2 Years Ago, We just got the house up that we built ourselves and moved straight in
The water journey has been epic, non stop issues and still we are no closer to having running water than we were 2 years ago wen we arrived. I’m not complaining, please don’t take it the wrong way. This is paradise and we have 3 5000ltr tanks but to keep enough water for 5 of us, 15 ducks and a mini food forest… it damn hard and almost makes me want to run away n not come back. To top it off we have the power issue too.
So the water story - we started out with a petrol powered fire fighting pump and 600m of lay flat non toxic food grade hose. It wasn’t cheap and we needed a lot to get up a steep 700m climb. It takes almost 2 hrs to go down to the water supply cos it’s so steep. We finally got it all set up, but it was 100m short with all the twists n turns. We bought another 150m of the same hose just to be sure with the firefighting nozzle too so we are prepared. Got it all connected, I was waiting at the top with the phone in my hand wishing and waiting for water to finally flow so we know our family will survive here forever. No such luck. No call to ask us it flowing n no water.
It reached 300m 🙄 . We got another pump to go half way up the hill to boost the pump at the creek. But when we got their to the pump at the creek it had seized because we forgot to cart housing down the hill to cover the pump from the weather. So at that point we gave up, we only have a small window of time to get things done. When Patrick (my childrens dad) is here and he works hard on the land all week from sun up to sun down. So I can imagine working on this kind of stuff would be the last thing he wanted to do after working in the hot sun all day everyday.
The boys and I started researching RAM pumps, which don’t require petrol and can run water up to about 300m. Thought if we could just get the water half way we can sort it from there. We bought the parts and copying YouTubers we built our own pump. That was a month ago and it’s impossible to get the set up needed down the hill with bub who can’t walk far on her own plus supplies and walk back up. It almost kills me hiking up the slope, it’s that steep. Anyways because of all the issues with water, I’ve lost the 100 lemon trees and 30 bush food trees I had stocked up to grow our food out here and start our roadside stall.
The power story - we started out with a generator 2 years ago, a solar panel and battery for the lights and the same for the fridge. Our old style washing machine died wen we got here so wen we had enough water we had to hand wash for a while. Then we got a 3kg twin tub and that just got too much not being able to wash anything bigger than a towel and handling every item to spin etc. So we saved for a front loader, but it didn’t work on our generator cos it was not sine wave. Anything with a digital display need pure sine energy supply, costing 3 times more than the one we had.
We tried a second hand front loader but realised it had same thing, small digital display so it didn’t work. Picked up a free 5kg washer but it didn’t work even though it just had the lights and a rough button. For 12 months we have been washing our clothes at the sister in laws in town and the blankets at the laundromat.
We now have 2 batteries set up to the fridge and still it only keeps food cold during the day in the freezer lol, I can’t even keep fruit and veg cold in the fridge overnight. So we can only buy wat we need and wen we need it or it’s just duck food. Then I researched wind turbines as we are up high and get good wind here. I bought a 3kva set up, with a pure sine inverter to run the washing machines and 16 batteries. We used an old extension chord to wire the turbine and jumper leads to make cables for the batteries. We even made 50 of our own copper connections and tried to set it up. Still no luck, back to YouTubers we go. But this generator is about to die now and with the vax mandates we have no idea what’s going on and are lucky to have food and the clothes on backs.
Seriously feeling burnt out and can’t even think about how we will get over the line after 2 years of constantly pushing forward no matter what we have to deal with. Being on my own most the time out here, homeschooling 3 with a 3 year old home too, our future is a lil uncertain with the loss of child support as the kids dad will be forced onto unemployment benefits after being given the ultimatum of getting vaxxed or being layed off. After 10 years with the same organisation, they have let him go just days before Xmas and our babies 3rd bday. We have no parents or in-laws and are the ones helping everyone else usually. That much so I’ve dropped the ball having my attention focused solely on helping others and not trying to sort this power and water issues.
We refuse to let any of this get us down or leave us feeling defeated and are calling out for support to help lighten the load. Regardless what the global dictators do, we will survive out here with water and power and everything we need to thrive again as our people have since the beginning of time. True self determination and self sufficient for life.
We are hoping to see a wave of young and old, making the tree change and heading home to country. We aim to be a source of support and provide ideas and solutions like this one to help those in need, make this possible too.
We would not be out here thriving like we have been without the loving kindness of the online family we have grown strong connections with and love dearly. From the bottom of all our hearts, thank u, thank u, thank u 🙏
We have decided on the generator we need and where we can buy it in store. We have also got the water drilling contact for the island ready to call Monday. The generator was $1k more than the one we had chosen online originally and we still have to get the pumps and tanks once the hole has been sunk for the bore. But without it? We can’t survive out here.
Video coming soon to show you in real time where we are up to. Just as soon as the necklace making marathon is over. Not long now! Thank you to everyone who helped get us over the line, we couldn’t have done any of this alone 🙏🏾🖤💛❤️🔥✨✨✨