Aya

I travelled through Ecuador, Perú and Bolivia in 2008 for 4 months, by myself, knowing next to know Spanish, and then through Southern Bolivia and Argentina in 2012 for 6 months, once again by myself, yet knowing the language at a very high level. Both experiences were beyond my imagining in terms of the beauty of the landscape, the other traveller's I met and the connections made, and the incredible warmth and hospitality of the people from those countries. Even during the first trip when I knew only very basic phrases and words, the people were very friendly and helpful and I found not knowing the language didn't particularly hinder my the quality of experience over there at all, it simply shaped it by not allowing me to converse at length with the locals. Of course when I returned the second time round and being able to speak Spanish, meant that I had many more experiences, interactions and conversations with the locals which made it a culturally richer experience. I wouldn't say a better one, just different. I would highly recommend though if you are serious on going in 6 months time and wish to get the most out of it, to try and learn as much Spanish in that time as you can. It will make for a smoother trip and less stress, more options and possibilities, and the simple pleasure of speaking with and getting to know a bit about the locals. I simply started through borrowing language programs from my local library such as Routledge's "Colloquial Spanish 1 (beginners)" and "Colloquial Spanish 2 (intermediate)", listening to lots of podcasts and music in the language, which is so easy with Spanish as there are heaps of great musicians and interesting podcasts, and also writing almost on a daily basis in Spanish as soon as I could start forming sentences (second best thing if you can't speak with someone as you're still actively using the language and thinking in it). So learning the language is very easy to do without even spending a cent of money, just requires time. In terms of safety over there, I never once felt threatened or that I was in danger. Though in saying that I met a lovely girl from Britain who on her first day in Quito got mugged in broad daylight about 50 metres down the road after leaving the hostel; her first experience in Ecuador. Obviously some luck is involved in everyone's case, but as for me, I never had anything of real value on me when walking the streets, whether in a town or a major city, and I didn't put myself in sketchy situations. Just be smart, informed and respectful and you should be fine, as most people over there. South America is such an incredible land and one which I will continue to return to throughout my life. Without question a second home to me. I wish you very much the same experience. p.s. if there are certain interests you have or particular things you'd like to do and experience whilst over there but don't know where to begin, I'd be happy to recommend you some places (as you can tell I love talking about South America... :)).

Liking that Eric Davis is being given some thought Ronny. Would be very interested in hearing some talks from him.

Hey peoples, it's been a while since I've been on this forum but looking to connect again with the community. I'll be passing through Melbourne between the 11th and 15th of April should a meetup be taking place.

Hi Nibbana, just stumbled across this thread and had a read through. Where abouts do you and your girlfriend find each other now? Did you end up going on that road trip up the east coast? Like I'm sure many on this forum, I can relate to much of what you wrote. Those same questions, dilemmas and desires have been rattling around my mind for many years now and over that time personal realisations and conclusions have been touched upon. After many years of doing the equal parts work than travel thing, I've realised that's (for me at least) an unsustainable way of living, as I always end up having to come back home and working (most of the time) an incredibly uninspiring job again, which saps the life out of me to such a point where I'll reach my threshold, and then simply quit and go travelling again: an ultimately unfulfilling cycle, although very fulfilling initially. So by all means go out and explore the world if you have that urge, just don't make it a go-to when the boredom and oppression of the 9-5 job-centric lifestyle finally grinds you down again. So now I'm knuckling down and saving for that block of land which you spoke about and the one I've been dreaming about for the past 6 or 7 years now, and hoping to create a much more satisfying and fulfilling life which will allow me time to breath and pursue my interests whilst keeping the demands of society to a bare minimum. Luckily two very good friends of mine are on the same page and we're planning on buying land together to cut down costs, with each of us building our own modest home on different parts of the property. This will give us the privacy we want, give us plenty of land to grow all our own food, and allow us to come together whenever we wish. We're also planning on building a shared building which would simply be one big room with a kitchen in it and fire place, and a lot of space to hang out, share meals, and so on. So that could be an option for you and something to think about; finding a block of land which you can buy with others. Of course that would come down to that issue of "finding the others" as you mentioned earlier. But trust me, they're out there. We've been looking in the north island of New Zealand and also down in Tassie, and land in both of these areas can be anywhere between 80 thousand to 200 hundred thousand depending on what you're after (we're after as much land as we can afford), so divide those numbers by three or potentially more and you actually arrive at an achievable amount of money. In terms of work and the travelling life. As others have already mentioned I would look into seasonal fruit picking work all over Australia, which you can find through this site here https://jobsearch.gov.au/job/search/harvest as well as others, and I would check out the facebook page Travelling Winemakers - Living the dream! (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2883325456/), or also WOOFing. With those kind of jobs you're bound to meet other like minded individuals as well as people from all over the world, you may gain some useful knowledge on growing different crops and when to harvest etc., and you'll also be able to explore more of Australia. I'm about to start doing seasonal work similar to this which will see me working in the Northern Territory in winter and Tasmania in the summer, and jobs in this vain usually have free or very cheap accomodation, and food may also be included, thus all the money you earn you can save and put away for that future self sufficient farm which we're all aiming for, or/and some home on wheels in the intervening years. And lastly being part of a good community and having wonderful people in your life who understand and support your ideas and dreams and motivate you to make them happen really can't be understated. Luckily you're in the right place and I'm sure you'll be able to meet up with and get to know many people here. Also simply by following and pursuing that which inspires and animates you will guide you to people of similar mind. It's cliché but true. If you currently find yourself in Sydney, I'll be around for another week or so before heading off should you wish to catch up for a coffee and talk about these ideas and the possible options, or if you would simply like to meet up with someone of a similar mind from this community. Hope all's well and glowing

Hi everyone, how are we all today? I'm writing a report for one of my uni subjects which looks at the underlying attitudes/reasons for why people are either for or against certain policies/political proposals, and I've decided to pick for my topic the proposed logging and mining of the Tarkine. The only problem is, being in Victoria, I can't seem to find many people who know about the Tarkine or have heard about these potential developments and so don't have an opinion about it. So naturally I thought I'd ask around here given that many if not all of us are very much environmentally minded and have well formed opinions on proposals such as these. So what I'm wondering is, if anyone would be interested in being interviewed (just over skype via the non-video chat thing so that the transcript will already be written out) and simply give their opinion and thoughts about the Tarkine in regards to these proposals, it would be extremely appreciated and you'd be helping me a lot. I should say that the main reason behind this report, is to see if we can identify certain attitudes behind why a person reacts to a proposal in the way she/he does, whether for or against, so that we can better understand those factors and so promote environmentally beneficial behaviour/choices. Sorry if that's a bit vague, an example: let's say a family in Tasmania is all for the mining of the Tarkine because the jobs that come out of it will support them for the coming 30 years. Clearly the attitudes/reasons for why they support the mining is due to financial stability, thus, if we could somehow get across to them the financial worth of maintaining the Tarkine, then we may be able to influence sustainable/environmentally positive choices. That is at the core of the report and subject (environmental sociology). Anyway... The interview (more like a chat really), should only take around 10 to potentially 30 minutes, depending on how much you wish to say really, and the questions are very simple such as 'do you think this proposal is a good thing? why?' etc. I should also stress that one doesn't need to know much about these issues, only that there are proposals to mine the Tarkine, and have an opinion about it. Also this report will only be read by my lecturer and your responses will be put under a pseudonym (unless you want your responses to be attributed to you). Thank you very much for reading!! If you are interested, simply send me a pm, and we can arrange a time to jump on skype hopefully sometime this afternoon. I'll be checking back every half hour or so. Gracias a todos!

Thanks for all your advice guys. I'm going to do a few applications of natrasoap over the next 2 weeks, give it a month or so and then see if I can spot them. Or I simply may repeat the process just to be sure. And if I can find some DE, then I'll grab some of that also. Thanks again everyone. p.s. Also if anyone thinks otherwise or has some thoughts regarding the photo, feel free to share.

Wow, just read up on it. Sounds like one hell of a substance. Commonly found at nurseries?

Well, after taking this photo I believe also that it's spider mites. So then, what's the best way to get rid of them? As I said before, I tried a few times covering the lophs with a soapy solution (Yates insect and mite killer - natrasoap) which apparently didn't do too much as they are still here (could have recolonised however - or perhaps I didn't do enough applications/at the wrong intervals). Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Zelly - what is this DE you speak of?

It has been quite some time since I last wrote something here or even dropped by, but am still indeed planting and growing away, and I have a question regarding my lophs which have been battling against something for the past year (at least) now. So, there seems to be something attacking the lophs from the base up, that is the flesh just above where the roots start, and slowly making there way up. What happens is that the affected part becomes shriveled up and turns to first a yellowish colour and then a burnt umber. This is a very slow process and has been affecting one of my lophs for 2 years, and a few years back it even wiped out an entire group of seedlings. I tried using sulphur powder a few years back which didn't appear to have any effect, and more recently I tried a natural soap based product like that which you might use on aphids, again, apparently to no effect. A few thoughts. Could this be environment related? Meaning size of pot, direct sun/shade ratio, soil type etc, or something along those lines? - Just so it's clear, the soil is a mixture of sand and potting mix, quite well draining and only watered in the summer once or twice every 2 weeks. Never dehydrated though (at least not much or for long if so). Fertilised and occasional seasol. So I'm quite baffled as to what it is, thus if anyone has any ideas or has had experience with what's going on with my cacti, I'd love to hear from you. I think I'm going to take them out of their pots tomorrow and see how the roots are doing, so if I see anything out of the ordinary, I'll mention it tomorrow. Hope all is well people, Aya

Good advice there. And as for that natural helper, can't recommend Yerba enough. Fantastic plant. Definitely helps to provide some added motivation and a clear and focused mind. Just make sure not to drink it too late into the evening, as you may find it slightly difficult to get a good night's sleep. Not because of any natural chemistry on Yerba's part, but simply because your brain will be processing and developing information like an über-efficient-green-powered-course-material-absorbing machine, that you'll not want to go to sleep. There's a great Argentinian cafe over on Hoddle street if you're ever on the search for some. Good luck with the sudies.

Wonderful photos there Mr Mayonnaise, thanks for sharing. Where abouts was this photography et fungi foray? Quite a diversity. Love it!

This doesn't look like any Cereus Peruvianus I've seen, as it's ridges (correct terminology?) are much fatter and closer together, like your typical Pachanoi or E. Peruvianus, and it's definitely not a Monstrose. I know that much with certainty. Will try again later this evening to upload some photos.

I've been having many problems trying to upload photos as well. I've decreased the size, tried saving to different file types and still nothing. Highly frustrating. Tried both uploading from computer and adding via 'insert image'. Anyone figured this problem out yet?

Hello all, was just wondering if someone could lend me their knowledge for a second and perhaps suggest what this might be. I was walking home from uni the other day, slightly raining, and I happened to walk past this hedge out the front of a small unkempt area of land, and there lying on top of this hedge (which was almost at eye level), was this seperated arm of cacti. I then noticed the mother plant behind it which was very old and and had endured many a harsh summer and winter, and there also on the ground surrounding her was a few other arms of cacti, although most of them nearly completely rotted through. So luckily for the one which I discovered on the shrubs, because it hadn't been laying for weeks amongst the soaking ground, it was still in pretty good condition, apart from a few fingal wounds and rot which I will have to cut out. So anyway, to the cacti, which I naturally decided to take home with me to get it out of the rain, and soon replant to live, grow and enjoy once more. - I seem to be having some problems uploading/attaching the images, anyone know what's wrong? Or what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for the heads up Chiral, sounds like a great watch indeed. And thanks for that link Thunder, much appreciated.