Moora Moora

G'day!

I'm at Moora Moora, a co-operative community on 250 hectares on top on Mt Toole-be-wong near Healesville, Victoria about 70 km from Melbourne.  I will be mostly quoting or paraphrasing from their brochures for a bit here.  The community is a diverse group of people choosing to live together with three aims:  To live with nature, to live together co-operatively, and to integrate education into all aspects of life.  Decision making occurs at monthly meetings and members participate in a monthly community work day.  Other co-op committees include land management, works, renewable energy, learning centre, social, membership, and finance.

Skink

3/4 of the land is Eucalypt forest maintained as a wildlife reserve.  Dogs and cats are not allowed on the property to protect the abundant native birds and animals.  The remaining land is used for pasture,  woodlots, permaculture, organic farming, and horticulture.  Moora Moora's plan is for 30 homes, most of which are already built, in 6 clusters.  Each cluster has a distinct style with 4 - 6 house sites, common facilities, a vegetable garden and an orchard.

Solar electricity batteries to hold charge

Most of the homes are owner built from natural materials including earth and stone, timber, and strawbales and with salvaged fixtures.  (Three strawbale homes are in different stages of completion.  I will probably be able to work on at least one of them.)   Energy is from solar panels with a backup generator using some kind of gas; Moora Moora is not connected to mains electricity.  Use of fossil fuels is minimized where possible.  Firewood is grown and harvested for heating and hot water.  Water is from rain and springs on the property.

Joining the community is a matter of time.  Interested parties become a Friend by loaning the Co-op $200 interest free for 3 months.  After a minimum of 2 months, a Friend may be nominated for membership.  After 4 months of nomination, membership is voted on.  The new member then buys shares in the Co-op.  Tours are available with tea afterwards.  Wanna join?

Circuit panel, AC/DC, 12 Volt to 24 Volt Inverter, etc.

So that's Moora Moora in a nutshell.  About 40 adults and 20 children currently live here.  Wwoofs, as we are called here, stay at The Lodge, a 2 story brick building that is also the community and learning center.  We will have to vacate next weekend as there will be a conference on Ritual Breathwork and Relational Spirit.  We will be billeted in members' homes.

I'm staying in one of the two large dorms with 5 sets of bunks.  There are at least 3 other rooms that sleep between 2 - 6 each.  There are 2 toilets and 2 showers and a full bathroom (toilet, sink, and shower) inside and an additional toilet accessible from outside.
There's a large lounge (living room) with a wood stove, a small playroom/media room, and a large all-purpose room (with ping pong table).


Jumping Jack ant

The large kitchen has 3 deep sinks, a 6 burner gas stove that must be lit with a flame each time, a small full size freezer/refrigerator, a small wood stove, and lots of counter space and cabinets.  We eat at a trestle table on 2 benches. That's it.  No microwave, no toaster, not even a hot water heater.  All of those would use electricity.  The boiler/wood stove that heats the water is fired at 4 pm daily by the caretaker, Russell, or by a wwoof if he is not available.  Then we can have hot showers and hot water for washing dishes, otherwise the hot water is tepid or cooler.  The boiler room is underneath the caretaker's quarters.  I helped to stack firewood there after banging on the wood with a long stick to make sure any snakes go away.  I can handle the spiders if they aren't huge, but I just can't handle the snakes.

Bull Ant

Speaking of wildlife, apparently there are lots of snakes here, all of them venomous.  Tiger, copperhead, red-bellied black and another snake that I can't remember all live here.  Then there are the March flies; the 1/2" long flies have a long proboscus that they can stick through even denim to suck at your blood.  And the ants; the 1/2" bull ants and the slightly smaller jumping jack ants both have huge jaws and bite.  I have a picture of an ant with the orange jaws in an earlier post; now I know that it's a jumping jack ant.  There's also a biting wasp with 3/4" blue/black body and orange legs and no wings; it looks like an enormous ant but I'm told it is a wasp.  And of course there are the Huntsman spiders and mossies, but they are tame stuff compared to the rest!  And Jon, an English wwoofer, said he was "rat wrangling" after finding a pair of rats with a nest full of babies.  Although they could've, they did not catch any of the rats.

March Fly- look at the proboscus!

There's supposed to be nice wildlife here as well.  I've seen 2 kookaburras fairly close up  and the other wwoofers saw a wombat by the lodge the night I arrived.  I am eager to see a lyrebird with its feathers up.

Cheers!
Cyn