wherever the wwoof takes you

Hello all......Currently having a hard time getting the USB to work on this semi-ancient computer and so alas no photos yet. After a quick trip up north to see the Iguazu Falls (amazing, cannot describe in words!) I have now moved on to a different farm in Tunuyan close to Mendoza (still in Argentina) where i am wwoofing once again. Am currently spending my time doing lots of different things within the farm community which consists of a few different families. Mostly i am working with Gustavo, who is building (Tierra Circular) his own home from mud, wooden pallets, recycled car windows, garlic husks and any other recycled or natural materials he can get his hands on. I have been finishing the final layers of barro (earth mixed with horse poo and clay) while he is completing the bathroom with nice tiling. We are experimenting with a totally natural chemical free paint using linseed oil to make it water repellent. We discuss our thoughts on ecological living in particular about circular systems (systems Soph!!!!) and how in the cities there is a linear approach which contains a lot of inputs and waste and not as much recycling and reusing. Gustavo has also been teaching me Tai Chi Chuan which i have been really enjoying and is great for loosening up after a day on standing on a barrel throwing mud at the wall! I also help out in La Huerta (basically growing field or vegetable gardens) with Jorge who started the Madre Tierra project. As you can imagine, basic farmwork activities include but are not limited to the follwing, hoeing the land, putting down garlic husks as a nutricious mulch (¨Oh ajo!¨), chopping down weeds ´yerbas malas´, putting up supports for fruit trees, watering watering watering, harvesting delicious goodies....endless activities in the hot sun con my sombrero (we dont want wrinkles now do we) build up my appetite for delicious vegetarian sometimes vegan meals usually enjoyed after a much needed jump in the river with ice cold Andes water!

Yesterday I helped Azucena, Jorge´s wife, with the epic baking session before the Saturday organic farmers market in Mendoza where they go to sell their delicious bounty. After a long hot flour-filled day I was happy to spend the evening with the chicos from one of the other wwoofing farms who came over with homemade pudding and a film (Waking Life - its all about lucid dreaming)...followed by a goodnight sleep in mi carpa under another starry starry night...ideal!

Peeing in the woods

Today, we have come into town so that Marcelo and Kim can run their errands and stock up on the supplies they are not yet able to produce at their place. For the other volunteers and myself, today is one of our two rest days a week and although i would have much rather stayed at the farm, i had a few things i needed to check/emails to send etc.

Anyway, the first week at Mama Roja has been great. We wake up early with the morning sun and after a breakfast of homemade cereals, fruit and bread we set to work on the days work. There is a rota for various daily activities such as bread baking, kitchen help and plant watering. The afternoons are free for us volunteers to do as we wish. I often spend time reading (Marcelo and Kim have a great collection of books about sustainable building, organic gardening, arts and crafts etc etc), pottering in the garden, playing in the river, doing yoga or exploring the jungle-esque surroundings of the farm. The other day we all went out to explore the surroundings (Machete-ing down a previoud overgrown trail) and noticed an orange tree. After creating a viable path to the tree - during which we also found a passion fruit tree - we collected two bags of oranges which we will make into marmalade.

Our main project at the moment is building a shade covering structure for one of the vegetable gardens. The shade covering fabric is designed to let in enough light for the plants to be productive but prevents the very harsh rays which in the summer heat can frazzle the poor greens. In addition to this we have been doing lots of other little jobs such as constructing trellis for the cucumbers, staking the tomato plants, harvesting wheat seeds to name but a few. Everything here is very sustainable and in harmony with the environment around. Everything is reused or recycled (composting toilets!), food scraps are fed to the chickens or contribute to the compost which then feeds the rest of the garden. The river provides all the water needs and also gives us a nice place to bath/wash our clothes. There is a shower in one of the earthern bathroom buildings but the river is much more enjoyable place to bathe.

There are lots of creepy crawlies around inlcuding some amazingly coloured caterpillars and butterlies. I also saw a coral snake yesterday, heading straight for my tent, hmmm, however Kim reassured me that it wouldn´t go into my tent!

I am learning lots about how many things we buy can easily be made by ourselves eliminating lots of chemicals and giving you the satisfaction of having created something for yourself while preserving the resources and environment around you...watch this space!

Off to Mama Roja

After a quick stop-off in Corrientes, one of Argentina´s oldest cities and full of lovely architecture, parks, plazas and a nice riverside parade, I am now about to head up to Obera. Here I will spend some time volunteering at a sustainable living centre called Mama Roja. They are building adobe houses, practising eco-living, restoring the land and other green activities to build a healthy alternative lifestyle.

You can see their mission statement here at their blog...

Obviously no internet at the centre, but will hopefully be able to keep you guys updated when we go into town occasionally!
Besos xx

Couching in Rosario

Rosario, birthplace of Che Guevara and home to some very lovely couchsurfers. I stayed with Patricio aka Pato who is currently studying at the university and lives with his younger brother. Whilst he was in classes, i spent some time wanbdering around the city getting excited by its tree lines streets and range of different architectural styles. Situated next to the Parana river, Rosario is an industrial and export centre. Strolling along the riverside, where there are lots of parks reminded me of the southbank in London during summer, with lots of people enjoying the afternoon sun. I went to the Monumento a la Bandera (flags!!!), where the Argentinian flag was raised for the first time. Standing at 70m tall the monument is a great place to go to get a panaramic view across the city. In the evening, we went to a couchsurfing gathering at one of their favourite hanuts the tango bar, Chamuyera, where I was introduced to lots of other friendly Rosarians. I spent the next few days in Rosario hanging out with Sandra and Sofia and their friends and a big group of us had a nice picnic in Parque Urquiza, as it was the day for the census and lots of people had a day off work. I also stayed with Sofia who teaches spanish to foreigners and is studying to be a translator so she helped me with my castellano. We laughed about finding our principes azules (Prince Charming) and she also taught me some new Argentinian words, like Huesito, which means ´little bone´ and is what you call someone who you are seeing!On my last night (i was about to catch a night bus to the northeast of Agentina) we had a nice stoll around the lively night scene of shops, bars and restaurants which after their afternoon siesta had come alive!!

El Calafate, Patagonia

Me and Jesse from New Jersey at the massive glacier in El Calafate, part of Argentinian Patagonia. A big chunk of it fell off while we were there which was cool to witness but i guess kind of bad what with global warming and all, which will eventually kill the poor glacier. Despite the drizzling weather the glacier still looked pretty impressive with its arctic blue tones!

happy birthday Tom!!!

Southern Right Whales....in Puerto Madyrn on the Eastern Coast of Argentina

Jumping around...having a whale of a time, one might say ha ha

Infamous Ruta 40

what goes up must come tumbling down

Hiking up Cerro Piltriquitron with some ski enthusiasts Claire and Shawn who i met in Bariloche. A couple of us tagged along with them to do the hike to the refugio for just the day. At the top we had a celbratory homemade beer. Claire and Shawn carried on to the summit so they could ski down while we hung out at the refugio (shelter where you can sleep/spend the night/eat etc) admiring the view over Bolson. We then started to make our way down the gravelly path back down to civilization. Unfortunately my accident prone tendancies reared their ugly heads and i slipped on the loose rocks and rolly-pollied a couple of times scraping my legs open along the way. Nothing that couldn´t be remedied by a quick trip to the local centro medico. This is where my `trip to the doctors´ roleplay from spanish lessons came to hand!A few doses of painful iodine solution and bandages later i was feeling much better!We spent the evening drinking lots of red wine to make up for my little accident.

Hitchhike to Bolson

Described by lonely planet as the closest Argentina gets to Berkeley, i couldn´t miss it! Famous for its `feria artesanal´ showcrafting the locals talents for clothing, jewellery and other gifts you might expect to find at a market. In Bariloche, I met Alec, from LA and we had a mutual plan to hitch-hike, deciding that there would be definitely be some hippy driving along the main road who would take pity on us. And after a little bit of a wait, Ricardo (who was wearing John Lennon round tinted classes) and played strange yiddish-esque music picked us up...hooray!An excellent journey!

Circuito Chico, muy lindo!

A great day of cycling (30 kilometres-ish!) around the famous route in BarilocheArgentina Lake District) along some steep climbs and awesome downhill free-wheeling. Ely (a lovely Argentinian who was on a short holiday) and I spent the day enjoying the great views along the track, picnicing by a secluded lake and enjoying the amazing views from the high panaramic point. We then spent the evening back at the hostel where Ely gave me a cooking lesson and showed me how to make the South American classic, Milanessa, consisting of a thin slice of beef mixed with egg, seasoning, garlic and herbs, covered in breadcrumbs and then baked in the oven. We shared our meal with a couple from Utah who had some wine from Mendoza, ideal.

Volcan Villarrica

Without a doubt, one of the best things i have done on my trip was the long and steep hike up this snow covered mountain of a volcano. It was a case of third time lucky waiting for the perfect conditions as the two days previous we had turned up at the guides office only to be told that 1) the weather was not so good (cold, windy and quite miserable to climb during) and 2) the wind had shifted and was blowing smoke from the summit in the direction of where we would be walking. However, the next day Stephanie (my dorm companion) and i awoke to clear blue skies and a sure feeling that today the volcano was happy and we would be able to make it to the top. A group of about 12 of us all kitted out with gaters, ice axes, multiple layers etc. walked together with her helpful and supportive guides. Our guides set out the pace for our steady meander up and explained that it is important to go slowly taking small steps so that you have enough energy at the end for the steepest final part. With a few stops along the way for food, water and photo-taking we made it to the summit where the volcano was smoking away calmly. After a nice break at the top we were instructed about our descent method which involved basically sliding down the mountain. We attached a sort of nappy harness layer which would help us to slide down and for the later parts also used plastic tray things to give us extra speed in the softer snow. Slightly concerned at the steepness of the slope and anticipating that i wouldn´t find sliding as easy as it sounds i made a few attempts which involved a lot of sliding around out of control and general snowballing down the mountain coming to a stop at the end in a bedraggled heap. I gave it a few more goes for the next few ´slides´ and despite my efforts achieved no improvement of my sliding style. I `taxied´ down behind one of the guides with another girl (mini sliding sandwich holding onto each other) for one the slides which was a much more enjoyable experience as it was in complete control and the 3 of us sped down together!Our day ended perfectly back at the guide office where we all shared a beer and congratulated each other of our successful climb.

A plethora of graffiti and dogs

On hearing that Valparaiso was full of unique architecture, cobbled streets and graffiti street art I knew it was not to be missed. Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 2003 Valpo (as its known) is a fascinating city built into the hills surrounding a harbour on the East Coast of Chile overlooking the Pacific Ocean. From an urban design point of view the city is very interesting featuring a labyrinth of streets and alleyways accessible by steep inclines or the intriguing funicular elevators (small scale highly-inclined cable cars) for which the city is famous for. There are a few famous squares and churches but the best thing to do there is just walk around the hills, marvel at the art and architecture and soak up the cultural legacy. Valpo is also well known for the amount of stray dogs roaming around (mostly sleeping in the sun during the day). I had a few slightly scarey encounters (mostly just being barked at which always sends the `rabid dog´ alarm bell off in my head having not had a rabies jab) but mostly they are harmless. I spent most of my time ambling around mostly in awe at the cute streetways and extensive range of graffiti art which i had to restrain from taking a million photos of. I also visited another residence of Pablo Neruda - La Sebastiana. Having visited his house in Santiago (La Chascona), i was interested to see what this one had in store. An icon of Chilean poetry and also an important political figure, Neruda was also known for his collections of random objects ranging from door knobs to kitsch coloured glass, books and maps to dolls and other bric-a-brac, anything that he found to take a fancy to. These items are displayed across his difference residences in Chile and give each place its own uniqueness. Neruda was quoted saying that food and drink tastes better when taken from coloured glass! La Sebastiana was built into the hill in the form of a ship and the wooden interior also adds to this effect. With large panoramic windows, Neruda would have had an awesome view across the city and over the harbour and it was easy to imagine him sitting in his favourite leather `cloud chair´ looking out to sea and writing poetry with his signature green ink (spots of which can be seen spilt onto a foot stall).

Ode to Bicycles...

I was walking
down
a sizzling road:
the sun popped like
a field of blazing maize,
the
earth
was hot,
an infinite circle
with an empty
blue sky overhead.

A few bicycles
passed
me by,
the only
insects
in
that dry
moment of summer,
silent,
swift,
translucent;
they
barely stirred
the air.

Workers and girls
were riding to their
factories,
giving
their eyes
to summer,
their heads to the sky,
sitting on the
hard
beetle backs
of the whirling
bicycles
that whirred
as they rode by
bridges, rosebushes, brambles
and midday.

I thought about evening when the boys wash up,
sing, eat, raise
a cup
of wine
in honour
of love
and life,
and waiting
at the door,
the bicycle,
stilled,
because
only moving
does it have a soul,
and fallen there
it isn´t
a translucent insect
humming
through summer
but
a cold
skeleton
that will return to
life
only
when it´s needed,
when it´s light,
that is,
with
the
resurrection
of each day.

Crystal Castles

After initially running off stage after the first 2 songs we were slightly worries that the band were not going to return. However, following a 30 minutes of standing around wondering what was happening the band (with a rather angst ridden Alice Glass) returned to the stage and played out an awesome set featuring lots of the old album as well as some of their new stuf including a great rendition of Celestica which i was able to stop jumping around long enough to take a quick video! Glass acted as you would expect of someone who at the age of 14, ran away from home to live in a squat community of punks and drug addicts. She rambled about on stage, climbed onto the music kit, crowd surfed and acted like a complete rockstar, oh and also sang, a bit. Hats off to Alice!

Party time, Santiago

1 piscola, 2 piscola, 3 piscola 4.....
A fun night partying with Carmen and her lovely friends in typical Chilean style we started late and finished early in the morning the next day after dancing the night away to some classic tunes and some entertaining latin and regaton music.

La Bicicleta Verde

For my first day in Santiago, after a long sleep recovering from severe jet lag and general exhaustion, Carmen booked me onto a bicyle tour with the aptly names La Bicicleta Verde. The title of the tour that i did was Parks and Politics and was a great introduction to the politcal history of Chile. I arrived expecting there to be a group of other cycle loving tourists but it turned out i would be peddling solo with my own personal tour guide! I felt quite lucky to have my very own private tour and made the most of it by asking lots of questions. We cycled around, stopping off at important sites including La Moneda (seat of the President), The National Library, Santa Lucia hill and Barrio Paris-London to name but a few. One thing that i found particulary interesting was a small library called Cafe Literario set within both Parque Bustamante and Forestal. These had been originally set up to improve the publics access to reading materials which due to high taxes were very expensive to buy. Nowadays they function as a great spot to come and read and have coffee in a nice park setting. We finshed the tour by having a nice coffee at a little spot close to La Mondeda and chatted more about Chilean life and culture.

Coastal strolling

Beautiful sunny day for a beachy walk between Coogee and Bondi...

Co-op-ing

As much as we all love the very affordable `no frills´domestic airlines, problems begin to arise when the airline decides to cancel your flight for no apparent reason. This combined with the schools holidays made for a long wait at Melbourne airport. However, a few hours of wondering aimlessly around duty-free with no intention of buying anything and a short flight later i arrived in Sydney and caught a train to Newtown where i would be staying. I stayed with a group of students at STUCCO, the only student co-operative in Australia. It was set up by a group of students and opened in 1991, set in an old glass-making factory with an open courtyard in the middle surrounded by the units (individual flats of between 4-5 people). There are currently a total of 38 students living there at the moment. I was staying in the spare room in flat 6 with Amy, Owen, Lou and Mark. My arrival coincided with the Sydney Fringe Festival and so after dumping my bags and quickly changed I went with Amy and Lou to an event that their friend Jess had arranged. The mystery bus tour was a series of nights where you meet at a certain place and get taken to a secret even, so its sort of luck a lucky dip because you don´t know where you will end up. This night the bus took us to a quirky/warehouse-esque bar/club where a band were playing. It was sort of Eastern European hippy gyspy music, but rather entertaining and fun for random dancing! The next night was spent enjoying a gig in the courtyard of Stucco, by the Barons of Tang (http://www.myspace.com/thebaronsoftang) who describe themselves as Gypsy Deathcore. This led to more jigging around dancing and flayling of arms. The night continued at The Hatch, another warehouse residence where much time was spent getting down to some grimey dubstep and other melodic tunes. Evidently, much of the next day was spent sleeping! My last night in the company of the Stucco kids was spent staying in, chilling out and making pies. Amy made a hearty vegetable pie (which you can see her attacking) and i made my signature pumpkin pie, delish. Unfortunately our final attempt of watching Harry Potter without falling asleep ( Amy and i had been trying for some days now) failed in favour of much needed sleep.

Veg Out - St Kilda

I had a great sunny day wandering around St Kilda, to the East of Melbourne and got most excited by the cute little botanical garden, eco centre and also amazing community garden alive with colour, creativity and blooming produce.

i heart Mark and Anna

Moving from one melby friend to the next, i went to stay with Margalit and her family in Caulfield. It was fun to get the know the lovely Levin family who i had heard so much about. We shared a fun filled family dinner to celebrate Margie´s graduation (my favourite part of this being the adventure that Anna (mummy Levin) and I had in collecting take-out from various places. Margie showed me around her hood and gave me lots of fun places to explore while she had to go to class. Hoola hooping, drinking tea and watching Daniel Craig Bond were also greatly enjoyed whilst residing in the in Levin homestead, IDEAL.

Life at the farm

Time at the farm was spent enjoying the beautiful countryside and landscapes, best explored in my opinion on horseback, so i saddled up and took to the hills!

One day we prepared a huge batch of sandwiches and picnic foods and headed down to the riverside for some exciting kayaking on the river. We took it in turns while others played on the rivers banks and learnt how to ride the dirt bikes. It was like being on a school adventure holiday except there were no teachers, we could all do whatever we wanted (with some limits off course!) and a lot more booze!

Saturday night, despite the slightly sodden fire pit (there had been massive storms and flooding the previous week) we got the bonfire going and had a great BBQ feast complete with some Pimms that i had bought along. Various attempts were made at making smores, moslty resulting in some burnt biscuits but the large supplies of marshmellows and chocolate made up for this!

The night continued with various games and festivities including a mass nudey run and multiple rounds (and overshares) of 2 truths and a lie/2 lies and a truth or if you were feeling really open 3 truths!!

skiing in australia, as you do

Another positive to staying with international friends is when they have 4000 acre farms close by to mountain ranges. A group of 16 of us road tripped up to Rich's farm in Khancoban, about a 5 hour journey from Melbourne set by the Kosciuszko National Park. It was a great weekend of multiple outdoor activities mountain-biking, dirtbike riding, horseriding, river kayaking to names a few. We also took a day trip up to Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains to go skiing for the day. The weather was perfect as

we

got some fresh snow on the way up making it a great drive through a winter wonderland! We made a quick stop off along the way for me to go and play with the

kangaroos that were just hanging out along the roadside, aww. Having not skied for something like 8 years i had slight fear that i had forgotten how exactly to maneuver the two long planks attached to my feet but luckily after a few initial slippery turns i regained some former knowledge of what to do and managed to go the whole day without falling over, wahey!