A day in the country

(Pictured above - Guy from Mount Gnomon)

The excitement Rita experienced in the north of the state didn’t stop on Saturday night after the meal at the Terrace. On Sunday, I drove to Perth to meet up with Colette from Ut Si’s Café, then together we drove to Penguin for the inaugural Organic Sustainable Living Festival 2010, held at the Penguin Sustainable Living Centre. We also met up with Guy and Eliza from Mount Gnomon Farm, and popped up there for a quick visit with the piggies whilst we were in the area.

The festival was a wholesome get-together of like-minded, environmentally inclined people – in fact 1000 of them - who arrived at various assorted times over the course of the day, and availed themselves of relevant information, goods and general good vibes.

The organizers of the festival had thought of pretty well everything, including parking attendants to direct the huge volume of cars entering the site, a mini bus to ferry people to the base of the beautiful valley in which the festival was held, and 2 men’s and 2 women’s toilets. Seating was mostly on hay bales, and there were only a few food stalls selling ethically farmed food – beef wraps with salad and tabbouleh and coriander chutney, sushi or fresh corn on the cob, and freshly juiced fruit and vege drinks. They also had a musical massage available for those who might feel slightly stressed about how well the day was going! There were guest speakers, including the now well-known Gourmet Farmer Matt Evans.

It was a very civilized and controlled festival, which made a change from the usual Salamanca Market, shoulder-to-shoulder huddle I’m used to in this kind of situation. No loud noisy racket, no yelling people, no long snaking queues. Just happy, friendly, relaxed people, all being polite with each other, whilst they acknowledged everyone present with a friendly nod and smile. Maybe it was because it was held in the countryside, or maybe it was because all present had the common bond of sustainability, but it surely was impressive.

The trip to Mount Gnomon was equally as exciting, with the highlight being a visit to Mama Pig who had, a week ago, given birth to 9 noisy, squealing and greedy piglets, who were quite obviously exhausting the poor, long-suffering mother by insisting she feed them non-stop, from dawn to dusk!

(Pictured above, Colette and Eliza)

Colette and I chattered without drawing breath for the 90 minute trip to Penguin, then the 90 minute trip back to Perth. We obviously found one or two things to discuss!

A great weekend in a great part of the state. We’re lucky to be part of such a diverse state.