Page 133 - moondani kyema
P. 133
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 133
Our 5ΒΌ hectares (13 acres) of forest at Snake Valley was our home for the next few
years. The house had been built by five young men and their partners who had tried
to start a commune. It was a very basic weatherboard house. Half of it was an open
living area with bathroom and kitchen opening off it. The other half was a long
hallway with five bedrooms opening off it. The toilet was outside. We removed the
property name from its place of prominence and I placed the sign over the toilet door.
It read "Country Comfort". Some birds had a habit of roosting in the roof of the toilet
at night and the family
were not at all keen on
going out there in the
dark to be met by the
thrashing of wings over
their heads as they
Approximate area entered. So every night
I would take the whole
of our property family for a toilet run,
firstly making sure that
there were no birds in
the roof and then,
because there were no
lights, shining a torch so
that they could see what
they were doing, while I
discreetly looked the
other way!
There was no electricity,
so we had to buy a
generator for this
purpose. Before we
moved in we dug a ditch
between the house and
the shed to hold the
electric wires that would
bring power to the
house from the
generator. Coming one
morning to continue the
ditch digging, we found
two bewildered snakes
at the bottom of the
ditch, wondering how on earth they were going to get out of this trap they had fallen
in to. We solved their problem by despatching them with the shovel.
A few months after we moved there we were able, together with the other residents
of Rowlers Road, to have the power lines extended along our road. Because it was a
forest area, we had to have a twelve metre swathe cut through the forest to provide a
safe line for the poles and wires required. To save money, the residents banded
together, and we had a working bee most weekends to hone our skills with our
Our 5ΒΌ hectares (13 acres) of forest at Snake Valley was our home for the next few
years. The house had been built by five young men and their partners who had tried
to start a commune. It was a very basic weatherboard house. Half of it was an open
living area with bathroom and kitchen opening off it. The other half was a long
hallway with five bedrooms opening off it. The toilet was outside. We removed the
property name from its place of prominence and I placed the sign over the toilet door.
It read "Country Comfort". Some birds had a habit of roosting in the roof of the toilet
at night and the family
were not at all keen on
going out there in the
dark to be met by the
thrashing of wings over
their heads as they
Approximate area entered. So every night
I would take the whole
of our property family for a toilet run,
firstly making sure that
there were no birds in
the roof and then,
because there were no
lights, shining a torch so
that they could see what
they were doing, while I
discreetly looked the
other way!
There was no electricity,
so we had to buy a
generator for this
purpose. Before we
moved in we dug a ditch
between the house and
the shed to hold the
electric wires that would
bring power to the
house from the
generator. Coming one
morning to continue the
ditch digging, we found
two bewildered snakes
at the bottom of the
ditch, wondering how on earth they were going to get out of this trap they had fallen
in to. We solved their problem by despatching them with the shovel.
A few months after we moved there we were able, together with the other residents
of Rowlers Road, to have the power lines extended along our road. Because it was a
forest area, we had to have a twelve metre swathe cut through the forest to provide a
safe line for the poles and wires required. To save money, the residents banded
together, and we had a working bee most weekends to hone our skills with our
