A+little+bit+of+back+story



I was fortunate to grow up in dual universes - a Melbourne girl with all the facilities and stimulus of the city at hand and a country girl, with a primary producing family who grew merino wool in north-eastern Victoria. Aged 5 I was planting trees on the family farm, in an early incarnation of Landcare. Fast forwarding, I spent over 20 years as an advertising copywriter, living a somewhat surreal existence of spending millions of other people's dollars, coming up with endless ideas, mingling with directors, artists, musicians and high flyers. Lots of razzle, dazzle yes. But it became harder and harder to ignore that advertising was a shallow, meaningless and self-indulgent world. Added to that, I'd been privileged to have been selected to train with Al Gore in 2009 at the first Asia Pacific conference for The Climate Reality Project - and let's face it, as a Climate Presenter, my role in promoting the consumer swamp had become untenable. So I made an escape plan...

In 2010, my husband and I quit our jobs, packed our home, rented it out and ran away to Europe/North Africa for a year. We bought a clapped out Toyota Previa converted into a very small camper, lived in it (even when it was snowing - brrrrr...) and drove around England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Portugal. We also visited Greece and Turkey, Hong Kong and Thailand (sans car). We WOOFed in Italy and Switzerland - wonderful, life changing. We lived simply, met wonderful people, helped as many other humans as we could, ate locally farmed produce, cooked simple but delicious local cuisine, walked lots (got fit) and kept our footprint to a bare minimum. We took NO mobile phones, computers, sat nav or anything remotely like a safety blanket. For those who respond with shock at this news, I should explain we used PAPER maps and relied on an appalling grasp of foreign languages - and the universal language of human kindness - to get by. It was extraordinary!

On return to Australia mid 2011, I began work in an organic fair-trade cafe to learn the art of making beautiful coffee (one of my passions). I still do this, while I re-educate myself and explore how I can best contribute to this planet's need for informed environmental advocates.

I have two pet parrots - both Indian Ringnecks. The first is Larry, now about 3 and a half and spoilt to bits. In April of 2012 he was joined by a 4 month old female who I named Duck. Yes, it's a stupid name for a parrot. Duck probably should have been called pig, because she sticks her beak in the feed trough frequently and emerges covered in food. She won't be invited out any time soon. She is very big and gentle and docile (no doubt in a semi-catatonic state of digesting) and Larry is terrified of her. Enough about birds.

I also share a home with Mark - an awesome partner who completely supports me to do "whatever makes you happy." And a much simpler life out of the loop of rampant consumerism. And my life is starting over.