Getting moving and especially keeping going after that 100k day is seriously hard. My muscles feel really weak and every hill is a struggle. We stop frequently for short breaks and for one longer one in Coffs Harbour. We still need to buy another gas cartridge and even more some coffee as our camp stove isn’t working. So we treat ourselves to coffee at a restaurant which we rarely do and luckily right on that day some guys sing and play guitar right next to us.
Unfortunately it wasn’t getting earlier and so we hop on the bikes once more. We had decided the day before that we would go inland along the Summerland Way to avoid the highway once more. This means a few more hills but that is fine with us in exchange for less traffic. Usually. Today I’m just tired.
So when we see a sign for fresh farm vegetables we stop happily and inquire to buy something for dinner. As soon as I see the farm I’m intrigued. There’s lots of signs saying things like forest garden which I recognize from a book about permaculture. There is sheep and chicken and guinea fowls running around and it all looks very interesting. Unfortunately there’s no one around so we hang around for a bit wondering whether to knock at the door. We want to know more, want to know the people who built this, are curious. So after some consideration we do knock and eventually find a smiling Tomoko greeting us from the side of the house. We immediately get to talk and she tells us a little about Synchronicity Farm: They have lots of projects going on with permaculture being one of them, three kids being another and a huge stone pizza oven being the latest!
And even better, they could use some help over the next few days and we soon agree that this is perfect for all of us: We get some much needed rest from cycling and they get some relief from pizza prep. So we pitch our tent in their beautiful garden and soon sit down to dinner with the whole family where we also get to know Josh and the kids.
I find our life quite fascinating at the moment: One day we cycle a 100k and end up tired and cold without a much needed hot drink and the next day we enjoy an awesome dinner with freshly fermented food (Kimchi and Sauerkraut) – yum! – and just about everything else I can imagine. One day we can’t make coffee and the next day we get coffee made with freshly ground coffee beans out of a fancy machine. One day we’re alone at a quiet beach enjoying the evening light and the next day we’re inside surrounded by a whirlwind of activity sharing stories and ideas. This is awesome!
The next days are spent in the kitchen cutting vegetables and preparing meat and finally making pizza in the awesome oven. And I couldn’t enjoy it more: This is just what I need. Some time off the bike, sitting on a chair and still doing something and talking about life with great people. Tomoko and Joshua are so inspiring in their ideas about that piece of land which is Sychronicity farm: about connecting people, about knowing food and spreading that knowledge and especially about enjoying what they are doing. Thank you both so much for sharing that with us for a few days – it was just what we needed!!
