Since I can’t share photos yet, I decided to share a few cultural “funnies” while I have internet access.Since we’ve been here, the news has been dominated by the prime minister’s war on “bikie gangs”. This started because of a brutal beating and murder of a biker gang member in the Sydney airport (just a few hours after we walked through that very spot). They sound awful, but the word “bikie” just makes me chuckle every time I hear it because it makes me think of five-year-olds on trikes sticking their tongues out at their mothers.
The murder touched off other violence amongst bikie gang members and the newspaper this morning ran a story about one of the funerals with this touching item: “About 300 bikies attended Mr. Roberts’ funeral yesterday, remembering the man they called ‘Rebel Rick’ as a ’superstar’ of drinking who ‘loved the chicks and they loved him.’”
Now that’s a classy obituary note. I liked the fact that the bikies ran the red light at the crematorium and the police didn’t stop them (they were grieving, after all).
The paper also wrote up this juicy item:
“Penis threat
Two childcare workers have been handed suspended jail terms for holding a knife to a four-year-old boy and threatening to cut off his penis. The mother and daughter admitted making the threats to ’shock’ the boy so he would stop exposing himself at the Perth daycare centre where they worked.”
Wow. The article didn’t say whether the boy was shocked enough to keep from the said activity, but I imagine he’ll remember the threat!
I felt a little like the winner of the golden ticket today (and no, that’s not an oblique reference to the Office) when we toured the Jurlique factory in Mount Barker. Doug took a dramamine to avoid getting sick from the whirlwind, left-hand side of the road taxi ride again (I guess taxi drivers all over the world produce that reaction) and that wiped him out but he managed to rally for the tour. The factory was really fascinating, and as an extra treat we were able to help make a small batch of citrus hand cream and package it up for return to the states. You just might be the lucky winner of some when we get back!
Doug gets gowned up with a beard snood for the factory tour
Jurlique's factory manager shows us how they make and finish the products
The citrus hand cream we made. Mmm ... yummy
The rest of the afternoon we spent on a fun tour of the food and wine in the Adelaide Hills. We stopped at two wineries, and sampled local cheese and chocolate. You really couldn’t give me a better ticket than that! I bought a little sparkling pinot noir for when Hannah arrives. Thanks for all the great comments … thanks for keeping up with the trip!
Libby, Jude, Janelle, and Anya a Jurlique Educator at the Mylor Farm
When it comes to environmental claims by companies, you can usually color me a little cynical. Don’t get me wrong, I still buy as many organic, sustainable, fair trade products as possible, but I know that some companies simply look at is an eco-marketing scheme, not a real commitment to the environment.
About eight years ago, when I lived in Colorado, I covered a story about an organic juice company called Mountain Sun that was dumping its apple waste into the Dolores River and polluting the water. The Environmental Protection Agency had to threaten them with large fines to get it to stop.
So, I usually have my b.s. antennae up with eco-marketing and I’m excited to report that Jurlique is the real deal.
I almost want to work there myself. Yesterday we spent time “working” on the farm, which was really a true treat. We toured their shared vegetable garden. We planted sweet clover and coriander. We “rubbed out” peppermint leaves from the stems into a bin, and we learned all about the biodynamic preparation that was being made to spray on the farm because the moon is opposite Saturn.
Doug planting clover seeds in the greenhouse
Working to "rub out" the dried peppermint leaves. We smelled wonderful afterwards.
Now that sounds a bit weird, and since the preparation involves burying a cow horn with silica and manure for some time and digging it up to add it to the mix, you might think these folks are woo-woo about farming. But whatever you may think, the proof is in the pudding, or preparation, as you might say.
Cow horns are filled with silica or manure and buried on the farm to prepare a special compost
Stag bladders used in the preparation
The biodynamic flow form is used to prepare the water for the crops
For one thing, the farm looks really healthy, with native tree plantings all around to encourage wildlife habitat, and a commitment not to use any chemical sprays on the invasive blackberry bush on the place – no matter how tiny the spray. For another, everyone who works there is passionate about what they do and really happy. You get the very clear sense that they all care about the health of the land and are proud to work there.
Jude and I get a close-up look at the biodynamic preparation
But, back to biodynamics. Biodynamic certification is based on the principals of farming laid-out by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf Schools. In the 1930’s, he researched ancient methods of farming for German farmers and based on that recommended preparing the soil and plantings on an astronomical calendar and using animal parts like cow horns and stag bladders to create unique, natural fertilizers. He was big into the idea that a little bit of something natural can go a long way (the whole premise behind homeopathy).
Because the moon was opposite Saturn yesterday, the farm was preparing its special, four-times-a-year mix to spray lightly on the crops.
I haven’t done the research on whether there are published papers to back up the biodynamic claims, but such careful, meticulous farming certainly can’t hurt and hell, I might try burying a cow horn in my own backyard if I can get a garden that looks as healthy and productive as the Jurlique Farm does.
Day two in Australia and I’ve already seen things I never thought I would see in my lifetime: Kangaroos in the wild, and Doug giving himself a facial.
Kangaroo in the distance
For those people worried that we would be met at the airport by Nigerian e-mail scammers, not to worry, we hailed a taxi at the airport and within five minutes our cab driver nearly had to go into a gas station to ask for directions. With the aid of a GPS unit, a comprehensive map and our google map, our, “I’m a stranger here myself” Indian cab driver got us to Hahndorf, a lovely German tourist town in the Adelaide Hills where you can buy all the sausage you could ever want to eat.
We are staying at “The Manna” which I finally figured out is a play on words for both “Manor” and “Manna” as in something nourishing to eat from the Bible. Jurlique is giving us the royal treatment and while I laid down on the floor with my feet up in the air to reduce the swelling from the flight Doug opened the lovely gift package in our room filled with samples of facial cream and body rinses. After our trip, two people couldn’t have used a body rinse more.
We had dinner the first night with Pam and Chris, our fabulous hosts from Jurlique, at the top of Mount Lofty, a lovely overlook of Adelaide and the sea. We also met the other grand prize winner, Jude, and her partner Libby. Jude wrote an essay about their volunteer work to rescue koalas displaced from their wild homes by development, and we swapped heartbreaking stories about wildlife conservation over dinner.
Libby, Jude, Pam, and I at the top of Mount Lofty
Doug and I collapsed immediately from jet lag and wine afterwards and slept soundly until the next morning when we gathered ourself for a hearty breakfast of sausage and bacon (very German) and then off to the Jurlique Mylor farm deep in the Adelaide Hills.
This part of Australia reminds me a lot of both Canada (all of the fixtures and signs and cleanliness) and California’s wine country (sunny rolling hills). The Jurlique farm was stunning in its beauty, order, and philosophy.
Jurlique's Mylor Farm Headquarters (a great old dairy building)
A view from the top of the Jurlique Mylor Farm
Our tour guide from Jurlique, Anye, showed us every part of the farm’s production, from seedling to rose, to the drying bins, to “ashing” and in-between. Plus, we finally learned what biodynamic means. It sounds a bit kooky when you first hear about it – they plant by the phases of the moon and bury cow horns with manure in them to spray on the crops – but it is also so careful and thoughtfully done and the plants really are gorgeous that you put aside disbelief. I’ll blog more about it after our visit to the farm again today.
Rose petals on the drying trays
We spent the afternoon at Jurlique’s original farm, Ngeringa, where they grow biodynamic wines now. We had a beautiful catered lunch and then Anye went through an entire morning and evening beauty routine with us and trained us how to use Jurlique products. Doug was really a great sport, even trying the drying clay mask, and wearing a hair net. A handyman stopped by and looked at us a bit aghast and then said, “Is this what happens after a trip to the vineyard?” Yes.
Doug admitted that he is now a Jurlique convert, and might stop using our shampoo to wash his face in the morning.
Doug and Jude with masks on
Anyway, I must get ready for today’s adventure, so more later…
After 20 hours of flying (4 airplane rides) and 15 hours of layover, we are finally in Adelaide, Australia. I was so tired that I thought the flight attendants directed us to turn off our “muggle phones” on the descent and then I fell into hysterical laughter thinking about my Harry Potter Freudian slip.
Anyway, here are a few photos from the airport to charm you:
In the Sydney airport, just before a fight broke out between gang members and someone died, Superman had lunch. I wish he could have moved a little faster. But that’s ok, the Australian version of our flight safety video included helpful hints about “bracing yourself” against the back of the seat and also the great phrase “Make sure your seatbelt is done up low and tight.” I loved listening to the same instructions in English but in an entirely different set of phrases.
We nearly caused an international incident in the Sydney airport when we asked this group of Japanese students to pose for a picture. There is just something about uniformed children that says “so funny and cute” in my mind. Totally unexplained why they all gave the peace sign for our photo but I’m so glad they did.
The cutest beagle in the world was put to work in the Adelaide airport checking luggage for undeclared herbs, food, and other unwanted specimens.
Travel Tip #1: Avoid long layovers at LAX at all costs!
We are currently suffering through a 12-hour marathon layover in LAX.
Here’s how today was suppose to go: Get up ungodly early, arrive at LAX from Montana at 9:00 a.m., check our luggage with Air New Zealand, throw carry-ons in a locker, and head to the beach for a little R&R before our 10:00 p.m. flight.
Here’s how today really went: Get confused about how to get to Air New Zealand terminal, rent a $4 SmarteCarte, speak with “volunteer” who gives us directions to terminal and then hoses us for a $7 donation for “hungry children”, travel approximately 1 block with $4 cart, get on bus, and arrive at empty terminal.
Air New Zealand staff apparently don’t arrive on site until 2:00 p.m.. When we enquire with the security guard about when someone might appear he pulls us toward a window, points to an odd-shaped circular building in the distance and begins to talk in the sort of calm, resigned voice you use when giving someone bad news.
“See that building?” he says. “On the top floor is a restaurant, and on the bottom floor is a good deli. I really like the deli. You can also go to the international terminal – a lot of good restaurants there and a nice place to sit and watch the planes fly out.”
Watch the planes fly out? What does he think we are, 3? What about the lockers?
“Sorry, no lockers at the airport.”
We look a bit stunned, and turn to see similar expressions on two couples traveling on Air New Zealand late in the day too. The UK couple are returning from Tahiti and are dog-tired.
Doug decides he’s going to try reaching someone by phone and practices impersonating Bret and Jemaine while waiting on hold with Air New Zealand. When someone finally picks up he asks, “Is there a way we can check our bags early?” and she says,”Of course not! There might be four or five bombs in there!” Hmm. The woman is firm. We can’t check in until 6 p.m.
The Brit woman asks, “No joy?” when Doug gets off the phone and I shake my head. “No joy.” It’s now my new favorite saying.
The six of us trudge our way to the international terminal, where Doug is currently sleeping on my shoulder and I’m looking at a view of palm trees in smog. When we arrived here another “volunteer” asked “Need some help?” and Doug joked, “Yeah, I need some money for food. I’m hungry.”
It started with my niece Hannah, who is studying abroad this year in Australia at the University of Queensland. Before she left last summer, she urged me to come and visit.
Hannah
I love to travel and I love my niece and if I were a millionaire the decision to visit her in Australia would have been a no-brainer.
But as I told her, the $2,000 per ticket price just didn’t fit my particular wallet size, so the likelihood of me getting my butt to Australia was close to zero. About that time I was reading a book called, “Finding Your Own North Star” by Martha Beck.
Martha Beck
I first heard about Martha when she was interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts called Meet the Writers. I liked her immediately, and picked up her book the next chance I had. I later found out that she is a regular columnist for Oprah’s Magazine and I’ve read almost all of her books now.
One of Martha’s ideas is to set wildly improbable goals for yourself. These aren’t goals like, “I’m going to win the lottery” or “All the unwanted hair on my body will mysteriously disappear one day” but more to the heart of why you want to win the lottery or have a hairless body. The way I found my wildly improbable goals was to think of things that made me spontaneously smile and light up inside.
The two that I came up with last June were to run a 10k in less than 50 minutes, and to visit my niece in Australia. Believe me, both were wildly improbable at the time, and I’m still working on the 10k time.
Once you set your goals, Martha advises doing a little creative brainstorming and research on all the ways you could think of to meet that goal.
So, the ideas that I decided to pursue to try and get myself to Australia were:
1. Win a contest.
2. Find a way to get there through work (like a work-related conference).
3. Save about $5,000 in 6 months (totally impossible).
I went the “win a contest” route first and googled, “Win a Trip to Australia.” Really, that’s what I did. People look at me a bit aghast when I tell that part, as if just taking that step required a leap of faith akin to walking barefoot across hot coals, but hey, it seemed easy at the time and I guess I am a testament to the power of Google (and no, they did not pay me to say that).
Before going further, I should say that I have never won anything in my life. Well, maybe $1 on the lotto card that is still sitting in my desk drawer from 7 years ago. But even when I go to events where there are 20 door prizes and only 21 people show up, I’m the unlucky one. So, I knew the idea of winning a trip to Australia was beyond a long shot for me. Still, I had some hope.
After sorting through the first couple of pages in Google that popped up of previous contests and dead-ends, I found a contest that seemed to be a pretty good fit for me. It was an essay-contest sponsored by Jurlique, an Australian organic and biodynamic beauty products company, and the grand prize winner would win a trip for two to the Jurlique farms in South Australia. The company posted a video to explain the contest.
I had heard about Jurlique when a donor to my former work protecting gray wolves in the Northern Rockies had mentioned that they were the only cosmetics company she would use because they didn’t use nanotechnology in their products. I never followed up on her recommendation, but I had always had Jurlique in the back of my mind to check out.
So, I knew that this was a legitimate company, making a good product, and even better, the essay topic for submission was “personal renewal and the earth” a topic that I could write about with some passion. Advocating for wolves is an unlikely career path for a woman who grew up on a cattle ranch where predators are unwelcome and my personal journey from ranch-girl to journalist to conservation made for a good essay.
Last July, I submitted my essay and linked it to a photo and video of a CBS news segment about wolves where I am interviewed.
And then I waited, and waited, and waited. In November, I received an e-mail from Jurlique that I was a “finalist” in the contest and that I had either won the grand prize, or the runner-up prize – a $1,000 worth of product. Don’t get me wrong, the runner-up prize would have been nice, and a few family members would have found some great face lotion in their stockings for Christmas, but it wasn’t my wildly improbably goal, so when the call finally came, I held my breath until he said, “Janelle, I’m calling to let you know that you’re Jurlique’s grand prize winner!”
Jurlique posted the names of the contest winners and I called my sister and my niece and screamed a little on the phone. And then I waited some more. Originally, the grand prize winners (3 were selected – one from the UK, one from the U.S. and one from Australia) were supposed to visit Australia in January, during the farm’s harvest time, but the scheduling didn’t work out.
So, after some back and forth about dates, Jurlique booked our tickets to Australia for March 20th – April 4th, and we leave tomorrow. We’ll spend the first week with Jurlique in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, and then the second week we’ll be on our own in Tasmania. Hannah will be flying down from university to join us for most of the trip. I hope you’ll follow along with me on this blog while I realize my very first wildly improbable goal. Thank you Martha! Thank you Google! Thank you Jurlique!
Only one episode left to go in this season’s Flight of the Conchords, and I’ll have to miss it, because … and this is not a joke … I’ll be in Australia. I think it may be the ultimate fan betrayal.
But, we have more important things to discuss this evening. Namely, the poster by Murray’s desk in Episode #21: New Zealand Worth A Go. Yes, I am absolutely positive it is, and if I had more time on my travels to the land down under I would give New Zealand a go and go down underer. Sad, very sad.
Anyway, here are some alternate titles for my post based on tonight’s episode:
Which is always a good sign… at least for me … that something is truly hilarious. I’m going to Australia next month, and a co-worker of mine recommended reading books about the country before I depart (which is a very sensible idea). So, I went out and bought the obligatory Fodor’s and Frommer’s travel guides (why do both names sound like characters from Lord of the Rings?), and she passed on some heavy tome about the history of Australia. I ditched all of them in favor of Bill Bryson’s, In a Sunburned Countrylast night and had myself an immensely good chuckle. Bryson’s description of himself falling asleep in the car while being toured around by kind strangers on a sightseeing trip of Sydney made me nearly breathless with laughter. Even if you never plan on going to Australia, you should read this book.
Travel Tip #1: Avoid long layovers at LAX at all costs!
Here’s the short version:
Only one episode left to go in this season’s 
