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8 Lessons from living in the byron bay hinterland

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[PS. If you are having difficulty reading the extended post on your mobile device, please click on “view desktop site” and it should load. Can’t seem to fix this, other posts seem to work on mobiles though]

So the house is finally sold and my boyfriend, Dan, has decided to move closer to Sydney till the end of the year, before his mom looks at buying another property in the Northern Rivers. Sorry for the blurry photo – it was a screen capture from realestate.com.au, the lovely photo was taken by Elders Real Estate. For now, my journey of rainforest/remote living will be put on hold. Fingers crossed that he will move to Sydney for a short stint so that I can do more self sufficiency courses with Milkwood, since there are none in Byron Bay for the rest of the year. Of late, I’ve been extremely keen on fermentation, in particular – water kefir, but I will talk about that another time.

In these last 3 and a half plus years of jetting between Singapore and the subtropical Byron Hinterland, specifically Upper Coopers Creek, I’ve learned a lot about simple living and about the beauty of living with the seasons of nature, something that I didn’t pay attention to much when living in Perth for 7 years, and even less so in Singapore. It’s an experience I love and treasure greatly, being in sync with nature is beneficial to our health and well being, and being a gardener reminds me of this.

Living in the rainforest and off the land is often romanticised but it can be costly and involve more effort than what many people think. Selling Houses Australia – one of my favourite Australian television programmes, shared a surprising statistic about how 50% of city dwellers who buy into country towns change their minds and move back. It’s certainly not for everyone.

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This is Moondance!

They call it God’s country out here in the Rainbow Region, and Moondance is the name of the property I go to rest my spirit with my boyfriend when I’m in Australia to visit him.

Spanning six acres, Moondance has plants and fruit trees from South America and Asia, lovingly put in the garden from scratch by its previous owners. Dan and his family have since added to the property by putting in a food garden, and necessary features like a water tank and solar water heating.

It is situated in a rainforest in the hinterland of Byron Bay, and it can quickly get pretty wild and overgrown if not maintained. Dan and I take care of the veggie patch and plant new vegetables and the occasional fruit tree, and Dan’s family friend, Karel helps to keep the premises pristine. Without his help, the rainforest would engulf the property in months.

It is beautiful out here and is a great retreat away from urban pollution and the hustle and bustle of city living. Food is also fresh and without pesticides, and people are very pleasant. It is an extremely conducive place to be a hermit.

Here are some photos of the property, mostly taken around springtime.

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