After moving back to Oz late 2008 after about 9 years in London my wife gave birth to our first child. It was a life changing experience. We wanted to keep things as natural as possible but we kinda didn't know which way to go, where to settle down, etc. At a friends bbq, I got chatting to a couple about the strawbale house they had just built and went away very inspired.

Through researching strawbale I came across Permaculture. It was a game changer. I devoured every morsel of information I could find, built a chook dome, a green house, planted veggies and fruit trees, composted, completed a strawbale workshop with Huff n Puff and a PDC with Peter Allen in the hills of the Dandenong Ranges.

In permaculture, I know I have found something that interests and challenges me as well as provides solutions to the many problems I see in the world around me. I feel I've got the desire to learn, the tools and the know how to build a home and life for my family which minimises our negative impacts on this planet and hopefully builds a solid community in which we can thrive.

So about 2 and a half years after first seeing the word permaculture, my Wife, son and baby girl have made the transition from the suburbs of Melbourne to Castlemaine where we have bought a bit of land and are in the process of designing our new strawbale home and property.