15 Mar Mojo, ‘interpretation’ and a rescue of sorts
There’s nothing quite so good as recovering one’s mojo – and today it happened for Nightfall‘s construction team. After 50 rain days in a row, this morning under magnificent blue skies, out came the mower, the welder and the sewing machine. Together in the sunshine, these essential tools of construction purred, whirred and flashed – a special fresh milestone which filled our souls with joy: the ‘building’ of Australia’s newest luxury camp is finally back on track. (yes, I know, the wet weather is not entirely over, but we do need to look on the bright side!)
It’s been a difficult six weeks. Before Australia Day we seemed to be flying along, making rewarding progress and then bang: rain, showers and more rain! No sewing canvas, no welding tent frames, no landscaping: no nothing, except working to stay dry, tie-up loose ends and keep our spirits intact. Perhaps focus is difficult when you can’t see much progress on the ground. In reality, I can look back and see lots of things ticked-off from the ‘to-do’ list, including further improvements to our www.Nightfall.com.au website, finalising our camp kitchen design and ordering the Nightfall’s custom-made wood-fired oven and grill. Fire-cooked organic organic food will be a signature experience when our luxury tent accommodation opens, so your host chef Steve is chomping at the bit as he waits for his new toy.
The past few weeks have also given us time to get our teeth into the nitty gritty of completing our Eco-tourism Australia certification. Nightfall‘s wilderness experience has been carefully designed to meet the highest ‘advanced eco-tourism’ status, but there’s a fair bit of work required to prove we’re operating at world’s best practice standard. At this top level, eco-certification is about more than running a sustainable eco-sensitive operation. It’s as much about ensuring a high-quality experience in nature, where you’ll easily be able to access and learn more about the wonders of our world-heritage setting. This ‘interpretation’ may come through knowledge shared by a local guide, a self-guided adventure, our literature and library or the comfort of your tent, as the wildlife comes to you.
Speaking of wildlife, today was also punctuated with a little rescue of sorts, as we relocated hundreds of tadpoles whose rapidly-drying puddle nurseries were about to turn to mud. Luckily we had the perfect new home — the pond in Nightfall‘s orchard vegetable garden. It’s exciting to watch these little guys evolve, especially the day you find them sitting on the pond rocks, finally looking like little frogs. At this point you can tell which species they are. The frog pond plays a vital part in our permaculture system — frogs and birds eat the bugs in the garden, avoiding the need to use chemical controls.
Such is the balance of nature which inspires us to protect this incredible wilderness which sustains us all.