Teine HelpX kogemus, keset metsikut loodust // Second HelpX experience, in the middle of the wilderness

Meie esimene HelpX v66rustajapere oli niiv6rd tore, et nad pakkusid meid meie j2rjekordsesse sihtpunkti, Cooktowni l2hedale j2rgmiste v66rustajate juurde 2ra viia. Nad ytlesid, et see on neile hea ettek22ne siinse kandi uudistamiseks. Selliselt me siia tulimegi, nende lahedas Land Roveris, s6ites kilomeetreid ja kilomeetreid l2bi Austraalia kuiva savanni. Natuke rohkem kui nelja tunni p2rast olimegi kohal. Ytlesime hyvasti oma esimestele v66rustajatele (keda me kindlasti igatsema j22me, nii toredad inimesed!) ja hyppasime kohe uue pere autosse.

Nende kodu oli metsik ja tsivilisatsioonist kaugel - pidime s6itma kolmveerand tundi m66da mudateed ja l2bi mitme v2ikese j6e enne kui j6udsime nende 24-hektari suurusele metsakrundile, mis asub keset aborigeenimaad (mis alles viimastel aastatel kohalikule aborigeenih6imule tagasi anti). L2him v2ike pood on 1,5-tunnise autos6idu kaugusel, telefonilevi seal ei ole, ning k6ikjal ymber on vaid kas vihmamets v6i savann. Koht on lahe!

Pereliikmed ise olid p6him6tteliselt hipid - pereisa r22kis vahetpidamata vanden6uteooriatest ja kuidas valitsus haub aina kurjasid plaane, ema oli rastapatsidega memm kellele meeldib syya teha, lapsed olid neli poissi vanuses 3 kuni 11 kes on t2iesti metsikud. Perele lisaks elas krundil ka yks noor tyyp, kes neid t88ga aitab. Neil oli ka kolm toredat mastiffi, kaks imekaunist kassi ning yks yksildane kukk (kelle endised naised olid kas r88vlindude v6i madude poolt nahka pandud).

Pere on seal elanud yle kolme aasta ning nad on oma ajutise elamise siin h2sti 2ra korraldanud. Kui nad krundi esmakordselt endale said, ei olnud siin midagi peale metsa, seega on nad ehitanud sinna kruusateed ja metsarajad, ning maja ja onnid, kasutades metallist katuseplaate. Nende plaan on endale l6puks ehitada korralik maja, kasutades kohalikke looduslikke materjale (muda, savi, puit) ning saada energia, toidu ja kytuse suhtes t2ielikult isemajandavaks. Hetkel kyll tuleb enamus toitu siiski supermarketist ning energiaks kasutavad nad bensiinil jooksvaid generaatoreid.

Meie oma elamispaigaks oli yks sealsetest onnidest - samuti metallplaatidest ehitatud, v2ga algeline, ent siiski mugav ja meeldiv. Meie onn asus j2rve 22res ning meil oli oma aed, l6kkekoht ning vihmaveetynn vee jaoks. K6ik, mida vajasime oli meil olemas ning 6htuti l6kke 22res istumine oli tihti meie p2evade parim osa.

T88 suhtes tegime v2heseid asju, ent need olid pikad ja rasked ylesanded. Peamiselt puhastasime ja laiendasime me maja ymbritsevat tulekahjurada - mille ylesandeks on metsatulekahju korral barj22riks olla (siinne pere on juba yhel korral metsatulekahjut kogenud, oma esimesel siinviibitud aastal, ent 6nneks midagi hullu ei juhtunud). Peale selle tegelesime me ka aianduse ja istutamisega, heinal6ikamisega, kyttepuude korjamisega ning Paolo aitas ka parandada paari katkist jalgratast.

Kui aus olla, siis ei tekkinud meil sealse perega eriliselt head kontakti ning seet6ttu polnud ka meie jaoks sealoldud aeg pooltki nii meeldiv olnud kui viimases kohas. 6ieti polnudki me perega palju aega koos veeta saanud - viimased neli p2eva olime me seal ainult koos selle noore tyybiga, kuna pere ise s6itis Cairnsi s6pradele kylla. Tegelikult oli p2ris m6nus seal suures metsikus kohas omaette olla. Ja seal oli ikka t6esti metsik - 88siti kuulsime me k6iksuguseid kummalisi ja huvitavaid loomah22li ning saime n2ha uskumatult suuri putukaid. Ent k6ige v6imsam kogemus juhtus kohe p2rast meie saabumist - esimesel 6htul kysisime me pereisalt ja -emalt siinsete ohtlike madude kohta, et osata neid v2ltida. Nad ytlesid, et nad pole seal myrgiseid madusid n2inud, kyll aga satub siia aeg-ajalt pyytoneid - mis juhul nad mao kinni pyyavad ja ta kodust kaugele viivad. J2rgmisel hommikul ilmnes, et kohe p2rast seda kui meie olime magama l2inud, olid nad maja juurest leidnud ja kinni pyydnud 4-meetrise pyytoni! Me saime madu l2hedalt n2ha ja ka nendega kaasa s6ita kui nad ta 10 kilomeetri kaugusel tagasi loodusesse lasksid. V2gev!

Igal juhul oli meil esialgu plaanis seal kaks n2dalat olla, aga me otsustasime veidi varem jalga lasta kuna meil sai seal olemisest kyllalt. T2na j6udsime tagasi Cairnsi, kuhu me j22me paariks p2evaks, misj2rel me p2rast tervet kuud p6hja-Queenslandis l6puks l6unapoole Brisbane'i s6idame.

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Our first HelpX host family were so nice that they offered to drive us up north to near Cooktown to our rendezvous with our next host family. They said that it was a great excuse for them to go see that area of Queensland. So that is how we arrived at our next destination - in the cool Land Rover, driving across miles and miles of arid Australian savannah. Four and a bit hours later, we had arrived. We said our goodbyes to our first hosts (who we will definitely miss lots - such great people!) and hopped straight to the car of our next host family.

Their property was wilder and remote, and it took us over 45 minutes of driving on a dirt road through multiple creeks, before we finally reached their place - 60 acres of wild bush, in the middle of aboriginal land (given back to the local tribes not long ago). The nearest small supermarket was over 1,5h drive away, there was no phone reception, and everywhere around was just rainforest or savannah. The place was great!

The family themselves are best described as hippies - the dad talked constantly about conspiracy theories and how the government is out to get us, the mom was a dreadlocked lady who enjoyed her cooking, the children were four boys between 3 and 11 years and can only be described as feral. In addition to the family, a young guy also lived on the property and helps with the work. They also had three lovely mastiffs, two gorgeous cats and a lonely rooster (his wives having been eaten by raptors and snakes).

They had lived there for over three years and had a well established temporary living space. When they got the land, it was just forest, so they have built roads and tracks, and houses and cottages of corrugated iron sheets. Their plan is to build their proper house using local resources (mud, clay, timber) and to be completely self-sustainable for energy, fuel and food. For the time being though, most of the food still comes from the supermarket and energy is produced by generators.

Our living space there was one of the cottages  - also made from corrugated tin, very basic, but nonetheless comfortable and charming. Our little cottage was by one of the lakes, had its own little garden, a fireplace and a rainwater tank for water. It had all we needed and sitting by the fire during the evenings was usually the best part of our days there.

For work, we had but few things that we did, but these were hard and long. We mainly cleared up the firebreak track around the house - which is meant to act as a barrier against bush fires (which they had experienced once during their first year here, but managed to escape the worst). We also did some gardening and planting, brushcutting, firewood collecting, and Paolo helped fix some of the many broken bikes here.

To be honest, while we love the place, we did not manage to make a real connection with the family, and therefore did not enjoy our time there as much as we did with our last hosts. In fact, we didn't even spent that much time with them - the last four days it was just us and the young guy, since the family drove off to visit friends in Cairns. It was actually quite pleasant, being just us in this huge wild place. And it really was wild - during the night we could hear so many strange animal noises, and we saw some of the biggest insects that we have ever seen before. But the definite wildlife highlight happened just after we arrived. The first evening we were chatting with our hosts and asking about any dangerous snakes that we should look out for. They said that there haven't really been any venomous snakes there but that they do get pythons, and when they do, they usually catch them and release them far away from the house (since while not dangerous to adults, they could easily kill animals and children if they wanted to). Sure enough, the next morning it turned out that just after we had gone to bed, they had found and caught a 4-meter long Amethystine python! They took it out for us to see and we also went along when they released the animal back into the wild some 10 kilometres away. Amazing!

Anyway, we had originally intended to stay there for two weeks, but decided to leave earlier since we had enough. Today we arrived back to Cairns for a few nights before finally leaving North Queensland after a month here to go further south, to Brisbane.

Krundiga tutvumas // Getting a tour of the property

Pyyton esmakordselt vabaduses peale kahte p2eva tekikotis // Python liberated after two days inside a duvet cover

Ja minek! // And there it goes!

Herculese 88liblikas, maailma suurim // Hercules moth, the world's biggest moth species

Paolo oma v2rskelt istutatud banaanidega // Paolo with his freshly planted banana trees

Siin me oma 6htud veetsimegi // This is where we spent our evenings

Meie onn // Our cottage

L6putud metsarajad // Endless forest tracks

V66rustajate elamine // Hosts' own living space

Nunnu tilluke 2mblik // Itty bitty cute jumping spider

Kummaliselt kasvanud hundinuia-taoline taim // Strangely grown plant

Koki :)

K6ikjal ainult dzungel! // Jungle everywhere around!

Metsarada enne... // Firebreak track before...

...ja p2rast meie t88d // ...and after our work on it

Meie onn, ymbritsetud veeroosidest // Our cottage with the lilypads

Tagahoov :) // Backyard :)

Meie valvur, St Andrew risti2mblik, oli peaaegu kogu meie sealviibitud aja meie peegli kyljes // Our guardian, a St Andrew's Cross Spider, was on our mirror for nearly our whole stay

Aga siis tuli selline, umbes k2elabasuurune hall jahi2mblik kes meie s6bra 88 jooksul ilmselt nahka pistis :( // But then this roughly hand-sized Grey Huntsman Spider came and ate our friend :(

Kaunis kiisu // Pretty kitty

Eile oli mul synnip2ev, ja 6htu m88dus m6nusalt, l6kke 22res pudeli veiniga, ei saa kurta! // Yesterday was my birthday. and we spent the evening next to a fire with a bottle of wine, can't complain!