Noosa / Tewantin
I earned the nickname “Brick Lady” and gained my wheelbarrow license here. I can’t say I ever want to see or move a brick again!
Our first journey into the world of WWOOFing, Judy and Ray welcomed us into their home, hosting us in a small cabin to the side of their house. After a month at a hostel, it was nice to have our own space complete with a kitchen, couch, and outhouse toilet!
We spent about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week working with Ray around the property. In exchange, our accommodation and food were free. Some meals we ate together (a few standouts were these cheesy ham rolls and amazing fried rice) and some we cooked ourselves in the cabin.
The man that owned the property before Judy and Ray left bricks scattered everywhere. For no apparent reason. He was a potter and had a kiln set up at the front of the property, but left bricks all along the fence line that made no sense. I spent 3 days digging up bricks, wheeling whole ones over to Ray to clean and Jo to use in the patio and the broken ones to the three door shed to use as ground filler. We gathered fallen tree limbs and pine needles to burn in order to create ash, which then could be used to balance the acidity of the soil.
Ray taught us bits and pieces of organic farming. I fell in love with wasabi and lemon lettuce. The flavors of both were so intense. We also had never tasted such sweet oranges and clementines before. Inspiration for a veggie and herb garden whenever I’m home next!
Only 20 minutes outside of Noosa, the two areas felt like different worlds. In Tewantin, our cabin was the first place that felt like winter - Jo built fires in our wood stove each night until we broke down and bought a space heater to stay warm. We even caught our first Australian colds. Then in Noosa, we spent one afternoon laying on the beach and playing in the water.
The cabin was the perfect home base for exploring:
Noosa National Park, met up with Vivianne who I had met in Melbourne, and Clem who we had met on Fraser Island
Lake Boreen, calm waters full of pelicans and boats, waiting for the warmer weather to enjoy afternoons sailing
Line-Dancing with the local women
Library Time, with both of us attempting to work as digital nomads, we spent a lot of afternoons at the local library for fast wifi and focus away from the temptation of laziness
