on the farm out of 'rubbish'; cooking without gas or electricity; and the endless self-sufficiency ideas of our hosts!

In a week and a half our time here will come to an end and we will start the long haul north, aiming to arrive at my mother's house in Atherton for Christmas.  It will be the last leg of our journey in Australia.

Permaculture and self-sufficiency in Harlin, QLD

 

Pekin Ducks... nine arrived the other day and we've all been keen to look after the new additions to the farm.

 

Nahlia in the salad garden... we pick our salad greens and herbs fresh every day.

The grapes growing over the outdoor table area...

'Donny', the beautiful Nubian billy goat.

Picking zucchinis in the vegetable garden.

Permaculture gardens, a food forest where chickens and ducks roam freely to graze every afternoon; milking goats; cheese-making; bread-making; pasta-making; collecting duck eggs; summer rain storms; washing our clothes in a twin-tub machine (almost handwashing); detergent making; shampoo and conditioner making; soap making; brewing alcohol; eating straight from the garden; working in the early morning and late afternoon, and resting in the middle of the day; a bathing tub for Nahlia everyday in the heat of the day; cutting back grass with a handsickle, laying thick newspapers over it and thick mulch on top; working on a geodesic dome house; day naps in a hammock; making charcoal; homemade pizza; and finally sleeping in a little!

We're really enjoying our new WWOOF host farm in Harlin.  It's the first place where I feel like we've been told off for working too much, or at least for wanting to work as much as we have elsewhere!  It's definitely the right place for us right now, as our pace of life has been rather hectic.  Now we have time to breathe deeply again, think deeply, and live deeply.

Mount Sylvia to Harlin

 Packing up at Mount Sylvia...  We had a good 6.5 weeks there, but it was certainly challenging.  We were tired all the time due to the early start for Ulf 6 out of 7 mornings a week.  Nahlia and I missed him terribly when we woke up and had breakfast without him.  It was great, though, to be able to visit my family regularly over a longer period of time instead of the "one or two weeks together over Christmas" thing that we've been doing.  I really enjoyed spending time with them and I am still sad that we had to say goodbye.

 Kissing the cat goodbye...!

 Our new camp at Harlin, complete with washing line for Nahlia's nappies.

Helping Dadda fill the water tank...

Ulf having a water break... the dogs will take any opportunity for a pat.

On Tuesday 12th of November we left the commercial goat dairy in Mount Syliva and arrived at a 45 acre property in Harlin, north of Esk, with horses, milking goats, chickens, ducks, two dogs, and a slower pace of life once again....  ahhhhhhhh.... peace.