Fruitarian Mango's Journal

End of an Era..

2010-12-28T10:41:00.002+11:00

Well.. I make it sound dramatic, when it's not really anything of great importance. But we just sold our old car.

It'd been sitting on our front lawn procrastinating for well over a month, battery dead, grass growing wild around it.

We had initially thought we might possibly keep it and use it for the rougher journeys, but we realised, and rightly so, that we are not a 2 car family, and for the little needs we have (stocking up on fruit at the markets each week), we really couldn't justify have an extra set of wheels sitting around.

For a while also, we thought we may have to pay someone to come and remove the thing. Here in Queensland, cars are more expensive than other states, but surprisingly getting rid of old cars, is not a simple issue. In other places the wreckers will pay you for them, but not here.. here you have to pay them to take them off your hand.

Fortunately for our little car, it managed to find a new home. We sold it for $50 to some couple who live on 300 acres, that'll use it for purely driving around on their property. $50 was basically given away, especially as it likely had more than that in petrol in the tank.. But it at least us saved us paying $80 for a wreckers to come and scrap it, and at least, too, it will see out the rest of it's life on a farm until it finally dies of whatever it's destiny prescribes..

So yesterday they came and picked it up.. drove it off on it's own steam.. and left the lawn looking bare and forlorn.

I think for Květa especially, the car holds a lot of memories. She had it before I arrived on the scene, and it had really been a Godsend for her, suddenly making shopping and getting around so much easier.

So it's gone now.. End of an Era..

Recent events..

2010-11-22T08:28:00.001+11:00

Stuff happening here.. besides the gardening and slow progress book writing, the rainy season seams to be sort of happening now too, making our little garden sprout more than ever, with pawpaws reaching new heights, passion fruit vines spreading out, pumpkin and watermelon plants going wild, and new fruit trees sprouting up from the compost. It's a good time of year.

Kveta and I went down to Rene Beresfords memorial last sunday (8 days ago!). He was the guy that was the major figurehead behind that 1990's fruitarian network movement. Producing a quarterly fruitarian newsletter for roughly one decade..

Rene Beresford Memorial (23/12-1928 - 24/10-2010)

It was held on the northern end of trinity beach, and roughly 15 people or so turned up including Zalan, who flew up from Victoria for the occasion, and locals Eddie, Christine, and Robert Lockhart.. Plus some other faces we may had seen in passing, but never actually met, so we made some new friends too.

Joining us also, were Kairos and Lindsay, who are a couple of young fruit centered americans over here on an adventure. They were staying with Harley and Freelee down near Brisbane someplace, visited Anne too, and are now hanging out in our neck of the woods. Actually, yesterday we picked them up from fruitopia where they've been sort of wwoofing this past week or 2, and they're spending their last days up here at our place.

Lindsay & Kairos are delightful company, and they and I have been for some great little nature outings exploring some local creeks and waterfalls.

Kairos and Lindsay out for a walk

There are some truly spectacular walks not too far from where we live, and plenty of accompanying natural waters..

Kairos taking a shower

We stopped at this place for a swim for a while.. truly breathtaking view:

great swimming hole
- you've gotta be adventurous to find this one!

Life's good.
hugs,
mango.

Book Progress Report..

2010-08-26T09:16:00.001+10:00

Yeah.. I'm enthused and writing again! It's taken me a while to get started, but these last few weeks I have resurrected my book, and it has once more undergone a major transformation and morphed into something different again..

I've decided to focus more on my own life now.. it being so entwined with the philosophical thoughts I otherwise harbor and which will also feature in the book..

I generally sit and write for a couple of hours each morning.. Which perhaps sounds like I'm speeding through it, but isn't actually the case.. Much of the time is always spent rereading through stuff I've already written and rearranging things, adding stuff that I've forgotten, and taking brief notes of things I need to get down..

I no longer have any idea how many pages I've written, as I'm using a straight forward text editor to get my thoughts down, which just shows me one great big long page..

Once I'm done with a first draft, whenever that'll be, I'll cut and paste it all into a word processor, and start formatting it as I read through and decide what to and what not to include.. I would guess though that I'm pushing a 150 pages or so..

I think you'll find the book interesting, even if it is me saying so.. my life has been incredibly complicated, with all manner of bizarre and unusual occurances that I'm hoping will both enthrall and entertain.. from my daring escape of military conscription, to a year spent in the australian bush.. but, oh my, i'm giving the plot away.. Not to worry, that's just a tiny snippet..

Otherwise, Kveta and I are enjoying our lives, swimming regularly in the Barron river, eating plenty of fruit, and occasionally visiting Fruitopia where often interesting wwoofers pass through..

More another when..
Mango.

49 today, 400,000 kms, Local Markets, Loan Decline

2010-08-01T11:24:00.001+10:00

It's my 49th Birthday today.. We've just gotten back from the Tolga market..

After leaving the market, we noticed that the car was just turning over to 400,000 kilometers, so we pulled over to take a picure..

400,000 kilometers

The car's a 1990 (or '91 ?) white toyota camry station wagon.. Kveta bought it a couple of years before I arrived on the scene, and it's served us mightily well so far... seeing us safely relocated from sydney to the tropics, plus supplied with fruit regularly..

The markets, see, are held in a different town each weekend.. dependent on which weekend of the month it is.. the 1st sunday of the month it's in Tolga, just less than 30kms away.. The 2nd saturday of each month it's in Mareeba, our home town. the 3rd Saturday, it's in Malanda, probably 50kms away, the 4th, it's in Yungaburra, about the same distance as Malanda, and the 5th Saturday (if there is one), it's back in Mareeba again..

Black sapote/chocolate pudding fruit, from a local
Papua new Guinean womans garden..

The month just gone was pretty unusual in that there were 5 saturdays, and the 1st of this month, today, happens to also be the 1st sunday.. thus, we've just had 2 markets one after each other, and next weekend, no market at all.. unless we go to the atherton market on the coming saturday (a market we generally skip as it's not as good as the others)..

Anyhow, we've found that the markets are pretty much one of the better ways to stock up on food for the week. They're also a way to meet and get to know local growers.. We already have contact details of a couple of families that grow local fruits spray free, and have been welcomed to get out and visit them and buy directly from their land.. Something we've been lazy about doing as the markets normally see us reasonably well stocked for the week..

Our kitchen stocked up with fruit.. (Also, not visible, Avos,
cucumbers, black sapote, pumpkin, passion fruit & more

This morning, at Tolga, we were given a box of pawpaw for free, which is the main reason we drove out there, as we had already been to the mareeba markets yesterday and were otherwise wellstocked..

In our little garden at the moment, we are still regularly eating our home grown tomatoes, and visited frequently by a little local couple of birds.. One woman we know called them "little willy wagtails", but we're not exactly sure what species they belong to.. they like to sit nearby and watch us, and I'm sure sometimes they play a game to see just how close they might get to us without actually touching.. Swooping down and nearly landing on our feet our head, but then flitting off elsewhere, and when we sit down, they come and sit quietly and watch us..

Local little willy wagtail watching me garden

Here's another photo with Kveta holding up a bowl of freshly picked tomatoes to one of our little friend who's probably not that impressed with them, as they seem to prefer fluttering little insects..

Wagtail watching kveta with bowl of tomatoes

Yesterday I was calling him from the house.. trying to mimic their song, and from somewhere out back, one of them was answering my call.. kveta was in the kitchen laughing about it..

Once I'd stopped calling, one of them came around to the front of the house, sat on the window sill, sang really loud and cheerfully, and then flew off..

Kveta with fresh picked tomatoes

On another less cheerful note.. we had a short interview with our bank manager during the week.. We wanted to find out what the chances were that we might be able to somehow borrow money to buy ourselves our much desired piece of paradise.. To be honest, I think we naively entered the bank optimistically thinking that we would at least be able to borrow a couple of hundred thousand, possibly more ..

It turned out that in their eyes, our financial situation and incomes are too low for them to be able to lend us any money.. So the bubble, that was one potential escape route to our future home and garden was burst..

A good place for a swim - at Fruitopia - click to enlarge

We left the bank pretty saddened, but still optimistic that somehow or another the universe will manifest for us a corner of the earth that's rural and next to water with privacy, for much desired naturism practise, and space for untethered fruit tree planting.. Some place with a nice swimming hole, like the one pictured both above and below:

me at the fruitopia swimming hole a couple of days ago..

Airport trip..

2010-07-11T09:47:00.001+10:00

Last Tuesday, Květa flew back into Cairns again.

I figured as her flight landing wasn't scheduled until 18:50, I'd head into Cairns earlier and find a durian or 2 for us to share on her arrival.. However, I guess that just wasn't meant to be, as although I tried 5 or 6 different places, all of them were out of stock.. Bit of a let down as I'd really been looking forward to a durian again, - that creamy sweet deliciousness..

I did, however, manage to score some really yummy longan fruits to share..

Fruitopia Swimming Hole
Anyhow, time on my hands still, I'd also prearranged to meet Venant.. He's this raw vegan guy we met at fruitopia after that 80/10/10 gathering that Harley and Freelee organized in December last year (ended shortly before our arrival in the tropics)..

Venant's also famous worldwide for his role in decapitating Xena.. Yep.. He's the Samurai Ninja that finally beheaded the iconic warrior princess, appearing in the last 2 episodes of the long running TV show.. I have to confess that I've actually seen an episode once or twice, although only coincidently as it was never a show I was in to..

So we met up around 17:30, and spent an hour or so together chatting. He's currently doing a juice thing, and I think he said it was his 14th day on just juices on that day we met.. He's a great balanced guy with his wits about him, and delightful company.. a pleasure meeting up with him again.

He made me a delicious fresh apple juice, and soon afterwards I was headed on to the airport..

I must have got there at roughly the same time as Květas plane landed.. around 18:50, and by 18:55 I was in the airport lounge waiting to meet and great her..

We had our trusty little mobile phones with us that spend most of their times turned off or discharged, but this time were both battery loaded and on.. She rang me within minutes of me getting in to the airport to let me know that she would be last to leave the plane because they'd be pushing her in a wheel chair..

Anyhow, we were soon in each others arms again, after her too long sojourn elsewhere, (zlobila jsi mně K! - byla jsi pryč aš moc dlouho!).

We weren't able to leave the airport immediately as Květa had her own wheelchair with her as luggage that we had to first wait for and pick up. But it didn't take long really, and we were soon in the trusty car driving back up the range toward our temporary stepping stone home in Mareeba..

Munching on longans on the way up and both feeling glad to be homeward bound..

Photo taken an hour before driving down to Cairns to pick up Květa

Květa was, and still is feeling a little run down from all her travelling, and her sleeping pattern isn't full back to normal yet, but will no doubt soon be, and I'm sure she'll be updating her own blog again sooner or later.. Letting you all know what she's been up to..

We were at Mareeba Markets together yesterday and fully stacked up with fruit for the coming week..

Papaya, pineapple, tomatoe, cucumber, pumpkin (yes, we haven't done this much before, but we really like them fresh juiced together with tomatoes!), oranges, rockmelon and the infamous chocolate pudding fruit(!).. yum!

Hugs to all,
mango.

Kveta back soon..

2010-07-01T17:11:00.001+10:00

Less than a week now until Kveta gets back here.. She's been gone far too long.

Meanwhile I've been hanging out here, visiting Fruitopia twice a week for a bath in the creek.. I find the water there so much more appealing than our "on tap" water which is sadly mightily chlorinated and smells like a swimming pool..

I'm sure that it must have an effect on the stuff we're growing in the garden, although to be honest, I'm not able to notice that effect.. The cucumbers we've grown are simply delicious..

I've been watching some Derren Brown videos recently..

That guy is simply soo good at whatever it is he's doing.. If you don't know him, he's this English stage performer who works his own brand of mind reading, hypnotic, magic tricks.. I think he really has an ability to get inside the mind of others, including the audience..

He claims to have no psychic powers what-so-ever, and everything is slight of hand, cold reading, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), PWA (Perception Without Awareness), hypnotism, mentalism and showmanship. I think I've a rough understanding of some of what he does, but other things he manages to pull off I have absolutely no idea about..

In the show I just watched, he manages to get some elderly lady who doesn't play poker, to go up against 5 of the countries top poker players..

Before she does this, she spends a little over a week with Derren, where he trains her for the event.. The result.. she manages to nearly come first out 6 contestants.. Well, she came 2nd, but only because an unlucky card was dealt at the end.. Experts seemed to think that she would have absolutely no chance against the guys she was up against..

In a similar show I've seen previously, he manages in 1 single week to teach this girl to play the piano at such a level that at the end of the week she plays in front of a live audience, at a very high level.. Her training was all done without her even touching the piano once before hand.. Now explain that one!

hugs,
mango.

Durian letdown..

2010-06-22T16:36:00.001+10:00

On saturday, just passed, I went to the Malanda market and stocked up on food for the week.

Pineapples, custard apples, papaya, mandarins, tomatoes, persimmons, cucumbers and avos..

I already had a box of oranges back at home, enough to last me the rest of this week, at least, but somehow I felt like I wanted more..

So driving back through Atherton, I stopped off at Woolworths to check out if they had anything appealing...

One sad and lonely little durian caught my eye, and some juicy looking medjool dates.. I can never resist eating a date while browsing the fresh produce, but don't normally buy any, but for a change, I bought a handful, together with the lonesome durian..

The durian was devoured before I'd even got back to base.. First one I'd had for quite a while now.. well.. at least a month say.. (for those of you curious, I'm on me tod at the moment.. Kveta is away visiting friends and family)..

Anyhow, today, having still the taste of that durian in my mouth, I felt like more.. So I drove back out to Atherton for 2nds.. actually 3rds too.. I bought 2 medium sized ones..

But what a let down! Saturday's one was reasonable, not the best, but satisfying and appealing enough for me to want more, but today's were frankly very disappointing.. watery and flavourless.

Woolies durian are generally pretty crappy up this ways.. They're frozen in Thailand and shipped to Sydney where they arrive reasonably fresh.. but then they have to get them up from Sydney to this neck of the woods, a good 3 or 4 day journey..

And there-in lies the problem.. instead of keeping them frozen for the journey, they are just refrigerated, so by the time they get here, they are all thawed out and past their peek..

I kind of knew that already, and had told Kveta in the past that I don't want any more of them, but, you know how it is when you feel you want something, and saturday's one must have been a freak that was actually flavoursome and good enough for me to return for more..

So.. no more woolies durian for me thanks.. I should save the durian money for a trip to the philipines instead,, or back to Thailand again..

absolutely delicious custard apples though!!

peace,
mango.

Facebook angst..

2010-06-20T13:23:00.002+10:00

A short while ago, i posted to facebook the intro to the fruitarian documentary made by Emile with the help of David..

I think they did a great job with that by the way, and I'm still looking forward to seeing the finished version of which Emile finished recently (he aired it to a an audience of a couple of hundred or so, and the general feeling was it went down well, sparking the curiousity of many toward fruitarianism..)..

- the video above isn't the video I'm talking about, by the way.. that can be seen here:

Fruitarian Doco Intro

anyhow.. like i said, i posted the video onto facebook.. I've had an account since sometime last year, but generally don't go there, as quite frankly it confuses the bijeebers out of me.. I signed up predominantly to hook up with some old friends, and maybe view their photos or videos, and just generally keep in touch.. Certainly, I looked up a fair few old faces I once knew quite well, people that I'm guessing without facebook I'd probably never have heard from again.. So there was a certain degree of success there..

So then, that video got posted, and suddenly my inbox was inundated with friend requests.. I ummed and aahd a fair bit about them.. Only few of the people I'd heard of, and the rest friends of friends, and even some complete strangers..

this morning i was messing around on facebook again, and made the very rash decision to just befriend everybody.. so i just clicked on each "make friends" button, one after the other.. about 30 or so in all..

and now i've done that, i'm feeling strangely deeply saddened by the fact.. like i betrayed myself, because i really just wanted to have people i personally "know", like, having met them in the flesh, as friends, and now i've just gone and forsaken my ploy, and got heaps of new friends i don't know.

i'm almost feeling a little like canceling my facebook account as it doesn't exactly bring more joy into my life..

i think i'll just abandon it for a while, and stick to my blogs, that's enough for me.. i feel i don't want to get too involved in much internetwise.. i feel pretty much done with the whole forum thing, and debating my opinion everywhere.. it's like, i feel quite committed and certain of the path i've chosen, and have no doubts that 100% fruitarianism is the right thing for me to be doing right now..

i'm going outside for some sunshine..

hugs,
mango..
ps hope you enjoy the video i posted here too.. made me laugh as i found myself relating well to it's content..

Worlds Worst Uncle..

2010-05-04T20:23:00.001+10:00

I'm sure there must be worst ones than me out there.. surely there must be (?!).. I mean, the worlds full of sick crazy wackos that just have to be doing a far worse job at in than I do..

but loonies aside, I do often feel like I've been (and continue being) a pretty rotten one too.. I had no real contact with my brother and his 7 kidded brood as they were growing up. It's easy to try and point the blame elsewhere, but the truth is I never really made any great effort to keep in touch. - after a couple of decades of basically zero communication, we have only very recently begun a correspondence once more..

Of course it's helped little that we've both been on separate continents all this time.. and it's highly unlikely that we'll ever be living in close proximity of each other ever again.. .. But I'm excusing myself..

Today's my niece Amelias 5th birthday, and I've been mulling over the fact that since saying sad and tearful goodbyes to her, some 3 and a half years ago, at the train station in Sheffield, I've basically been completely out of her life..

The few times I've attempted to talk with her on the phone, she's not really cared for any part of it, which of course has been completely understandable, as I doubt she was ever fully aware who was at the other end, and what close friends we'd once been, before I upped and left.. flying off to the other side of the globe.

me and my old buddy and fellow fruitarian, prem das,
next to rustys market after a durian feast
Of course.. I had to leave really.. destiny was calling me impatiently, and despite the heartbreak of leaving behind loved ones, Australia & Kveta were definitely good and necessary moves for me.

But that doesn't stop me feeling sad about having family so far away, and not being around while they grow.

It's been on my mind lately too, about the possibility of me returning to England to catch up with everyone in 2011, but much as I'm missing folks there, and looking forward to seeing them, I'm also dreading the idea of a trip back to the UK.. numerous things I wouldn't be looking forward to if I were to return.. and I get so attached to our nest here and little garden too.. making it even more difficult for me to leave.. and then there's the who financial viability of a trip back there.. I'm normally an expert budgeter, and feel comfortable with a steady trickle of expenses, - something not compatible with a trip to the other side of the globe!!

What to do? only time will tell.. I want them all to come and live over here in Australia!!

happy birthday Amelia!

peace,
mango.

Garden progress report.

2010-04-11T08:52:00.001+10:00

Well, as life continues to move pretty slowly, movement is not at all so slow in our garden..

The first cucumbers we put in as seeds a few days after we got here, are now full of cucumbers that are at that stage where they're ready to be picked and eaten..

Not even 2 months old (from seed) and already ready to eat

Yum.. We picked that one yesterday, together with the 2 others in the picture below, and kveta and i enjoyed our first home grown fresh cucumber meal of the season.. !!

We ate these 3, freshly picked, yesterday afternoon!

Actually, these are from the first of many seeds we've planted out, and hopefully we should be eating our own cucumbers regularly now throughout the rest of the season.. !

the cucumbers are the sweetest, creamiest cuces we've eaten.. showing us once more the power of vegan organic gardening.. the seeds having been planted in soil thrown onto the top of decomposing fruit skin compost.. and water regularly with my own pea..

As for the rest of our so far prepared little garden.. the tomatoes are somewhat slower in developing, but several plants are slowly progressing, and quite a few seedlings sprouted around the place too..

The pawpaws we transplanted from fruitopia have all reestablished themselves well, and are powering, together with an abundance of pawpaw seedlings from the best local pawpaw grower in the area (werner from the local markets, who sells a variety called red hawaiian solo.. very sweet, delicious and moreish)..

apart from that, seedling fruit trees are starting to poke their heads from beneath the soil, as the dormant life from the regularly buried compost heaps begin to awaken.. we have several small akee seedlings, and this morning i spotted a durian pushing through the earth..

now if only we had our own more permanent piece of land! as it is, we still know that probably the maximum length of time we'll be living in this particular rented property is likely to be not more than a year..

but what can you do?! i guess you've got to enjoy it while it lasts, and not be too attached to things.. hopefully by the time we leave, the pawpaw trees will have established themselves well enough for the next tenants to see the value in them and not rip them out, but somehow i think the durian, akee, and other such fruit trees will likely not be so easily tolerated..

peace,
mango.

Home internet..

2010-03-23T15:31:00.000+11:00

Just short of a week ago, we finally got ourselves reconnected to the internet.

It took us a while longer than expected due to a couple of technical issues.. Primarily because we signed up initially with telstra (australias major telephone network owner) internet, but shortly after signing up had a change of feeling about being locked in on their 24 months contract, so canceled that deal before it had really gotten started (which turned out to be lucky, as had the contract already been initiated, we would have been legally obliged to stick with them for 2 full years!!)..

anyhow, as said, we canceled the telstra internet deal, and after the dust had settled on that one, we signed up with TPG instead, and I have to say, so far, it beats telstra hands down.. far faster than the connection we had in sydney with telstra, and only a 6 month contract with the same monthly price..

so...

we're back!

checking our emails regularly, and slowly working through the backlog of stuff that has built up over the past few months of being predominantly offline..

We've settled in to our new place ok, and it feels more like home daily, although the lack of features we desire will likely forever be an issue..

daily existence is taking on its routines.. Fridays we tend to get up early and drive down to rustys market in cairns.. - we're still scoring australian durian every visit, but the season is slowly trickling to a halt though..

saturdays we generally visit the local market (actually, the "local" market changes location every week, depending on which saturday of the month it is.. like this coming saturday will be the 4th of the month, and the market will be in Yungaburra.. about 50kms drive away from where we're at.. but a ride worth making as we tend to stock up on cucumbers and tomatoes at those markets, locally grown and at prices far below the commercial businesses around the area)..

actually, we stuck some cucumber seeds in the ground pretty much as soon as we got here, and so the biggest plants are already 2 foot tall, or more, and plenty of others at intermittent sizes below that.. also our pawpaw seedlings are looking healthy, and several tomato plants are growing from seed too.. It looks like we'll be eating our own home grown cuces in under 2 months from now.. we juice them daily.. yum..

also, foodwise, the akee at fruitopia seem to have just gone through a second spurt of fruiting, and we've been fortunate enough to help liberate some of them.. when we can, we are enjoying their cheesy savouriness in abundance.. I definitely feel they are currently my number 2 fruit.. just falling short of the mighty durian.. although no doubt, if we were to have a glut of marrangs or chempadeks, they would be ousted from their 2nd position..

Life's good.. more another when..

peace,
mango.

Démenagé

2010-02-23T15:41:00.000+11:00

So..

We moved in to our new home, as planned, last Thursday..

The Lifeline people kindly delivered us a few small items of furniture.. A fridge, a sofa, a coffee table, a kitchen table with 2 chairs, a wardrobe and a bed.. Unfortunately the bed is sort of too small for us. Too short, lengthwise for me, and not wide enough for the both of us, so for the time being, we've borrowed a couple of single mattresses from Fruitopia..

Meanwhile, we've also invested in another couple of small tables, a juicer like we had in Sydney, and some small bedding things.. We've also started mosquito proofing the house, by tightly drawingpinning net curtains to the window frames.. A nifty little solution that's far more cost effective than investing in mozzymeshing..

We're both very happy to finally have a home of our own. It even has a carport which is keeping the car dry and out of the sun.. (Torrential downpour happening right at this moment folks!)

Actually, while on the subject of the car, I was just noticing how much more petrol we've been consuming since since moving up here, and it's really taking up a far bigger chunk of our monthly expenses than it did back in Sydney days.. I suppose the furthest we travelled there was from our home in Malabar to Kingsford where we generally travelled twice weekly for fruit.. That would've been a round trip of 30 kms or so. Here, we are voyaging to Cairns and back weekly, a round trip of easily 130kms, and often travelling to Atherton and further afield once or twice a week, adding up to considerably more than 70kms per trip.. Not to mention small trips in and out of Mareeba centre, which although that'll be lessened now, as we have moved closer to the centre than Fruitopia was, it's still significant..

So we're considering getting some kind of conversion done to the engine to reduce the petrol consumption and instead use one of those water fuel cell things.. To be honest, I really am not mechanically minded at all, but there's this guy at the Saturday markets that has a stall where he claims to be selling something he calls Hydrogen Water Fuel Cell Technology (his business is called "Hydroxyboost").. It's not something that will run your engine 100% on water, which of course is what we'd prefer, but his little device that gets attached to the engine of the car can supposedly increase fuel efficiency by up to 40%, horsepower by up to 20% and reduce emissions by as much as 90%(!).. Bold claims that I would dearly love to believe in, but there's that nagging doubt that it may be all a con.. He claims that in other countries in the world, the US included, the government will actually subsidise the installation of the kit.. Are there any readers that may be able to confirm, or not, that this technology actually does as it claims, and genuinely works??

The claim is that the kit converts the car into a hybrid, of sorts, by using water as a catalyst, once it is broken down to HHO gas.. The guy pushing it certainly seems both genuine and keen and claims that he builds all the devices himself at home and can put us on to others that already have it installed and are reaping the benefits.. I'm enthused, just feel I need to do some more research online first, something we can't do easily yet, as still no internet connection here yet.. Although our phone line did activate yesterday, so internet shouldn't be too far away (we may nip into the library later today to check our emails and stuff, and maybe i'll post this off too)..

So yeah, we have a house and garden.. big mango tree and a tamarind tree too.. and Kveta's already planted out some aloe vera, and put down a few small cucumber seeds too.. We've also started burying our compost again, which is, we believe the quickest way to get it to break down back into yummy worm food soil. I think we may head back out to fruitopia for a visit soon, and pick some of their abundant cherry tomatoes to get the seed in the ground here.. Maybe dig up the odd pawpaw seedling if there're any the right size..

We're still very much in a state of unpackedness, and still organising here to get things the way we want it.. Kveta's been working hard on the kitchen floor which was left in a pretty filthy sticky state despite cleaners having supposedly been through the day before we moved in..

Powerpoints are few and far between which will mean trailing wires around the place, especially for the internet the phone line is in an odd inconvenient place, but I guess it's an old house, built back in the days when electrickery wasn't so popular as it is today..

Rang mum/dad and Helena last night to let them know our new telephone number..

Anyhow, happy we are..

peace,
mango

A new home at last..

2010-02-14T07:24:00.000+11:00

A home at last..

Lots happened this week.. About 2 hours ago, we got a telephone call from the girlfriend of the guy, Peter, up at Ravenshoe, who had previously invited us to house care for him.. He was the guy with the 6 working dogs I've mentioned already, and his is the place that up until recently, we had been hoping to move in to, but had been unable to connect with (we guessed he was working somewhere off the beaten track and his mobile was out of range)..

Anyhow, she informed us that Peter had had a change of plan, and that instead of us housecaring while he was away, he had decided to put his place on the market, and sell up.. So basically, no Ravenshoe for us..

But were we upset? Not in the slightest..!

In fact, we started the week desperately trying to contact him to tell him that we were willing, keen and ready to move in at any time, and left him a text message, and voice mail to indicate such, followed by countless hangup calls all reaching his mail message box..

Yes, the week certainly never seemed bright when it started.. Wednesday we rang the queensland housing office in cairns, and asked them how our application for government housing was progressing, and were told that they were still waiting on some papers from us.. but hang on a sec, let me backtrack some, because the story will be difficult to follow if i tell it from there..

what happened was, that when we got here, back in december, we first chose the path of believing our home would be relatively easy to find, so we started picking up the twice weekly free advertising newspapers in search of rentals, we also visited many estate agents in all the towns we've passed through on the tablelands, and eventually even got around to writing up some small fliers with our telephone number on (the one here at fruitopia), explaining we were a peaceful couple, available to house or land sit anywhere on the tablelands..

Well.. the local advertisements rarely had anything in them that we considered affordable, so mostly they gave us few leads.. - Because we are living on a shoetring budget at the moment, we were only considering rentals around $150 or less, but the cheapest are mostly $200 to $250, so much as there may have been something otherwise suitable for us,the price made us not even consider it..

The real estates have been pretty much the same deal, we've been to lots of them, and the cheapest rental we found was $160 out near some place called Tarzali.. I mentioned it in an earlier post I think.. nice view, but a few things about it made it nonsuitable, including that the house looked like it would be like a sauna inside on hot days..

So, sometime in January, toward the beginning, I think, we decided to see if the government could assist us in some way in finding accommodation.. (we were living in government housing in Sydney prior to escaping there).. Mostly it was kvetas initiative I think, in pushing us to get that process started..

We filled out a short form that we picked up from the Mareeba Court House, and they duly faxed/sent it down to the Cairns Housing department.. Some days later, the Cairns office sent us a whole load more of forms to fill out, including getting some kind of support group to verify our status, doctor certificate/form stating the nature of kvetas disability, and more.. We even had to get Ian to write some kind of letter stating that we lived where we currently are, and explaining why we will have to vacate our spot before month end..

Anyhow, rushed around like blue-arsed flies we did, getting help from some centre in mareeba called "MISC" (Mareeba Information Support Centre), some kind of small house/office that help out people in similar situations to our own.. and waiting forever to see a doctor..

We eventually had it all filled and ready to be sent back, and took it all in to the Mareeba Court House, and dutifully handed it all over to some official there, who then both faxed and sent everything down to the Cairns office.. (that was on either the 18th or 19th of January).

Now, (I'll soon be up to date, I think!) .. About 10 days ago, we rang housing and asked them the status of our application.. Their answer was that because of our situation, we have been given top priority, and there was nothing more that we could do, but sit back and wait for something to become available..

That was a relief!! So we decided, following advice of the MISC place, that the best plan is to ring up the Cairns office each week, and keep bugging them, apparently it'ld help get us pushed through quicker..

So, this wednesday just gone, 4 days ago, we once more rang the Cairns office and asked them what our status was.. This time, we were told that they were still waiting on papers from us..

What? I questioned.. What/which papers? They explained the doctors certificate, witness reports, forms we should have filled in and sent back already before the 3rd of February..

I explained as patiently as I could that that stuff had already all been taken care of 3 weeks previously, that the courthouse had received everything from us, and sent it on to them already, and that the week previously I had already contacted their office, and had been informed that there was actually nothing more that we needed to do, and we should just sit and wait patiently..

After much toing and froing on the telephone, we were finally firmly told that no papers had been received from us yet, and there was nothing further they could do until such point that the papers were received by them..

Neither of us are fans of bureaucracy, far from it.. In fact, I think both of us have an aversion toward forms and stuff, and to hear this was quite disheartening, especially as we had not taken any photocopies of anything.. So we returned to the courthouse to see if possibly our forms were still there, waiting to be sent.. The court house official (same guy who had dealt with us previously), checked his log book, and confirmed that the papers had been forwarded on the 19th of January. He promptly rang the Cairns housing office, and explained this to them.. They denied ever receiving anything..

So basically, we were given little choice other than to get the stuff filled out and sent off again. This time, though, I think we were given slightly less forms to fill out.. just the basics i think, but fortunately we were able to book in to see the doctor already the following morning, and we were also able to get pretty much everything done and dusted by 9:30 thursday morning.. phew.. record timing.. We then returned to the courthouse with those precious papers, and this time asked them for copies as they had been lost previously.. they did that, and faxed the docs immediately down to cairns (actually, they both fax the docs and send them by post!).. Time of faxing (which they stamped on the photocopies they gave us), 09:52.

That done, we thought that we had done enough for the day, but i suddenly got this recollection of how we were told once that there was some kind of office in mareeba that we could go and register with and they could also help us find lodgings, so not really knowing quite where or what that office was, I honed in on some local council offices..

There in, Kveta and I approached the desk, and asked if they offered any assistance for homeless people, explaining that that might soon be our case if we continued being unsuccessful in finding a suitable place to live.. Explaining also about kvetas spinal cord injury..

We were told there was no emergency accommodation place that they knew of, but were given a lead to go see some guy who ran a sort of employment agency for people with disabilities, saying they believed he may have some ideas to help.. Once there, we nearly decided to give the place a miss, thinking that it was doubtful they would be able to help in anyway, but I told Kveta that I would just nip in quickly and ask some simple questions..

I was greeted by a guy named Barry, who as I'd imagined, appeared to have little idea, but he told me to hang on a sec, and disappeared into his office to make a call..

minutes later, he came out smiling and told me that we should go to some other office in town, and that there would be a woman waiting there to see us in half an hour.. My hopes weren't exactly overly enthusiastic about the idea, but I returned to Kveta, and told her what the plan was, and she agreed to go with the flow and see where it lead us..

So, the next stop was only around the corner, and I soon got the realisation that this office was in fact the one we had heard of previously that could assist us in finding housing.. It was a barely noticeably office, that apparently keeps irregular hours and rarely open to just wander in, but this lady named Patricia was waiting there for us, and patiently listened as we explained our situation to her..

Miraculously, she smiled and told us she had a place for us.. No fuss, no messing around.. She first described a unit somewhere, which I don't think either of us were that keen on, but when we explained that we needed a bathtub too, she immediately told us of another place that would be available to move in to from next week..

I could feel the stress relief valves open up for both of us as she told us this.. She said first she would have to check our status with housing, and she rang them immediatly, and was told that they were still waiting on our papers.. We explained they had been faxed an hour previously, but it appears they had once more gone missing, and the department denied ever receiving them.. Fortunately, this time we had the copies with us, so Patricia took them from us, and told the housing dept she had a copy of everything in her "hot little hands" as she worded it, and told them she would be faxing it down to them again straight away.. Which she promptly did, and after speaking with one guy handling our case down there, agreed that she would go ahead and process us for the house she had available..

She gave us the keys and told us to go have a look at the place.

It's sort of in a quiet suburb area in Mareeba. a 2 bedroom house with a front and back yard, and a large mango tree in the back yard..

Now we both know that this is not exactly the place that will ultimately be manifested for us, but as a stepping stone toward it we are quite content to be given the chance to stay there.. So we agreed to move in.. We need our own space and privacy, and, much as I might like Ian, his sometimes habit of bringing home road kills, wallabies and kangaroos and stuff, and letting them rot around the place has made the air at times unbreathable for us..

But I'm side tracking again.. OK.. We returned to Patricia, and asked if she had any idea how we could get the house furnished cheaply.. She was extremely kind and helpful , and wrote a letter for us, that we were told to deliver to some organization called "Lifeline", basically, through public donations of unwanted household stuff, they help out people in similar situations to ours, and they have agreed to fit out our house with the basic basics free of charge.. Bed, table, chairs, fridge, etc..

Unbelievable really.. Thursday turned out to be the day of big smiles as everything started to fall into place for us..

Also, I have to say that the house is not exactly everything we've been dreaming of, and that what we do know, is that in every case, it is purely temporary for us.. Patricia says we would likely be moved on within 6 months or less, as housing in cairns would still be searching for a new home for us, and one other organisation based in Atherton, who Patricia is also registering us with, will also be looking out for suitable accommodation for us elsewhere..

Because of our low budget lifestyle, and the fact that this organisation is somehow government sponsored, the rent is relative to what we can afford, and after an assessment of our bare incomes, we are quite relieved with it's affordability...

We've no idea where our true home is, yet, but the Divine continues to provide as always, and destiny awaits us..

We move in to our new home on Thursday (18th).. We'll probably get a telephone installed shortly after, and figure out some way to reconnect ourselves to the wide eyed web..

peace,
mango.

3rd february 2010..

2010-02-08T08:50:00.000+11:00

Well, Fruiopia certainly gets its fair share of visitors. Currently, in addition to ourselves, (Kveta & I), and Ian & his dog shelly, there's also MIchelle still staying here (she's canadian, been here more or less since the raw 801010 retreat that finished just prior to our arival in December), there's also a guy named Paul who's staying here, and yesterday, Darrick, who I interviewed on my blog not so distantly, arrived..

Paul is this 60 year old well traveled dude, former follower of Osho, and mostly living around the Byron area, originally from Ireland..

Actually, turns out he knows a couple of friends of mine from a while back.. Ben, the french instincto, who I've crossed paths with a couple of times, and Asakti, also a former Osho follower.. I'm informed both Ben and Askati who once adamantly stuck to raw, are not eating some cooked stuff too.. (Spoke briefly on the phone with Ben in November I think it was.. maybe October, or September or earlier too though.. no longer sure.. he was back in France, visiting his mother and friends.. mostly he's been living in recent years on Koh Tao in Thailand.. Where he and his partner have built a house that I believe is now up for sale.. Not sure where he is now, and what his plans are)..

Ben and I met here in Australia.. in fact, not too far from where I now sit.. at my old loved haunt, Mary Farms, where I hung out for in all around 1.5 years, some 12 years or so ago.. At the time there was this big rainbow gathering there, with several hundred people. One morning, Ben had decided to give an impromptu talk on instinctive eating, and I was among his small audience.. After he'd finished, I introduced myself, and he replied something like" Ahh, Mango, I know of a Mango also living in the Pyranees".. and I said to him, "yes, that would be me", and Ben patiently tried to explain that the other mango lived in the pyranees in France, and I insisted that that guy he was refering to, was in fact myself.. As it was.. (I had recently left France to visit Australia, and had arrived on a rarely given 4 year visa, so the mango in the pyranees he knew of, was in fact yours truly).

Anyhow, back to Fruitopia, and who's currently here.. Yes, Paul.. he's been here for a little under a week now I believe, and I gather plans to stick around for a couple of months or so.. He's a friend of Clintons, and already visited the place on numerous occasions, i gather doing a far bit of work here too. He's into raw foods I think. Including eggs at times too, I believe. I still haven't had that much of a chat with him, but seems like a good guy to be around.

Darrick, who's been globetrotting for the past 3 years or so, has also just travelled up from Byron Bay.. He was here in December for the 80/10/10 gathering, but left just before we arrived here, so this is the first time we've met outside of the internet.. He brought with him 2 once frozen, mostly thawed, durian he'd bought in Cairns at an asian store, and generously shared them with Kveta and I.. very nice.. far superior to the frozen durian you get in some woolworth stores here (they seem to defrost and refreeze them or something, and always taste like they are passed their prime.. not enough turnover i guess, unlike sydney that would take them from the freezer in the morning and be pretty sure they would all be gone by late afternoon..)

One of his reasons for getting here is to sample the akee, but the rain still seems to have stopped play.. Yesterday morning I checked the trees, but only found one that was open and ready, and when I got back, we discovered it was mostly rotten already.. there're a lot of green ones the rain and wind has knocked off the trees already, and although still a fair few fruit on the trees, many are stung and blackened, and very few appear to be ripening.. Still.. today the sun is shining, and sky's relatively clear, so maybe that'll give them a kick start again..

Darrick tells us that a guy named Robert Lockhardt will be visiting us on Thursday here.. I'm told he's a 65 year old fruitarian who can do walking hand stands.. Apparently he has some land just south of Port Douglas, and grows his own jackfruits and stuff.. Darrick tells me he's up for being interviewed on my blog when he gets here, so maybe another interview on it's way.. Also, Sandrine, one of the last people I interviewed has given me the email of another practising fruitarian in Europe that I can interview.. due to our dodgy internet connect, I've not followed up on that one yet..

3rd February. 2010

Yesterday we finally caught up with that guy, Dave, in Malanda, who had negotiated with us previously concerning the possibility of house sitting his place there.. We had been forever holding out that it may work out, but when we arrived unnanounced on his doorstep (we had no way of getting in touch with him as he never got back to us with his new number after his old phone had been lost), he just told us he had changed his plans..

Quite rude, we thought.. no apologies for not ringing us and letting us know (his last message to us had been that we would meet up that same day or shortly after, and discuss the possibility further, and then suddenly no further communication).. So all we could do was turn the car around, and leave.. (The Malanda house is about 1 hours drive from our Mareeba home)

So we are still very much in the same situation as previously..

However, we did check out a couple of real estates after visiting Dave, and one place had a property we drove out to have a look at.. Just outside of Milla Milla (which in some aboriginal tongue, I'm told, means rain rain, due to the heavy rainfalls it gets).. anyhow, we both loved the place.. nice big house, very private, nice land with a beautiful view in all directions and great soil.. several well established fruit trees on it already, 2 loaded avocado trees and several citrus things.. one passion fruit vine looking a little neglected but baring fruit still.. Definite privacy for naturism.. big sun room. Apparantly Quiet area with no visible neighbours..

The property is available for around $200 a week, which is sort of a little over what we are looking for, but rentals for under $200 a week are saddly few and far between.

Anyhow.. down to the real drawbacks.. No furniture.. well that's basically a minor issue, as it'd be easy to get hold of a matress which is all we'd need to get started, and other bits and pieces could slowly be gotten hold of.. However, the real issue would be that the lease is only really short term.. The owners are away, travelling, apparantly around australia, and are scheduled back in less than a year and a half from now.. but that's just a vague plan that could and likely will change, so they could theoretically return in 2 weeks, and suddenly we would be in exactly the same position, but only be under even more pressure to find a place quicker.. also there is a lot of grass needs mowing regularly, and although a sit on lawn mower is provided, if there are any problems with it, it would be up to us to get it fixed, which would be a potential added expense we could basically do without..

for these basic reason, i think we have already decided to give the place a miss.. a long term lease would be a different issue, where we felt the land was truly ours for a while ,and could get more trees in the ground..

So another no-goer..

We drove home, and discovered a small country house that sells persimmons, so bought a couple of kilos..

Oh, almost forgot to mention that we had another swim at Malanda Falls before heading home, and a picnic of pawpaw and passionfruit.. great spot!

It's Helena's birthday today. Happy birthday Helena (she's my sister!)..

peace,
mango.

29th january..

2010-02-01T15:01:00.000+11:00

It' the 2nd last day of January 2010, and we're still stuck at Fruitopia uncertain of our short term destiny.. We're in the middle of monsoon, and naturally thankful that the roof over our heads has no leaks..

The hopes to move in to the place in malanda, didn't pan out.. we eventually were gotten in touch with again by the owner, (says he lost his mobile phone and fell in love with a south american girl or something), who once again built up our hopes for a meeting and interior guided tour, but once more failed to follow through, leaving us wondering what happened and no way to contact him..

He reckons he's always like this, and thus not exactly the most reliable of persons, which is fine for him, i guess, not the way i like to be, but maybe he's just more spontaneous or something.. anyhow.. Ultimately we are still very unsure whether or not he is serious about us moving in, and our spirits are apprehensive in trusting him fully.. there is still a chance though. that tiny glimmer of hope that forever prevails..

apparently we were on TV last night, on the news, some guy at the markets who sells pineapples reckons he recognised me.. it was in connection with some news about possible road blocks due to the wet season and cyclones between here and townsville, that may stop the flow of food produce between here and there.. and the filming was done at rusties market, in cairns.. - we actually noticed that we were being filmed, but just carried on doing what we were doing, choosing our fruit.. So we weren't no big stars, just extras, as it were..

actually, that reminds me, i need to get in touch with that extras agency i was with in sydney, and tell them i've changed address, and ask if there's any chance of getting any extra work up this end of australia..

.. i just took a break in writing this, and accomplished the above paragraph.. one less thing to contend with..

yes.. the markets at mareeba were today.. (they're on the 2nd and 5th saturdays of the month) i'm gathering that there's a far greater turn out of stalls in the winter months, and when the rain is no longer ever present..

the markets are pretty good here, we're getting nice cucumbers, passionfruits sometimes, pineapples, avocadoes and more.. yesterday we were at rusty's market in cairns, and scored several locally grown durian.. 2 of them particularly good, 2 of them pretty lousy..the price varies depending on the vendour, i think there were 4 different sellers this week, with prices between $8 and $10 a kilo.. the best ones we got were $9 a kilo.. quite a bit dearer than the $5 a kilo we were paying in sydney, but worth it for them being local and fresh.. We're keeping all the seed, and many of them are sprouting already in trays.. hopefully we can get some in the ground wherever we end up, and that the climate will change enough for them to flourish on the tablelands..

we also got one mame (sapote), and a rather large yellow one (sapote - canistel) - both at $3 a kilo.. the canistel is often just too powerful for me, and i can only handle it in very small doses.. i think most of it will get wasted.. we'll have to remember in future to only buy the smaller ones.

NEXT DAY ALREADY.. (Sunday the 31st January, 2010)

Sorry, I've had a lot on my mind lately, and much as I have a head full of updates, they're rarely getting blogarised.. As well as the stress of us not having a "home", i have recently sort of reestablish communication with my brother who I've pretty much been out of touch with since the mid 1980s or less.. (time flies!).. i think time has lead us both down very different paths with differing viewpoints and outlooks on life, and it is not without a good deal of, to put it in the best way i can, "challenge", that we have exchanged our first words..

At this point I'm not 100% sure where things are headed, but I choose to believe that I've done the right thing by getting in touch again, and that what we have to say to each other, is what we both need to hear, even though we might not find our words if there might be a certain degree of challenge in our words..

my brother has chosen a very academic path, and i like to think of him as a renowned mathematics professor at the forefront of his fields.. he certainly has always been someone that in many ways i've looked up to and admired.. he used to know all the answers on those trivia quiz shows, even the most bizarre geeky ones on university challenge and mastermind.. maybe i'm exaggerating some, but he certainly is a genius on many levels..

he's done the house and car and wife and kids and dogs and cats thing, with a prestigious job teaching in some college in wisconsin, US, somewhere.. A path I for many years believed would also ultimately be mine, but destiny is a strange and fickle beast and that just wasn't meant to be..

as far as diet and ethics go, which as you know is a major part of my life, there is little we have in common, i gather he gives only token regard to the role food plays in society, and although he may be aware of certain more obvious issues, like many of the rest of society are, like the bulk, i believe he remains ignorant of the full extent that diet can and does effect us..

hey, i'm not by any means saying i have full awareness either, and maybe even the awareness I do have is even flawed, of course, it could be, just i adamantly don't believe it is. :)

Anyhow, that's something on going, and after feeling initially quite perturbed by our first emails, i've moved on and decided to be more lighthearted about it, and just see where it leads, and try not to hold too many expectations..

..

Kveta is often reading the gypsey tarot for us, as we are impatient to be at home, and the cards always show that it is on it's way.. her mum checks regularly for us too, and the cards are always bright and shiny with a most positive outlook.. and at rusty's on friday, there was one woman had a stall reading tarot, and as i walked past, she said pick one, any card, so i honed in on the one i wanted, and it flipped over to be quickly interpreted by her as beautiful house and home surrounded by light.. so it certainly feels like things are looming ahead for us, even though still invisible.. patience mango.. patience..

anyhow.. no ideas if i'll get to post this today, as i'm doing all my writing, replying, emails etc offline on our trusty laptop, and then copy things to a usb stick and sometimes connect to the internet via an ultraslow dialup internet connection that is constantly flaking out and taking forever to load pages.. quite frustrating, so try not to contend with it too often.. the best thing to use is portable thunderbird for the emails, as i can receive them all at once onto my usb stick, then work with them from our computer later, offline..

anyhow.. ciao for now,
mango.

Still Homeless..

2010-01-25T18:35:00.000+11:00

Well.. Perhaps I shouldn't really say that.. We have a roof over our heads and are dry, safe, warm and well fed.. If but still somewhat impatient to be "at home"..

We've been making efforts to find somewhere we can feel comfortable to be settled for a longer period of time, and scouring the lengths and breadths of the tablelands in doing so.. Which has unfortunately meant burning a lot of fossil fuels in the process.. We dream on of water powered motor vehicles - especially now, here, when there is such an abundance of that kind of wet fuel (we're going through queensland rainy season at the moment.. i think 60 mms of rain yesterday!).

The tablelands are breathtakingly beautiful in places, and I'm sorry I'm not posting more pictures.. Not sure if I mentioned but the panasonic lumix camera I bought in June last year, the supposedly "tough" unbreakable one, broke on me.. the little lense cover cracked, not even sure when or how it happened.. but the knock also seems to have damaged the usb connection too, so can't even get the pictures that are on there off.. Well, I could if I make the effort, as the memory card is still fine, I'm guessing, so I do have a little card reader thing somewhere, just buried in all the stuff we haven't yet unpacked (and don't really intend to until we find our home)..

anyhow.. back to the home search thing.. We've had an offer to housecare for a guy named Peter in Ravenshoe (pronounced Raven's Hoe, not Raven Shoe!).. We went out to look at the place.. It's far from ideal, and although the owner would not be there most of the time, he would sometimes, and at times, he would require us to look after and feed his dogs too.. He has a fair bit of land surrounding the house, but so far only a few small scrawny looking trees in the ground at the moment.. He would be open for us to do what we want with the garden/land, and has even told us he'd buy whatever fruit trees we want to plant out.. There're definitely plus points about being there, but we know that they have to be weighed against other issues.. Like, the times when he will also be living there.. Much as he seems like a pretty reasonable guy, his lifestyle is pretty conventional, and I can see him just wanting to sizzle his sausages, take a beer or 2 from the fridge, and plonking himself in front of his big widescreen TV.. Which is ok, I guess, only the house rooms are not that separated that we could circumnavigate his presence..

I don't mean to give the guy a bad name.. far from it.. i liked him, friendly, welcoming, accepting and i think we'd get on ok, just kveta and i are private people and enjoy and require our own space too much.. neither of us would be happy smelling burning flesh at times either, and the dogs (he has 6 of them), would most certainly be an issue at times too.

Anyhow, we've got until one day next week sometime to get back to him and give him a yay or a neigh.. So that's been at the back of our minds.. (If we were to say yes, we would have to explain to him that the position would be fully temporary, as quite honestly we would ultimatelly still be looking for our own private secluded place.. - actually, that may possibly make him himself decide that we were not suitable..).

OK.. meanwhile though, we've had another offer of house caring.. this time in a small village and area we prefer.. a place called Malanda.. A somewhat similar deal, but in a different location, and chickens instead of dogs.. doh!

Actually, we met the owner on Friday at Rusty's market in Cairns. He's a taxi driver in Cairns, most of the time, and originally from Mount Isa, where it's likely he made his fortune in the mining industry.. (mount Isa being a desert, mining, town)

He gave us the address of his place, and on saturday, yesterday, we drove out to take a look at it..

Nice views.. nice area.. Big house, and this house looks more sort of divided than the one in ravenshoe, so the privacy thing wouldn't be the same issue at all..

there's a car port for the car, and nice swimming holes short distances away.. land surrounding the house that could easily be fruit treed. A few visible neighbours around, but in the distance..

He wasn't there to give us a tour of the inside, but the fact that he's just let us stroll around and look at the place shows that he trusts us some, and tomorrow, monday, we'll be driving out to meet him again, and take the interior tour, and hopefully get his ultimate "yay" or "neigh"..

We are actually both a little excited about the prospect of moving in there and housecaring, as we both like that area, even though we've been told that malanda isn't the most hottest of areas around this way (mornings in the winter are said to be a bit chilly, but the rest of the day is warm, and a fair amount of rainfall there too, which'd be good for the fruit trees I guess)..

OK.. what about the downsides.. well.. there's the sharing thing.. ultimately we are looking for our own space to live as we wish, for me especially, I want the privacy to practise naturism as and when the weather permits, and then there's the issue of no dam or creek on the land, something that's in both our visions of the ideal home.. Of course, the chickens thing isn't ideal either, but at least they are more independent, free ranging and don't need regularly letting out of cages and feeding (which would be the case for the 6 dogs in ravenshoe - not to mention the hosing down of their cages etc, and the stuff they'd be fed, which we'd both be very reluctant to handle!)..

The Malanda home has a great rear view of the valley, but no established fruit trees that I noticed, and it's onlooked by distant surrounding properties..

I think that it's likely, given our current situation, that if the offer is not withdrawn after our monday inspection, that we will probably move in there, and at least have somewhere we feel more sure of calling home for a while.. Maybe just relax some, finally unpack our stuff, and then use that place as a safe base while we ultimately wait for our true home and piece of paradise, which afterall, may not be with us any day soon (although, it may, too!)..

Actually, as coincidences go.. Kveta first came to Australia on the 26th of January 1986, so the 26th would indeed be a nice freaky date to be moving in to that new home.. touch wood..

I guess life is treating us well no matter how we might otherwise complain or express impatience, things are flowing, and even if we don't end up moving in there, i have no doubt that we'll make it work somehow, and that the Divine truly does provide.

peace,
mango
ps i wrote this yesterday, but am only just connecting to the internet.. meanwhile we went to see the malanda property, but it was a "no show", the owner never turned up, and after 2 hours, we turned around and came home..

Peace,
mango.

The film crew..

2009-12-31T13:03:00.000+11:00

Emile, whose project it was to put together the documentary of our relocation and fruitarian lifestyle, and David, his well trusted camera man, were with us from the 6th of December until the 19th, when they left us to drive back down to Sydney, for their scheduled flight out of here back to the US on the 23rd..

We've not yet heard from them since leaving, but our internet activity is down to a record minimum (access is via an ultraslow very flaky telephone line, dial up connection here on the farm), and I should really write them a short note to find out how their return trip and flight were..

Anyhows, on arrival they hired this convertible sports car at Sydney airport, but the deal was it had to be returned to the same airport, otherwise they perhaps may have stayed an extra day or 2 or so filming, and then flown down to sydney from cairns.. I didn't envy them leaving and driving down again in such a short space of time. they would have had to do a fair bit of night driving too, to make it in time.

in their convertible, they were able to get some road shots in too, filming us from both behind and in front, and a few overtaking sort of shots..surprisingly they only got pulled over twice by the police (both times in Queensland), and each time they were let off lightly with a warning, I suspect the attitude of the police may have been slightly harsher had they not been so presentable and more hippylike of appearance..

still, the good thing, for us, was that we were able to drive on and not get involved with the police stuff. I'm not a fan of police, despite no criminal record, and being such a good boy and all that, I still find their presence intimidating, and dislike their authorative tones they brandish.

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but Emile first heard of fruitarianism when he ran into Julian on some backpacker place somewhere in central or South America.. Julian, who I had met briefly in central Victoria, roughly 2 years previously, had been on a raw vegan diet, but been inspired to move to all fruit (there's an interview with him on my main blog).. Anyhow, Emile soon came up with the idea to make a doco about fruitarianism, and asked Julian if he would be willing to participate.. Julian decided he was slightly too camera shy, and put Emile in touch with me, and the rest is history.

I kind of would have liked to have gotten to know E & D better, but their focus was mainly on getting whatever footage they could, in order to later piece the mosaic together.. In fact, I believe, all up, they took well over 40 hours of film, and the thesis is only supposed to be an estimate of 20 minutes.. I'm certainly pleased that it's not I that is faced with the task of being the button monkey who has to edit it all together in some coherent sense, but very pleased that the doco is being made, and that we had 2 such open minded young guys that were up for the task!

On arrival here, at this place called fruitopia, we were greeted by Ian, already briefly mentioned in a previous post, and his dog Shelly. The farm was otherwise deserted, just days earlier, it had been buzzing with activity as roughly 25, 80/10/10 raw fooders, zoomed in on the place for some kind of, going to perhaps be a regular occurance, raw vegan gathering, organized I gather, by are old friend Harley, his partner Freelea, and a 3rd guy, Nick, the yoga guy..

Well, although they had disappeared from the scene, over the course of the next few days, the 801010'ers slowly began reappearing again.. The following day, a young american guy named Ryan strolled through together with Michelle (canadian, whose still here on a sort of wwoofing basis) and Chiharo, a cooked japanese traveller also wwoofing and unconnected to the raw vegan happening.. .

Shortly after, Harley, over the space of about a week, Freelea and Nick turned up, possibly not quite in that order, another guy named Venant, and Greg and his partner Claire.. We missed out on meeting Darrick who was also one of the guys I interviewed on my blog a while ago, although rumour has it he may be returning before he leaves Australian shores again.

Well, having so many raw vegans turn up eating such a high percentage fruit diet, was fodder for the camera, and E & D got in several hours of interviews with whoever was willing. Probably Harley being the most vocative, as he seems to be born into the whole public speaking thing. (Actually, several of the mentioned names turned up after E&D had left, but they still got their fair share of slightly differing raw food ideas.. Including a lengthy interview with Ian who, as mentioned in a previous post, is on his own version of a raw food diet, based on some guy named vonderplanet, or something somewhat similar.. He basically eats rotten fermented meat, sometimes road kills (kangaroos, possums etc), and probably mostly organic store bought, and allowed to rot.. Raw milk, eggs etc..

He's sort of being influenced by the french instincto movement too, and doesn't mind the occasional maggot, or worm infested piece of fruit.

I look at his way of eating as pretty bizarre, and am not surprised that his body got into the toxic state it did, leading him to seek medical intervention.. But he sees things differently, and somehow his body must have built up an immunity to the e-colis and salmonella that probably thrive within..

Actually though, he's a pretty good guy, and in many ways very open minded and nonjudgemental, so I enjoy his company, despite our current differences in dietary outlook.

Actually, too, I'm sort of beyond really making a big deal about what other people eat or don't eat. I understand that apart from spreading the message some, there is little I can do about others' choices, and understand too, that we are really each of us responsible only for our own actions..

Interestingly, Harley has a different stance on that one, and believes it's our responsibility to get out there and tell everyone that they are erring.

Partly I can see his point, and really admire the guy for doing what he does, and taking the approach he does.

Our slight differences toward diet, (i'm thinking now of the 801010ers and Kveta and I), sparked many long and interesting debates about what was right and what wasn't.. We believe they tend to overeat, over drink and push their bodies to extremes that ultimately aren't healthy, they believe we are undernourished, dehydrated, and lethargic, and are highly skepitcal as to whether a solely fruit diet can be maintained over an extended period of time..

I enjoyed the challenge of our discussions, and may write more of them at later dates..

I've moved away from the subject of the post.. Well.. I didn't really know where I was headed when I started writing..

Think I'll end now.

Peace,
Mango

Sydney to Cairns..

2009-12-30T09:57:00.001+11:00

Well, we left our sydney abode as planned, on the 9th December.. Emile and David, the US doco makers, had arrived in Australia, 2 or 3 days before that, and had had time to film a little of our then suburban surroundings, plus various bits of our habitual lifestyle, followed by packing and final steps toward fleeing the nest, including goodbyes to our neighbours, who all expressed their well wishes, and many, apparent surprise when questioned on their thoughts that we just lived on fruit alone, often acting as if it was complete news to them, despite us having many times mentioned it in passing.. I guess having the camera in ones face makes one more willing to take note..

Anyhow, the day before departure, Emile, (whose project is to knock this documentary together as part of his thesis at Standford), invested in 2 cheapo, but adequate mobile phones , and a couple of equally fitting pay as you go plans, such that for the journey up, we would be able to communicate if need be, while driving our 2 cars.. (they had hired a car at sydney airport, for the duration of their short 3 week stay here)..

We left Sydney, I think it was a Wednesday morning, crossing over the Harbour bridge for hopefully the final time, and headed northbound into the relative uncertainty of the unknown..

The journey was mostly pretty noneventful, with our main focus on getting up here.. However, we did stop off on a few places, like tropical fruitworld, (the big avocado), and a couple of other "big" places.. Emile and David forever tangling themselves in wires to capture the moment on tape, which meant spontaneity often had to take a back seat..

Sleeping, for us, me and Kveta, Kveta and I, was mostly done in roadside lay overs off the motor way.. in our once trusty sturdy tent.. (alas, on arrival here, all 6 poles just splintered on us, rendering the tent useless, until we possibly find replacement poles, which we haven't put that great an effort into yet)..

we'd often talk with people, other travellers, as we pulled over, and whenever they were able, the film crew were there to film the interplay of words..

The car was pretty full, with pretty much most of what we needed and desired to take with us, and the only thing we left behind was kvetas wheelchair, which I don't think had been used once since I've been here.. That was left with our neighbour Brian, who stored it in his spare bedroom, and I guess Kveta may pick it up some time in 2010, possibly in conjunction with a European flight back to the CR to visit her family..

Anyhows.. the journey took us roughly 6 days, and roughly 2700, 2800 kms.. Which is sort of what we'd estimated..

On arriving in Cairns, we more or less immediately headed up to Mareeba, where we managed to find this place we're currently staying at.. It's called Fruitopia, and is currently owned by a guy named Clinton who probably spends most of his time down in Adelaide where I gather he owns an organic fruit stall of sorts, with possibly a mish-mash of other stuff that one might expect in most health food stalls..

He wasn't here on arrival, but we were greeted by the caretaker, Ian, a pretty nice guy on a pretty weird diet.. He was suffering at the time with a rather infected throat complaint, rendering it unable for him to really swallow anything, including liquids.. He was quite welcoming despite his clearly dehydrated weakened state, and we were able to set up camp at the back of one of the houses.. However, once we'd done that, I soon realised the state of the tent poles, and gave up all hopes of somehow gluing it back together, so we ended up moving in to one of the rooms of one of the houses, where we're still living, surrounded by all the stuff from the car which has been emptied out around us.

(After much thought about what the right thing to do was, Ian finally opted on getting medical help for his throat, and after a quick ambulance trip into cairns hospital and a short sharp treatment of antibiotics coupled with some syringe type throatal intervention, he was soon back able to swallow and slowly regaining his vitality.. - More on his choice of diet later...)

Anyhows, we are still living in the same room. Clearly it's not exactly what we were looking for, and just a temporary place to be for us, as we put out the message, when we can, to whom we can, that we are looking for our own private piece of paradise..

We have certain criteria about the place we ultimately desire to be living, and trust that the path to it's hideaway is being manifested as I write. Kvetas mother, having countless times read our fortune in the tarot cards, is without doubt that it awaits us as eagerly as we it..

I've written down a manifestation sheet of what we are looking for:

LAND - ASAP (Please!!) With:

1. Some well established fruit trees.
2, Room for plenty more.
3. Backing on to state forest.
4. Creek, or Dam, or both, with easy access.
5. Gravity feed water. (not reliant on the national water grid with it's fluoride and more chemical poisonings)
6. Flat smooth ground, not rough or too stony.
7. Close to friendly fruit (tree) growers (for easy access to food we aren't growing ourselves).
8. Good soil. Ideal for growing whatever fruits we wish..
9. No Feral pigs, and no swarms of biting insects.
10. Tropical climate with altitude enough to avoid the tsunami.
11. Simple old style, 2 bedroom (or more), house, with a nice covered wooden decking looking on to the garden.
12. Phone line with broadband access.
13. Garage or carport.
14. Privacy for practise of naturism, and free of noise pollution.
15. Easily affordable, or FREE.

OK.. I guess there is room for some degree of flexibility, and not all the wrinkles need to be ironed out immediately, but that's basically what we are looking for, and after already searching around for the past couple of weeks, and getting the message out there, we do realise that this is one of the more difficult manifestations we've requested, so understand too our need to practise patience, and attempt to remain positive.

We don't by any means have money to buy such a piece of property, so we're looking initially toward rental, but we're also open to things coming to somehow manifest the money one might need in order to invest in such an ideal place.

There is no greed, we feel that such living is everyones birthright, and we attempt to wait as patiently as capable in order for it to be returned to us.

I have heaps more to write, but that'll have to wait for another day..

hugs,
mango.

laptop down..

2009-11-14T14:04:00.000+11:00

hi all..

just a short note that our laptop crashed on us..

we took it in for repairs immediately, and after believing that it would be fixed after a few days, have just discovered that it would actually take another 1 or 2 weeks. I have the laptop back again as we have to decide whether or not it is worth repairing..

Meanwhile, this is my first time on the internet since the laptop broke, (i'm in an internet cafe!) and my email account is pretty full with stuff for me to read through and process..

I'm afraid it will have to wait, as I'm reluctant to stay here too long. So apologies, once more, for unanswered emails/comments etc..

meanwhile, kveta and i are still plotting our sydney escape that should become an actuality before the 10th of december..

kveta has also not been on the internet since the laptop went on us.. I had a couple of blog entries queued to go (on my main blog), that were posted automatically, so it may have appeared as if i was here, online, but actually wasn't..

anyhow's.. no telling when we will be back in cyberland, but we will be making efforts to get back online as soon as possible..

peace,
mango.

Rabbit Proof Fence

2009-10-28T14:17:00.000+11:00

Watched this very moving sad film yesterday..

Something called Rabbit Proof Fence..

It's a true story from some 60 odd years ago of 3 young aboriginal children that were forcibly separated from their mothers by the state, in a barbaric attempt (that only ended in 1970!) to somehow eradicate the aborignal race, through interbreeding them with white people..

The girls are taken over 1500 kms from their homeland, where they are then imprisoned with a whole bunch of other kids suffering the same fate..

Through bush survival skills, these 3 girls escape the home they are forced to live in, and miraculously (2 of them) find their way back to their mother..

It's an incredibly sad movie that had me crying through the most of it, and even now, just thinking of it, the tears are welling up again..

I find human behaviour often extremely incomprehensible..

peace,
mango.

First swim of the season..

2009-10-26T15:22:00.000+11:00

Last Tuesday (20th October), for the first time this season, I went for a swim in the sea..

As usual, for the time of year, the sea was a little cold, but nevertheless, still very refreshing..

Kveta was visiting a friend on that day, so the following day, we set out together to another local beach, and kveta had her first swim of the season too..

It's great to get back to beach life, and warmer weather, and hopefully we'll get a few more such days in before we finally up and leave our home here..

yes.. we are still making slow but sure headway toward leaving here, and setting forth northbound to the tropics..

tentatively we are currently thinking around the 10th of december, so we'll be there before the silly season starts..

giant butterfly outside our door

Meanwhile, still that ongoing sifting through things and, often reluctantly, ridding ourselves of material things which we could likely later make us of, but there's really just no simple practical way to relocate stuff to our new home.. especially considering that we don't fully know where we will settle yet..

a lot of unknown ahead of us, and a good exercise in faith.. We will basically be homeless for a while..

We reckon it will take us roughly one week to drive to the area we wish to settle (somewhere inland from cairns).. And a clearly unknown time before we find a place to call home..

Wish us luck!
peace,
mango.

Rainy days are here again..

2009-10-05T09:42:00.001+11:00

It's drizzling outside, and I just checked the weekly weather forecast for Sydney. Here's what the next few days are predicted to look like:

Wet and unusually cold for the time of year..

But after weeks of dry weather, the garden is surely rejoicing.. We're not really gardening much at all recently, seems like little point as we are counting down the weeks to leave, and no doubt once we have gone, the councel or whoever takes over our little one bedroomed flat, will likely transform what we have anyhow.

When we do garden, we like to do so in a random sort of way, encouraging the biodiversity that such methods support.. Also, we are big fans of mulch, so watering is rarely necessary at all. (besides, all our compost gets buried in small shallow holes, effectively watering the garden from under the ground, as our food/fruit scraps are still very much full ofliquid when buried).

Having fun with digital images.. (click to enlarge)
It seems well likely that we may still be in Sydney in December, but rest assured, we have seen our last winter here, and this coming summer will be our last one too.

Little else to report.

Progress is being made.

hugs,
Mango.

Sydneys Orange Skies..

2009-09-24T08:35:00.001+10:00

We woke up yesterday morning to find sydney blanketed in an eerie orange/red glow, and like many others, presumed the aliens had come to fetch us..

But no such luck.. looks like we're stuck down here a while longer still..

Meanwhile, it turns out the orange haze was from severe winds in the northern territories and southern australian desert, that drifted over to NSW covering much of it with this weird dust reminiscent of the dust I used to see regularly in Spain (presumably transported from the african sahara), only the orange haze here was incomparably thicker than anything I've ever witnessed before..

See pictures of this peculiar happening here:

Sydney's Strange Orange Skies

People were wearing masks out on the street, and emergency wards were flooded with sudden hordes of overweight mucusly clogged up asthma sufferers..

Also, yesterday, Zalan got back from his Far North Queensland trip, and spent a few hours with us before getting back in to his car and heading south toward his home in central Victoria, - Hepburn Springs..

Meanwhile, too, paperwork and progress headway is slowly being made toward reaching our goal of leaving Sydney.. I have been to the immigration office, and had my passport stamped with my shiny new full residency permit, I've received my National Insurance Medicare card, and I've also gotten myself an Australian (NSW) Driving License.. It's only valid for 1 year, but pointless me getting one that lasts longer as once we change State to Queensland, I'll have to get myself a new license anyway.

Slow progress is also being made within our appartment, and the liberation of the many material junk stuff we have still remnant from our bygone market sundays..

today the strange orange fog has complettely lifted, and the day's back to a normal blue sunny colour, - just like it should be..

hugs,
Mango.

Spring's here and the bindis are out..

2009-09-15T13:47:00.001+10:00

Funny how one day walking on the lawn is a shear pleasure for ones bared feet, and then suddenly, overnight, that self same lawn becomes so painful to walk on..

Yes, it's bindi season again, and the bindi spikes are suddenly sharpened, pointed and well, just generally spikey.. And such a contrast! - In the season when their spikes aren't out, the bindi plant is very soft under the feet, and a positive delight to walk on..

Green Tree Frog, smaller than half my thumb, Found in the reeds
(Click to Enlarge)
The frogs are out singing a lot. I discovered this little fellow hiding in the long grass on the local golf course - He was no bigger than half my thumb!!

This is the same frog:

Cute tiny green tree frog
(Click to Enlarge)
Also the golf course is currently teaming with new little bunnies. I crossed paths with the one in the picture below while crawling through the bushes. He sat startled for a while, allowing me to get 2 meters away and take a photo of it, before hopping off into the undergrowth..

Sadly though, the golf course management regularly cull them by spreading the painful cruel death of mixamatosis. Crazy as they are no harm to anyone, and keep their digging to the bushes creating an inconvenience for noone..

Wild Baby Rabbit
(Click to Enlarge)
Kveta and I are excited about leaving Sydney, and making slow headway toward that goal. The car has a cracked windscreen which we need to get fixed. Now that I have my full residency, I need to get an ozzy driving license. We have an apartment half full of junk still, that we are slowly sorting through and getting rid of.

It'll happen..

I've been hearing news about my little niece who's growing up fast and is very clever.. I miss her heaps and feel sad about not seeing her grow up.. I'm thinking I may return to Europe in 2011 for a visit, but would love to see close family migrate here to Australia, and hope that that they be a future possibility..

Amelia, 1 month ago
(Click to Enlarge)
Fruitwise we've got 2 boxes of oranges, some cuces, tomatoes, avos, watermelons, grapefruits and 2 durians..

Life's good,
Mango.

Permanent Residency!!!

2009-09-10T15:24:00.003+10:00

Hi all.

great news for us here...

I just received a letter from the department of immigration who say they are pleased to inform me that my request for permanent residency has been granted!!!

Well they may be pleased, but we are ecstatic!

YIPPPPEEEE!
I get to stay down under!!!!

hugs,
mango.

My Mondays..

2009-09-08T15:43:00.001+10:00

On Monday mornings, I drive out to Daceyville..

This is the cottage garden
Only takes me between 10 and 15 minutes to get there, and once there, I do an hour or 2 of gardening with Dulcey.. She's this elderly lady who owns a small cottage there, and each year she enters into one of those cottage garden competition things.

I've been helping her with her garden these past months, to get ready for this years competition and the images here I took yesterday..

Pink flower in Dulcey's garden
As you can see, the flowers are in full bloom right now..

Each ear, she gets rid of most of her flowers and turns the garden over ready for the next year, which's what I was doing there to begin with, and then planting all the new flowers..

She normally wins, and has done for the past decade or so, except last year she came 2nd.. She is getting on in years, and finds it difficult to work as much as she used to, so that's where I came into her life..

Yellow flower in Dulcey's garden
After Dulceys' I often walk across the road to another woman called Carmen, and do a little gardening for her too, but I prefer working with Dulcey as she's more hands on than Carmen..

Kveta singing, and Zalan..

2009-08-29T16:10:00.002+10:00

Hi all..

Just had my friend Zalan drop by for a couple of days.. He's a borderline fruitarian on a raw vegan predominantly fruit diet, living in central Victoria.. He drove up here, and has left his car parked outside while he spends a few weeks up in the Cairns area.. (he took the quick option getting there, and flew up a couple of days back)..

Me and Zalan, about to enjoy a durian feast

The last time we met, was in Victoria, around Christmas 2006, New Year 2007.. We seem to bump into each other ever couple of years or so..

Zalan's currently focusing on getting a book written on vegaculture.. That's what we'd like to think of as the next step after permaculture, and stands for (permanent/sustainable) vegan agriculture - Basically food production that promotes biodiversity, sustainability and free from any form of animal exploitation, including the usage of slaughtered animal byproducts such as dried blood and bone meal that are frequently used as ingredients in agricultural soil..

His website is: VegaDev.com.au

I finally bought a memory card for the new camera I got a few weeks back, and this time it works fine.. This is the first video... It's Kveta singing..

2 years waiting so far.

2009-08-15T14:38:00.002+10:00

Well, August the 13th 2007 was the day I lodged the application for my permanent residency... That's 2 years and 2 days ago..

Officially, the application takes 2 years to process, and thus the acceptance date for my full residency is to be 13th August 2009... Only trouble is, as I think I mentioned in a previous post, it may be up to another 90 days before they actually tell me whether I have it or not..

Kveta in our little garden

At least the worst of the wait is over now, and, touch wood, all of the paperwork.. So should be just a question of sitting back and waiting as patiently as we can, for that letter of confirmation to arrive..

OK.. recent changes.. and updates.. Not many. Sun's shining.. Oh, I've recently been in touch with a documentary film maker in the US who wants to make a doco on fruitarianism, and is considering featuring kveta and myself in it..

me reading

Filming wouldn't be until end of this year, and I've told the guy we've really no idea exactly where we'll be by then, but that we are otherwise very keen to be a part of his project.

Also, a guy I used to work with some 20 years ago, Bobby, has generously donated some paypal funds which will go toward getting a newer laptop for us.. This one is on it's last legs and far too slow..

Peace to all,
Mango.

Kveta's back, immigration stuff finally sent off..

2009-08-05T12:35:00.003+10:00

Well, kveta got back punctually. No delays, and all in one piece though of course jet-lagged and with swollen ankles from the journey and over exposure to the air conditioning of the plane (she reacts strongly to air-con)..

That was already 6 days ago, last Thursday morning. Since then we've just been relaxing, taking it easy, and feasting on the occasional durian.

For the weekend, we set to work finalising those immigration papers I received nearly 2 months ago. The deadline for getting them done and filled out is in about 2 days from now, so it as a bit of a last minute rush thing..

Anyhow, we had them filled and signed by a GP witness by Sunday afternoon, and the following day, (Monday, 2 days ago), I sent them off by Platinum Express (recorded, registered next day delivery). So hopefully that'll be the last of the paperwork and it's just a question of waiting for that certificate saying I'm a permanent resident..

I can tell you that it is a great relief to finally have those papers out of my hands and sent of..

Actually, looking through my old paperwork, I see that it was 13th August 2007 that we lodged the residency application, which means, I think, that it'll be the 13th August this year (in just a little over a week) that if all goes well, my permanent residency will be valid from. Excepting that I may not know that for up to 90 days from the date those papers we just sent are received by immigration in Melbourne..

Kveta and I still haven't taken any new pictures since she got back, and the photos she took while in the Czech Republic are still on the camera and USB stick she took with her. We'll get to downloading and uploading some soon enough.. and while still on the subject of cameras, the new one I bought recently is still missing a memory card and i'm still unsure if the problem is with the camera or the card.

I had my 48th birthday a few days ago.. We're not really in to birthdays and that kind of stuff, so no big deal.. The sun's shining and the future is looking bright.

Kveta gets back tomorrow morning!

2009-07-29T20:15:00.004+10:00

I'm waiting impatiently for Kveta's return..

She gets back tomorrow morning..

Sitting on the beach waiting for kveta

Seems like she's been gone for ages!!

Been cleaning our little flat. Still have heaps of junk here left over from the markets.. We'll have to make a decision on whether to throw it all out or try and sell more of it..

The new camera we got is working ok, except that i believe the problem with the memory card may not have been a memory card problem at all.. It could be that the problem is with the camera.. We'll find out soon.

Rainy day and Tord's book..

2009-07-17T12:45:00.001+10:00

Spoke briefly with Kveta on Wednesday (evening my time, morning her time).. I've been trying to find out how to make 100% free international calls via the internet, with varying degrees of success.. the trouble is that there are several websites that let you make free calls, but they all appear to be just one off trial calls that last between 5 and 10 minutes..

So we ended up chatting via google chat for a while instead.. that is until my internet connection broke..

She's doing ok, and will update her journal once she gets back here and has a few days to settle..

Well, today I was going to go sell some balls, but it turned out wet and rainy again, so i gave up on that idea, and been sitting at the computer all morning reading..

That is, until the postman got here, and delivered me a package from Sweden..

It was a present from a recent contact I've made on the internet, a guy named Tord Lyseving who's been a fruitarian for 25 years already, and written several books on the subject.. Mostly in Swedish, but also this most recent one in English.

I haven't started on it yet, but it's sitting next to me waiting to be read..

Strange, I thought I knew (or knew of) most of the long term fruitarians out there, and I'd never heard mention of Tord before, - this despite the books he's written, - and only discovered him serendipituously through searching around for forums in norwegian about fruitarianism.. He was the subject of a thread on a swedish forum, which I briefly allowed myself to get sucked in to.

Tord has agreed to be interviewed on my main blog, and only yesterday I sent him an interview to fill out, so I'll publish that when it gets back to me..

Great stuff! I love reading fruitarian related books, and am eager to get started on this one.. I still haven't read Anne's book, but look forward to doing so one day too..

Not sure how you can go about ordering his book(s), but I'll find out soon, and include a review of the book and where one can order a copy, on my main blog.. - once i've done reading it that is..

Hugs for everyone,
mango.

More on the memory card and immigration

2009-07-11T18:29:00.001+10:00

That memory card for the camera never turned up. The seller didn't answer my emails, and a little research showed me that he/she had disappeared from Ebay.

Looking back toward the mainland from the island

I presumed that I had been scammed, and after contacting help on ebay, initiated a refund request via paypal...

Shortly after, I ordered another card, this time slightly smaller, but still a pretty chunky 16gb, also through Ebay..

Looking out to sea

Anyhow, I'd counted my losses on the first card, figuring that it's unlikely that paypal would ever refund me as the seller appeared to have disappeared from paypal too.. But then, to my surprise, yesterday morning I got another email from the original seller saying a new card is in the post..

Well, I'm not holding my breath, but possibly there are 2 memory cards on their way here..

Walking on our local little island

As for the immigration stuff, I'm not sure if I said before, but we're having to delay sending any of the paperwork in until Kveta gets back..

This because some of the forms have to be signed by a witness, so not really possible for Kveta to get done overseas.. Kveta gets back on the 30th of this month, 19 days from now, and the forms have to be in by the 3rd of August, so just enough time, and once more it'll be such a relief to get them done fully and sent in.

We may not be able to leave Sydney as quickly as we'd hoped as it looks like it can take up to 3 months more before I am told one way or another whether I can stay..

Next to an old shipwreck

I think it would break my heart if I was told to leave, and I have no idea what would happen if that were to be the case, so I'm choosing not to go there.. Instead, on the bright side, even if it takes them another 3 months to give me an answer, the official date of my full residency would still be in mid August this year.. I already know that if all goes well, I will apply for citizenship as soon as I am able. Not exactly sure if that would be 2, or 3, years after the granting of my full residency..

Kveta is currently in some small town called decin (still in czech rep), visiting her aunt (mother's sister), and on some weekend course for drawing.. She gets back to her parents place on monday, and because of time difference, I'll not be talking to her until Tuesday morning her time (early evening my time)..

Nothing much else to report.

hugs for all,
mango.

Being outside more..

2009-07-03T17:46:00.001+10:00

Well.. the days tick by, and our new camera has arrived, and these past couple of days I've been taking it out with me on my long walks.. Here's on of my first pictures

Playing with myself

I'm a little restricted with it at the moment, as I Ebay ordered a 32gb memory card to use with it, which seems to not work, so I've asked for a replacement that's supposedly on it's way already..

Anyhow, meanwhile, the camera has some minimal built in memory which allows me to take about 10 photos before it gets full, and that's what I've been playing with..

Looking out to sea

I'm pretty impressed with it so far, it's a 12mp camera, but because of the current memory constrictions, i've decreased it to 5mps.. and well, i'm really just scratching the surface with it's capabilities.. It looks like it's capable of all manner of fun stuff - a big thick manual I've yet to read!..

These past few days I've been out a lot, walking along the headlands, enjoying the coastline, and occasionally watching the passing whales.. Today I witnessed a pod of about 5 or 6 passing by a few hundred meters from the shore..

At my stall, selling golf balls

2 days ago, I was walking for roughly 6 hours.. I could hardly believe I was out for so long as the time just flew past..

As a consequence of my enjoying the outdoors more than normally, I've been neglecting my mangodurian blog, and frankly feeling a little tired of it.. I feel like I've pretty much said all I've wanted to say in it, and feel I should slowly begin to let go of it..

Well, it's not like I've really said everything that I have to say, but I feel I would be better off channeling my thoughts into book form, saying what I have to say, getting it out there, and letting the world make of it what they want..

Watching a pod of whales swim by

I don't think I've any plans to stop this journal.. I kind of like the idea of recording my life for prosperity.. Taking more pics and videos etc..

I don't know.. perhaps I am just momentarily tired of the internet..
peace,
mango.

Sun's shining + new camera

2009-06-24T15:08:00.002+10:00

Hi all,

After more than a week of off and on rain, I think it's finally stopped.. The sun's shining outside, and I've just been for a long walk gathering golf balls in the bushes..

Not many to be had at the moment, as the players have no doubt been shunning the wet outdoors too, but I still managed to find about 70 on a 3 hour hunt..

Kveta is currently staying with her niece, Romana, (her brother's daughter), and her (Romana's) son.. (still in the Czech Republic, of course).. She's got the camera at the moment (we've only got the one between us), so I've not been taking any new pictures since she's been gone.. But here're a few from a couple of years back, before I'd left England, with me and Amelia..

Me and my little niece in 2006

I'm missing taking pictures, so over the last week, I've been doing some online research to find a new camera, and finally decided on one that I've ordered from Ebay.. It's a relatively new model from panasonic that's supposed to be shock, water and dustproof..

It's gotten pretty good reviews, so I'm excited to see it in action.. It'll be a while though, as I've yet to pay for it, due to waiting on a bank to paypal transfer..

Amelia and me on the campello beach

Another thing the camera is supposed to do, is take HD (high definition) videos, which in all likelihood will soon be the norm in digital cameras, but i think this is the only point and shoot camera, that's waterproof, that does that at the moment..

So hopefully there'll be more videos forthcoming on youtube once I've gotten the hang of it.. - Anything's gotta be better than the one's we've got on there at the moment.. (I'm still not too keyed on how to edit videos, and it always takes me a lot of time trying to figure it out)..

Summertime fun, Spain, 2006

peace,
mango.

more red tape nonsense..

2009-06-18T13:46:00.001+10:00

Mid winter here.. daytime temps have been averaging between 13 and 16 degrees these past few days.

I'm still alone here while Kveta is on her hols.. She's just returned from 2 weeks in Turkey with her mother, and is back in the Czech Republic again.. I spoke with her on the phone last night, she had a reasonable time, although the sea was dirty where they were, and a little too choppy. Fruit choice was good enough though, but I think she's decided to go either to Italy or Greece next time, as overall it wasn't exactly what they had hoped.

View from a hill on Phuket Island, Thailand - 2004

About a week ago, I emailed Anne in Queensland, and ask her some questions about this whole immigration thing (she's from more or less the same part of England as I am, and is about 2 and half years ahead of me, in terms of being here in Australia and dealing with all the bureaucratic nonsense.. - She's already got her full residency, and is even eligible for her citizenship already).

Anyhow, she put my mind at rest a little about this whole procedure, explaining that things basically seemed to be running well.. And then 3 days ago, I got another fat envelope from immigration, with a list of 5 more things that I need to get done.. I felt nauseous flicking through it all.. I'm not sure why I get so stressed when faced with this paperwork.. Perhaps it's because there's this nagging fear that my application might be refused.

View from the top of the small mountain above tiger cave monastery.
Near Krabi, Thailand - 2004

Talking with Kveta helped me relax some, with her reassuring me that it was basically our destiny to be together in tropical Australia, and that her mother, the renowned Tarot Card reader of the Czech Republic (a talent that Kveta has inherited), says that the cards are all good for us. But that doesn't stop me cursing the folly of humanity that prevents us from travelling as freely as natured and the great white spirit intended us to.

I wonder when earthlings will finally grow up and move from the dark side into the light....

Happy birthday mum!

2009-06-08T20:18:00.002+10:00

Born on this day, 1936, that's 26664 days ago, and makes her 73 today..

Mum in Spain - Christmas 2004

She's currently in Spain with Dad, for another 10 days or so..

Happy birthday mum!

Haven't seen either of them since I left England in November 2006,and no idea when I'll see them again..

Kveta's currently in Turkey, with her mum, staying at some place called Alanya - 250 meters from the sandy beach of Kleopatra.. I haven't heard from her since she got there a few days ago.. It's quite possible that I'll not hear from her until she gets back to the Czech republic on the 16th..

I've been watching the whales from the headlands with a pair of binoculars I found when I used to look for scrap metal.

life's good.. I'll likely include a photo later, no time right now..

hugs,
mango.

On me tod/Tout seul/aleine hjemme/jenom ja/etc etc.

2009-06-03T12:10:00.001+10:00

Last thursday, 28th May, Kveta sprouted metal wings and faster than the speed of sound, flew toward the czech republic..

Her mum was there to pick her up from the airport, and drive her to the sleepy village of Valy where the rest of her family live, not too far from the German border.

So, that leaves me home alone to fend the fort.. It feels a little empty without kvetas presence and although I enjoy spending time alone, I'm naturally missing her too..

And these are slow lazy days, raining and windy out, with occasional patches of sunshine that I take advantage of by walking the local golf courses in search of strayed golf balls hidden in the bushes and long grass.

Today the counsel housing maintenance crew are visiting, doing some work in our small one bedroom flat.. Changes the locks on windows, painting a moldy ceiling and a few other odd bits, so the windows are all fully open right now, and it feels like winter inside.. (Winter officially got started 2 days ago - 1st June is the first day of summer here, down under).. and I can tell you, once more, I am soooo looking forward to leaving this place behind and heading north into the sunshine..

I'm thinking a lot about that lately.. Sydney is so not the place either of us really wish to be in, but due to the insanity of the world, it's a necessary hindrance while waiting impatiently for paperwork to clear.

Crow eyeing our durian jealously

The car needs work on it still. The front windscreen needs replacing after getting cracked while a friend attempted to fix a leaky roof, and there's definitely some electrical problem as the battery keeps running flat if not used for 24 hours or more..

Anyhow, I don't think I've much else to report today.. All's otherwise well.

Hugs to the world,
Mango

Happy Birthday to Kveta

2009-05-23T08:46:00.002+10:00

Today's Kveta's birthday.. Born in 1957, so that makes it her Her 52nd.. I think we'll go get a durian (or 2) for it later.. It's still early in the day here.

Kveta on Congwong Beach May 24th 2009

We've been going through a bit of a soggy wet spell this past week or so. Fortunately nowhere near as serious as many places along the east coast has..There'sbeen a few towns flooded and declared disaster zones..Lismore, Grafton, and other places around the Northern Rivers area (An area both Kveta and I have lived previously).

Touch wood, this area we're in now is not proned to floods or other diverse weather conditions.. Any such threat here would most likely come from the sea, being as close as it is..

Kveta on Congwong Beach 24th May 2009

Anyhow, quiet, mostly indoor days here. No one's golfing so no point in looking for balls just yet.. - Looks like the market will be off again for tomorrow.

Only another 5 days before Kveta flies off to Europe, and only about 3 months left before I know whether or not I get to stay!

not much else to report, I'll add a photo or 2 later [Just added them. 26/5/09]..

Hugs Kveta!!
mango.

dad's birthday.. Kveta's new license.

2009-05-15T18:27:00.003+10:00

My dad was born on this day, in the year 1926.. That makes him 83 years old, and embarking now on his 84th..

He and mum, who normally live in England, have gone to Spain for a few weeks holiday, and staying in our bungalow near Campello (half way between Alicante and Benidorm).

I think they left the UK just 2 days ago.

I'll likely give them a quick call later today.

Anyhow, even though I know you'll likely never read this message, happy 83rd dad! (they no longer have a computer/internet connection in either the UK or Spain).

Mum & dad in Spain in March 2004

Back on Ozzy shores, the latest and greatest news is that Kveta has just passed her driving test (this morning - Well done Kveta!!), and now holds a full ozzy driving license.. I'm still driving on my UK one as I'm under no legal obligation to get an australian one until at most 3 months after I get my permanent residency visa (IE not until toward the end of this year) - In fact, until I get my permanent visa, I can only get a provisional australian driving license, which'ld be a waste of money.

Anyhow, Kveta has already been driving for many years, as she took her test, and passed, back when she was still living in the Czech Republic, but the bureaucracy here makes it compulsory for czech drivers to retake the test..

That white one is ours..

Our car is a toyota camry, especially equipped with hand controls for kveta, so that she can steer, indicate, brake and accelerates with her hands alone..

Touch wood, it appears to be running quite well, but does have some rust issues, and at this very moment, Kveta is visiting a friend of hers called Sunny, who is doing some work on repairing rust damage to the roof (just above the windscreen) of the car. I think the infection is worse than we first thought, and the windscreen has been slightly cracked as a consequence of the work being done on it, and will have to be replaced..

Photo taken in 2007 while on vacation in Northern NSW

We're hoping that it'll see us safely relocated to the tropics, so it'll have to knock up at least another few more thousand kilometers..

Happy 4th Birthday Amelia!!

2009-05-04T07:00:00.003+10:00

Hi Amelia!

Happy 4th Birthday, and May the Fourth be with you always!!

Sorry I can't be there to give you a hug.. Not easy when I'm on the other side of the world and have long since forsaken the traditional 9 to 5 working/wages..

I hope you have a pleasant day, and that mum takes you somewhere nice for the day! (I believe today is the first day that your dad starts work teaching autistic children, so I'm guessing you won't see him until he gets back from work!)..

Anyhow, sending you lots of love!

From Uncle Mango..

Denni..

2009-05-04T06:55:00.002+10:00

I think I'm feeling to take that back what I wrote yesterday, about Denni not exactly being a friend..

It's not true, he is definitely a friend, as well as a neighbour. I do appreciate how he's helped me getting started with the balls and all, and despite his being needy, and suffering from depression, he is on many levels a very kind person.

Free Spirited Denni, with his habitual cigarette.

Like I said, he is on a terrible diet, and it truly surprises me that he has managed to survive this long.. I used to tell him all the time that he needs to change his ways and eat more fruit, but I soon realised I was fighting a loosing battle there, his lifestyle, sadly, like most other peoples out there, is immersed in addiction.

Denni with his golf balls..
He's been in the business for many years already

he lives in the building opposite ours, and has 2 big dogs that he calls his babies.

Just came out from the bushes with a rucksack full of balls.

peace to you denni,
mango

May update.

2009-05-03T16:59:00.003+10:00

As always, time is flying, and life is being good to us..

Kveta and I have been for a couple of nice walks together recently, that hasn't happened enough in the past, and I'm hoping that we may make a regular thing of it..

I'm still getting out most mornings of the week, either in search of the golf balls, or to do a spot of gardening.

Kveta and I, out for a stroll along Congwong beach

Kveta will soon be leaving me for a couple of months, as her planned vacation in the Czech Republic draws closer. I'll be home alone, and just enjoying my time doing what I do, and will no doubt be hugging the hotwater bottle again as the temperature is dropping slowly.

I'm still hanging out with a neighbour called Denni. I wouldn't exactly call him a friend as he is very needy, and clearly has mental health issues from long term alcohol abuse.. He's also on the worst diet I've witnessed for some time, and seems to eat little other than chicken wings, chicken liver and bread with salami..

He's the guy that introduced me to the golf ball thing, as he has been selling balls for many many years already..

We go looking for golf balls together sometimes.

A view of Kveta from the sea (I enjoyed a quick swim)

It's Amelia's birthday tomorrow. I made her a short video of myself as a present.. Honestly, I think I've been a pretty lousy uncle so far.. My brother has so many children I've lost count of them and would have trouble remembering their names, although I might succeed... I've had little to do with him, or his kids (most of who are adults already, and one at least has children of her own) for many years already. I sometimes wonder if we will ever really see each other again.

I'd certainly like to keep in touch with my sister and her family, and see them again soon, but this whole present, birthday, card thing I am not at all good at.

In fact the only people I keep in touch with on a pretty regular basis are my parents who I try to call once a week..

Zoomed in on Kveta

The pictures above were all taken yesterday.

Peace and hugs,
Mango.

Kveta's new Photo-Blog..

2009-04-26T05:37:00.001+10:00

This is just a quick shout out to let you all know that Kveta has opened another blog where she intends to post regularly photographs from the 2 of us..

Her blog can be found here:

http://fruitariankvetasphotoblog.blogspot.com

Enjoy!
Peace,
Mango.

My interview on ABC radio as a Fruitarian.

2009-03-17T14:22:00.001+11:00

Life's treating me well as always, and the days are still flying past incredibly quickly.

Kveta has decided to head back to the Czech Republic again this year.. She'll be visiting her parents, sister and other family and friends, plus possibly meet up with some of the czech raw food crew.

She leaves at the end of May, and gets back end of July.. So 2 months all up.. and then, before we know it, I should, if all goes to plan, have my permanent residency visa within just a few short weeks of her getting back.

Meanwhile, I'll be staying put and minding the fort.. I have no problem to keep myself occupied, and have no doubts that time will continue moving at the same pace it always does.

Yesterday, I was contacted by my friend Zalan in Victoria. He informed me that ABC radio were looking for a fruitarian to interview live, yesterday afternoon.

So, a phone call or 2 later, and I'd signed myself up for a live interview.. First time I've been interviewed on Radio since the day before I left Norway.. Seems like another lifetime ago..

Anyhow, 16:20 yesterday afternoon, Richard Glover rang me directly from his radio show, and we chatted on air for 7 or 8 minutes..

It was short and sweet, and needless to say, I only got to say a fraction of what needs to be said, but it all went pretty smoothly, and hopefully I managed to get the idea across in a level-headed enough manner to make some people think..

If you want to listen to the interview, the ABC website has made it available for anyone to play or even download.

Just click on the image below, taken directly from the Australian ABC website:

I'm still occasionally interviewing different fruitarians that I stumble upon online, and posting the interviews on my main blog... Rudolf from Germany/Spain has also interviewed me too, and I'll be posting that interview when I'm done with it, too..

I'm still selling the golf balls when I find them, here are a couple of pictures from the place where I sit and wait for golfing customers..

peace,
Mango.

Counting down the months.. (still!)

2009-02-12T09:06:00.002+11:00

As many know already, Kveta and I have plans to leave Sydney, and to head north into the tropics.. What's holding us back is still the ongoing processing of paperwork surrounding my permanent visa application, which, touch wood, all appears to be running smoothly.. Should it continue to do so, then I should be all legally set to stay indefinitely down under, hopefully before the end of August.. Which means, that we'll be free to travel in about 7 months from now.. - or less!!

Of course, it's not quite as simple as that, as there will be more paper work needed after the visa comes through (my government health insurance papers, ozzy driving license and the like), cancelling bills, figuring out what to do about changes of address etc, and then there's the packing and weeding through the things we'll either take with us, store somehow, somewhere, or discard.. I suspect that that last thing could keep us occupied for a while, but feel quite sure that whatever happens that in 2010 we'll be somewhere completely else.. The tropical unknown..

The recent chinese new year saw the commencement of the year of the ox, the year I was born, I believe, so I definitely feel that things are looking good..

Funny, a while ago, Kveta was reading tarot cards for me, and it came out that she said this lifetime was sort of like a holiday life, for me.. Now the strange thing is, that way back, when I used to be an IBM scientist, I used to often tell one of my best friends of the time, Sigve Zachariassen, that this is my holiday life.

Anyhow, while the days, weeks and months flow silently past, I am indeed enjoying my life as always..

To make money for my daily fruit intake, which as those of you that follow kvetas blog must know already, frequently includes: avocados, durians, apricots, nectarines, tomatoes, oranges, cucumbers, chillies, melons, pineapples, mangoes and more, I have extended my job of finding and recycling scrap metal (which has now been downwardly prioritized), and have begun using my early mornings to search through the bushes of a local golf course, where I regularly find around 50 balls (sometimes nearly twice that many!) each morning.. It's a lucrative little business, as many of the balls I find, I am able to sell onward for $1 or more each.. Of course, things are never quite that simple, and there is a good deal of waiting involved between finding buyers, but I'm quite happy with how it's running so far..

The scrap metal thing, I still do, although I have stopped rifling through bins to find aluminum cans.. Especially since the onslaught of the collapse of the world economy, which has brought metal prices very very low, making the job really just not worth the effort anymore.. But, like I said, I haven't stopped with it completely, and should it happen that I come across piles of the stuff, then no doubt I will see it's value, and transport it to the right place..

Besides, searching for the scrap metal, is what has lead to many of the excellent bric-a-brac finds, and since the beginning of November, Kveta and I have been frequenting a local market, selling other peoples abandoned treasures.. We sell shoes, handbags, glasses, pictures, toys, some electrical goods, like kettles, rice cookers, radios, tvs.. the list goes on.. Not each week is as successful, but it's a fun way to spend our sundays, and anything we can put aside, moneywise, will be going toward helping us escape north to the tropics..

The downside to the market work, is that we only live in a very small one bedroom apartment, and all the stuff we have, is piled high in our small living room, which doesn't make the place look too inviting (to say the least!).. It gets to us both at times, but knowing that it's only temporary, and that every little helps, with those months at times seemingly ticking past like seconds on a clock, - now that makes it all bearable.

Yesterday, Kveta and I came off juices we'd been on for a week or so, and stocked up on boxes of fruit, as always.. We also scored a box of figs for $15.. very sweet and creamy!!

I heard from Harmonie recently. She's had a baby, a beautiful little girl called Indigo-Rose...I'm so happy to hear they are both doing well and making the most of each others company.

Australia is suffering in places at the moment.. There's fires in Victoria, supposedly the worst in recorded history, and much of Queensland is said to be under water.. floods everywhere.. Fortunately, NSW is relatively fairing well, and we've had a pretty good summer here in Sydney.. Overall, also, Australia seems to be coping better with the global economy crisis than most or many other countries.

So once more I count my lucky stars, and thank the great white spirit, that I'm here, and that my life is so blessed, that I have been granted insight enough to make the right choices and walk the right path. So few are able to do so, so few can see where fruitful choices have the potential to lead us.

Eat fruit.
Peace,
mango.

Time flies, fruit flies..

2008-12-20T07:45:00.001+11:00

I realise I'm not recording my thoughts anywhere near as much as I once did, and I kind of miss doing that.. But having said that, this is by no means a statement of intention to change that.. My days just seem to be full with other things lately.

Preparing for our weekly market stall seems to take all week, and we have really been made aware of just how small our apartment is.. I'm out most mornings, finding things to sell..Treasures from other peoples rubbish.. And rarely does a day pass, where I don't find something of some value.

We've currently got 2 portable TVs in good working order, plus 3 electrical fans, a good computer chair, books, bags and bags of clothing, pots, pans, toys, pictures.. The list goes on and on and on, and we are really struggling to keep things in some degree of order.

In addition, I am still finding and recycling scrap metal, which too, takes up much of my time, as I have to separate things with my trusty tools of screwdrivers, pliers, mallet and scalpels. It's often a very slow process, and with current rates as they are, pays very poorly. I don't keep track of the hours I dedicate to the metal recycling thing, but I do know that I'm getting on average about $25 to $30 per week.. Which might make one question whether it was really worthwhile or not...Still my attitude is that every penny counts, and I'm happy to report that together with the money made at the market, I am just about able to cover my monthly expenses. (plus we are putting aside a little each week and hoping to travel around australia once we are finally free to leave sydney (after my permanent residency finally gets cleared - hopefully by september next year))

For several months, I was making our next door neighbour a juice daily. But a couple of months ago she got admitted in to hospital for about 6 weeks. When she came out, she was noticeably bigger than when she went in, and I guess I just gave up on her.. There is a limit to how much responsibility I want to take for other peoples problems, and really her health is clearly her issue, and if she has enough life in her to do her own cooking (which is the case), then she has enough to make her own juices. So I stopped asking her if she wanted a juice, and she's stopped telling me she wants one. Part of me feels a little guilty about not helping more, as I would so much like to see her heal herself, but being realistic, that's pretty unlikely at this stage... So I've stepped back.

I've also been helping out another neighbour lately. A Macedonian guy. He's been acting increasingly more paranoid recently, and suffering apparently from many different bodily pains and complaints. I've lost count of how many times I've repeated to him that his problems all stem from intoxication (decades of alcohol and tobacco substance abuse), and that he needs juices and fruit in his life, to cleanse him internally.. But again I am talking to a wall, and he would much rather be prescribed the multitude of pills he is now on.. The hospital want to keep him in the psych ward, and I think they probably would have if he did not have 2 bigs dogs that he hadn't insisted that no one else could look after them.

Really, I am feeling so impatient to get out in the bush somewhere, and open up some kind of healing retreat centre with Kveta.. We still have no idea how we will find, finance or manifest this place yet, but I am sure it will happen. Magic does. I really think that for many people, the only way they will pull themselves out of their destructive life threatening habits, is to get back to nature.. If they can make that step, then there is definitely more of a chance that they will make positive changes..

Actually, the vast majority of people that have any desire at all, to move to a fruit based diet, would probably need some support at some point in time.. Even myself, I know that I went for some longer periods of months at a time, eating solely fruit, but once I found myself in a lesser state of mind, or environment, I soon found myself eating lettuce, carrots and the occasional slip up of a boiled potato or 2 (all well documented in previous journal entries).. So I guess I can honestly say, that since moving here with Kveta, this has been the longest consecutive period of time that I have been pretty much all fruit. (thankyou kveta!).

This world is just full of so much sickness and suffering.. Probably especially noticeable here as we are living in government housing surrounded by a lot of people that are no doubt sicker than average.

Photo Course..

2008-10-30T16:09:00.000+11:00

Kveta and I are on a short digital camera course..

I'm not sure how much we'll really get out of it, as after the first lesson it's easy to see that most of the participants don't really have much experience using them..

There is of course, heaps more that we could learn about photography, as neither of us have much know how beyond point and shoot.

It's a 2 hour session, once a week, one month course (4 lessons in all) and we've all been given some cheap pentax cameras from woolworths to use and learn from..

we own a sony cybershot camera ourselves, which pretty much suits our needs, but I guess I wouldn't mind one of those more long range things, - maybe later in the movie..

Otherwise things are going well, days are continuing to fly past and seem to be over before they've begun.

We're eating strawberries from the garden, loads of mangoes, mostly blended with orange juice... and tomatoes, avos and cucumbers most days.

I'm still collecting scrap metal, but due to the global recession nonsense, I'm getting only 50% of the price that I was just 3 weeks ago.. If I had somewhere to store it, I would just squirrel it away on some corner until the prices become fairer again..

Anyhow.Life's good.

Peace,
Mango.

Seems like summer's here..

2008-10-04T15:19:00.001+10:00

I guess any of you that follow kvetas blog know that she arrived back safe and well, and that we have been enjoying some hot beach days, braving it into the cold sea..

The sudden change in seasons, accompanied by some brief rain showers has really added some zest to our little garden, everything is growing so fast, and if things go to plan, I'm hoping that we'll be well stocked with tomatoes throughout the coming months..

I need to get some cucumbers started too, and maybe a few capsicums as well..

I'm so looking forward to moving north to the tropics, and getting an abundance of pawpaw and passion fruit growing.. both grow fast in the tropics, and should be yielding quite easily within 2 years.. sooner if they are well cared for.

I know summer has not officially started here yet, but we've already had several 30 degree plus days, and the forecast is that it will be a hot one this year.. which reminds me that I mustn't forget to get some melons in the ground too.. I think I'm going to just go for rock melons this year.. we had a fair few watermelon last year, but they weren't the sweetest, whereas the one or 2 rockies we had were very tasty.

I'm doing a lot less on the computer these days, decided to stop concentrating on my blogs, and be outside more. A good decision.

The one thing that I do need to get done, and that has taken me far too long already, is that darned book I'm always postponing. The truth is I started on it again in August, and worked on it some up until the laptop crashed on me, but I've not looked at it since then.. I think I'm still floating around 100 pages so far.

my sort of job , recycling scrap metal yields all kinds of treasures.. It's amazing what people throw out, it really is.. I may have already said, I found a TV discarded that's big and would have cost several hundred dollars new, that we are using now, that woks just fine.. I've found several mobile phones, at least one of which works as the recharger was discarded with it.. Of course, they are lacking functional sim cards, but if ever I decide to get a mobile, one of the ones I've found will probably do me just fine..

Yeah, there's all kinds of good stuff to be had from the bins, I'm just hanging out to find a bag full of money we can use to buy prime tropical land in Far North Queensland for fruit tree growing. I'm sure that that happens every now and again..

peace,
mango.

Giving thanks..

2008-09-18T10:11:00.001+10:00

I really have to say, that today is such a wonderful day!

The sun is shining, the air is clean here, and the garden is green with seedlings.. The strawberries are flowering, and the tomatoes are looking healthy..

I have so much to be thankful for in this life of mine..

I know I might complain sometimes, that I don't have this or that, but the truth is, I really have it all.

I have a woman who loves me despite my many faults.

I'm living in Australia with every chance of being able to relocate to the tropics here, (once the political immigration side of things is fully done and dusted) and find a good rich soil place to settle and focus my life on fruit tree growing and other positive aspects in a world otherwise laden with crazinesses.

I have a fantastic job, if one can even call it that.. Checking the bins, for scrap metal.. Sitting in the sunshine with a screwdriver and pair of pliers. No one to tell me what hours, or what uniform. If it's raining and cold I can sit inside with a hot water bottle, but summer is in the air, and those days are mostly over..

I've traveled lots, seen lots, learned lots, and give thanks to all those things.

I believe in the power of manifestation, and the principles behind "The Secret", that positive thoughts materialise in positivity! I have proved this to myself countless times, even before I had even heard of the "the secret"..

Life is good, and getting better for each day, and I thank you all for being part of it.

Hugs,
Mango.
PS Kveta gets back home tomorrow!!

Brief rundown of the past month or so..

2008-09-09T18:40:00.001+10:00

Hi all,

Well.. it's been an interesting month or so for me..

As I've mentioned already, Kveta is holidaying in Europe.. Predominantly at the village and house of her parents and sister's family in the Czech republic, but also she's spent some time on the Greek Isle of Zakynthos, together with her mum.

I speak to her fairly regularly on the phone, so we're keeping each other updated.

Myself, I've been home alone, missing her, of course, but still enjoying life on me tod.

Toward the beginning of last month, I met up with White Flame (Interviewed here). He's got himself a 2 year student visa for studying here in Sydney.. We didn't pick the best day fo a rendezvous , it was a little cold, windy and intermittent heavy rain.. I showed him a couple of our local beaches, we managed a couple of brisk walks and avoided getting soaked for the most of it...

As I've also mentioned, the laptop died on me at one point. Leaving me offline and disconnected for a while.. I think it did me good.

I'm not one that gets easily bored, and seem to always find something to occupy my mind and time with, and not having the internet, meant I was obliged to focus a certain amount of my time elsewhere..

I believe I've actually found myself a source of income. The flood gates aren't exactly opened, but definitely a steady trickle.. I've mentioned it before, but never really fully realised the potential - It's the scrap metal recycling thing I wrote of a while back. I've started going for walks around all the local area, checking the footpaths and bins for discarded metal objects.. Pretty much anything except steel..

The real money seems to be in copper, which the scrap metal yards will pay around $6000 a tonne for.. ($6 a kilo - obviously I'm talking Ozzie dollars here)..

Such a difference to that junk mail delivery job I did for a month or so before coming to my senses.. (Yikes! Sometimes I'm soo slow!).. This time, I'm rescuing rubbish from being thrown into land fills.. Old TV sets, computer monitors, discarded aluminum cans and door frames, window frames, pots and pans, electrical leads (PVC coated copper), car radiators, car batteries, transformers etc etc.. ..

Every time I see a drinks can, I think there's 1 and half cents.. And shoot, I know that's not much, but like I said, it's a trickle, and these past few weeks I've been getting between $30 and $50 a week from it.. Actually just under $60 for the last lot..

The plus side is I'm entirely my own boss.. I can leave the house when I want to, no one complains that my feet are unclod or hair and beard feral.. It's easy, and for the most part just means either walking and collection, or just sitting with a hammer and screwdriver in the sunshine..

The downside is I've cut my hands up some, but have invested in a pair of cotton gardening gloves which are hopefully preventing that kind of bother..

I'm not after making a material fortune in this life, but I am after an abundance, and really I wouldn't need to be making much more than I do to consider it an abundance.. So long as all my monthly expenses get covered (very meager amount), and a little extra for travel and (the everything else encompassing) stuff..

The garden is really taking off. There's a bumper crop of broad beans, that for a while I thought where just flowering but not actually producing any beans, but I see now many small beans forming).. Heaps of tomato seedlings that I've put into beds, everything being fed from all the fruit scraps that get buried regularly throughout the whole garden, and of course the seaweed I collect, and thick layers of mulch that make watering pretty much unnecessary..

I'm sure there's more. Oh yes, almost forgot.. Had another 3 hours of work as an extra.. delicate nature.. I got paid $200..

Oh and yes, I've been in touch with the local community building administration people, and suggested I give a talk on Natural Hygienism.. (I figured an all out fruit approach would be more than they could handle!).. To test if there'd be anyone interested, I wrote a short 200 word introduction to it for their quarterly newspaper due out in the next week or so.
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I've also tentatively suggested I possibly organise getting started some community gardens, and get the local kids involved.. I think there's some kind of annual general meeting coming up, and the proposals will be put forward.

OK.. more updates another when..

Hugs to all,
Mango.

Laptop problems..

2008-08-18T13:25:00.001+10:00

Just a brief update as am in internet cafe..

Our laptop has failed us again.. the shop says it could cost 3 to 400 dollars to fix!!

shoot.. I'm not sure if fixing it is the right thing to do..

has anyone got an old spare laptop they don't use anymore?

peace,
mango.