Wwoofers have become part and parcel of the Permaculture network. They help the global spread of awareness in environmental and social issues by directly experiencing the way things could be done - and provide valuable extra hands/feet/eyes/minds etc for the multitude of hosts where they stay.

It is a unique experience for both host and wwoofer. Simply described, it is an exchange of labour in return for food and accommodation, but the wealth of experiences and trust that are shared make it a priceless system in our fiscal world!

On joining the Wwoof Organisation, (there is a different one in each participating country) you are issued with a book of places that are willing to put you up for a time - from a few days to several months, depending on the situation, in return for around a half a days work every day. As hosts, we enjoy meeting a diverse array of people from many cultures and places, and sharing our visions and space with them.

At Living Waters, we welcome Wwoofers as part of the family, living and dining with us, and they usually join in on social occasions and trips out. We usually work alongside wwoofers, especially at first, until we know their skills and they have familiarised themselves with the place. Imagine the culture shock of a young city girl from Tokyo finding herself in a place where the toilets don't flush, and hot water does not come out of a tap without first lighting a wood fire!!

Every person is different, and it is our aim to discover the way to best use the skills that a particular person may have to offer. This is not always obvious, either to us or the wwoofer! We do not wish to use wwoofers as slave labour, but sometimes there are some fairly monotonous tasks that have to be done - digging out Watsonia immediately springs to mind - and it does spread the load by having a steady stream of wwoofers getting a large job done in manageable amounts.

The end result is a happy traveller, who gets to experience a real slice of rural Australian culture, and realise that it is possible to live a more harmonious way of life - wherever they may be.

For us as hosts, we have a constant flow of new energy, ideas and company. We don't have to travel the world, the world comes to us! And if ever we feel that this sustainable thing is too much like banging ones head against the wall, we can look back over the books of photos and comments, which are testament to the more simple and trusting way of life.