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.

'Spring' in Mount Sylvia

 Jacaranda Tree

 Our favourite waterhole on Hiefer Creek...

 Collecting eggs with Grandpa.

 Enjoying her pancake!

Today we say goodbye to the goat dairy in Mount Sylvia, where we have been WWOOFing for the last 6.5 weeks.  It was a great experience and we really enjoyed being close to my family for a while.  It was sad to say goodbye to my Dad and my brother Otto and his wife Tamara.  Nahlia enjoyed getting to know them and spending time with them too.  We will miss them dearly.

Our next WWOOF host awaits us in Harlin, about 1 hour north of Gatton.  They have milking goats, chickens, a bee hive; and make their own cheese, bread, soaps, and many other things.  The journey continues!