Originally from New Zealand, Rebekah had travelled the world before deciding to relocate to Adelaide, South Australia for her base to run a Sales Training company from. During 2020 she met her partner Paul and with their shared love of land and wide-open spaces they purchased a 62 acre property in Lenswood naming it ‘Moemoeā’, a Māori term meaning ‘Dreams come True’. They have spent the last 2 years fencing and regenerating the land as well as tackling 2 large projects to bring them towards their goal of complete sustainable self-sufficiency; addressing their sources of water and power.
The property, that had been mostly untouched for 20 years prior to their stewardship, had mainly access to bore water, with little storage set up for rainwater. While bore water is great for irrigation it is not considered ‘potable’ or safe for human consumption. In their first year they invested in the infrastructure required for rainwater harvesting and storage. It is not unusual for the country around Lenswood to experience droughts of 5-6 months annually. The rainwater infrastructure provided relief from drought and a means with which to provide water to the household. This allowed them to transform the existing vegetable garden. Paul, who works in construction, along with the help of their first WWOOFer Ryan have built wicking garden beds, which increased their water efficiency and limits their water usage.
Historically, prior to renewables, South Australia was reliant on other States for their power supply. Even now, it is not uncommon for the Mt Barker area to have brown outs or planned black outs. This influenced the second major improvement for Moemoeā, establishing an independent power supply. With the installation of solar panels and a 48kw battery array they now have a Virtual Power Plant that supplies all of their power needs as well as having excess to sell to the grid.
With these major achievements now successfully completed, Rebekah and Paul are building up their cattle herd, building a Chook Palace and making Moemoeā as maintenance free as possible. Their future objectives include: building an equipment shed (two of their past WWOOFers have requested to come back to help with this) and establishing eco-tourism accommodation long their ridge line.
WWOOFing at Moemoeā gives volunteers an opportunity to be able to assist with this array of projects and contribute to developing an off-grid self-sufficient property.
Rebekah and Paul are also participating in a great initiative where they donate excess produce to the local charity ‘The Pantry’ that supports over 75 local families with raw, local produce.
Reviews:
Ryan: I stayed with Rebekah and Paul just for two days, but had a wonderful time helping them on their beautiful plot of land. It was exciting to see the lay of the land and hear about all the work and big plans they had ahead. They were both incredibly kind and friendly, and were generous with their time to explain what they were doing and sharing some of their experiences. And all food I had while staying with them was absolutely delicious.
Luke: Rebekah and Paul are fun to hang out with and make you feel welcome as part of the family in their lovely home. Work is fun and nothing too regimented, opportunities to learn, time for laughs and interesting & wide-ranging conversation. Food is great and keeps coming. Peaceful property and makes a nice break from the city and good place to get a flavour of life in the hills. Thanks for having me, hope to be back at some point. Cheers, Luke
Lucy: I had the best three weeks with Rebekah, Paul, Cooper, and Nori. I originally planned to stay for just one week, but I didn’t want to leave! From the moment I arrived, I felt so welcomed and truly part of the family. The work was varied, with tasks ranging from splitting and sorting wood to cleaning out the chickens and mowing the grass. I really appreciated being able to choose which jobs to take on each day. I also picked up some great new skills, like riding a quad bike and a ride-on mower, which was a lot of fun! The food was incredible—I’d really missed that level of homemade cooking. Thank you so much for having me; I’ll definitely be back
Photo’s supplied by Rebekah Tucker
Article written by Tameson Linsen, WWOOF Australia
