I arrived last night in Byron Bay after spending 4 days WWOOFing for a lovely man named Peter, who lives in an intentional community. It was a wonderful experience and I learned quite a lot. Peter is a 76 year old man from Hungary. He and his South African wife moved to Bundagen community in 1983, two years after it was created, so he has a lot of insight. He has a permaculture orchard, herb garden, and chickens (chooks in Aussie language). Everyone has solar power and concrete water tanks and composting toilets (Peter had an outhouse). The separate villages within the community occupy the clearings left behing from the farmer that originally owned the land (800 acres). There is a gorgeous wilderness beach 10 minutes walk through the "bush", that stretches for miles in either direction.
I stayed in an old trailer and helped work with the bamboo, planting seedlings, pulling a noxious weed called "billy goat weed" that by law they have to eradicate, and weeding a bit in the garden. I also cleaned up in the house and kitchen when it was raining. It rained quite a bit but the sun came out every day regardless.
We talked in detail about community living, the challenges and benefits, about world politics, sustainability, and all else interesting. Another wwoofer arrived half way through my stay, which kept things interesting and provided another person to chat with and someone to work with as Peter was very busy with other things.
I am hoping to visit some other communities but so far am having a rediculously hard time finding hosts that are available at the moment!
