2011 is the year...

...for turning dreams into reality.

The Dream:
To have a farm, in the traditional sense, with a variety of outputs from eggs, pork, beef, olives, and of course wine, in a rural community where my family and I could practice the principles we have always strived to live by. To slow life down and live rather than exist. Find a place to be... to be me; to be free; to be free from the overdeveloped consumer-driven society which is slowly killing us and our culture... but i digress.

Our requirements:
We want to be within 4 hours of the central coast (family and friends from the past 10 years are there), within 2 hours of a major city, within 3 hours of Sydney (for our Sydney fix) in a region capable to producing good wine and olive oil, and with land we can afford without selling our souls to the machine which is modern economic rationalism.

There were other ideals... green rolling hills (okay so that's Tasmania and the NSW south coast... not gonna happen!), a stony creek, a vibrant arts community, a degree of multiculturalism, and some foodies nearby...

Fast forward to November 2010, and after years of waiting, researching, looking, visiting different areas and almost applying for several jobs, the ideal opportunity arises. Just 11 months after deciding that we'll stay put in our suburban life until our 3 year old starts school, a spanner gets well and truly thrown into the works and the resultant roller coaster of the past 2 months has been a giddy thing (Mumford and sons gave me that last line as I write).

My next few posts will be dealing with the past 2 months as we pack up our suburban lives and prepare to move to the country for a new life, with new possibilities and new challenges, but with an expectation of a reality quite different from our present reality. Also, for anyone who has ever read one of my previous posts will attest, I also plan to reinvent my blog as a journal of discovery which is quite a different direction from the old righteous indignation at the state of the world.

I do hope that you will join me on my journey...

earthkeeper.