Nostromo - D/s Retreat

Kink community update

2010-02-01T16:22:00.003-08:00

Thanks so much to everyone who took part in our latest kinky community project update and meeting :).

(Photo: Ms160)

A Perfect Xmas...

2009-12-25T20:41:00.000-08:00

We looked out the bed platform window on Xmas morning to see this wallaby and joey playing in the recently mowed area behind the house...

Perfect start to the holidays!

Artistic trees...

2009-11-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

I was out playing Tennis Ball with the Xmas Present this morning (you can just see her towards the left at the bottom of the photo above) when I suddenly realized the tall eucalyptus trees surrounding us were shedding their bark.

Wiki notes: "Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees (and a few shrubs) in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia. There are more than 700 species of Eucalyptus, mostly native to Australia." I'm afraid I can't tell you what species ours are, although we know some are koala / possum food trees.

Eucalyptus species are sometimes grouped by bark characteristics:

Stringybark — consists of long fibres and can be pulled off in long pieces. It is usually thick with a spongy texture.
Ironbark — is hard, rough and deeply furrowed. It is soaked with dried kino (a sap exuded by the tree) which gives a dark red or even black color.
Tessellated - bark is broken up into many distinct flakes.
Box - has short fibers. Some also show tessellation.
Ribbon - this has the bark coming off in long thin pieces but still loosely attached in places. They can be long ribbons, firmer strips or twisted curls.

Our trees are mostly the latter. As they mature, they shed each year in stunning patterns:

It was magical, walking around to see what new artistic creations were on each trunk:

Underneath the bark is smooth and white ... just ready to be used during our Xmas party / munch to tie subs to, in Xmas tree decoration designs!

(photos: Ms160)

More wildlife drops in....

2009-11-09T17:09:00.001-08:00

Louis' python, March

The weather had been unusually warm, even at our property, which is an area that's always a few degrees cooler than anywhere else in the Northern Rivers region.

It wasn't warm. It was HOT.

After several days of this, after snoozing away the afternoon, sol and the Xmas Present wandered out for a joint pee at dusk. They walked over to the nearest bushes and did their business, then turned around to re-enter the house. There was suddenly a lot of yelping and shouting.

I dashed over to the door, in time to hear sol shout "Mistress, don't come out!". Lying right across the doorway was a rather large python...

And no, sorry, I don't have a photo of that moment!

Australia has a bad reputation for snakes, but not all of them are deadly or dangerous. I'm not exactly keen on them, but a snake catcher friend has made me aware of the enormous number of unnecessary snake deaths that occur each year through confrontations between home residents and snakes.

Pythons are non venomous snakes that are found in tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa and Australia. I think the ones I've seen around here are either carpet pythons or diamond pythons. They are regarded highly locally - they not only keep down vermin like rats and mice, they also keep down brown snake numbers.

We've only seen three snakes in our entire time here. One was another python, who was rather keen on turning Louis the Possum into dinner, in March while Lou was still caged:

Sol introduced him to a friend's snake bag:

And that python now lives about 5kms down the road.

Our next visitor was small and quick and dark and a bit scary. The Xmas Present alerted us to it's presence outside the house, and her barking resulted in it promptly diving into a ceramic pot. We placed a upside down plastic storage box over the pot, covered it ... waited until the cool dawn when the snake was asleep and took the box to the top of the hill, where we opened it and left the snake to leave at will!

Our most recent python visitor was soon under a similar plastic storage box, with quite a few heavy items on top for psychological reinforcement:

The next morning when it was cool and the snake was sleepy, we pushed cardboard under the box, then reversed it and snapped on the lid. Then sol took the snake for a walk up one of the fire track roads on our property.

It's living happily up there, and the front door mat is again safe to tread on!

(photos: Ms160)

Wallabies at dawn

2009-10-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Most mornings the Xmas Present brings tennis balls to us in bed, to encourage us to come play asap once we wake. You can see the yellow tennis ball between her front paws in the photo below:

But this morning she was distracted by two wallabies foraging close to the house. You can just see one to her left, below:

Once I was awake we sat and watched them for a while, then we both sneaked around the side of the house, so I could take some more photos:

We then sat on the deck and watched them for a while:

Here's a close up of the photo above:

I made coffee for sol and then returned to the XP, to watch these beautiful creatures until they jumped away. Nothing more peaceful than watching wallabies at dawn...

(photos: Ms160)

Almost water...

2009-07-14T01:25:00.000-07:00

Look! It's our new water tank stand!

The old one was destroyed during the recent floods. Doesn't the new one look fantastic?! Whyterose helped up assemble it last weekend :). Solipsist did a great job ... he also looked very fetching doing chainsaw work in a mini, stockings and gumboots!

The only problem was that we couldn't get the tank onto the stand, we need another body for that next weekend...

But very soon we will have water again!

Photos: Ms160

Wood from the woods....

2009-07-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

On Sunday sol cut down one of the largest dead trees in the rain forest gully, where eventually one of our D/s retreat cabins will be built. It made the most amazing sound when it fell.

Here is just the stump:

The length of the tree was about thirty metres. Here you can see me walking along it's trunk now on the gully floor:

And here's me and the Xmas Present walking back towards the stump:

I am so impressed when sol does stuff like this! Now we have an awful lot of chopping to do, to turn it into firewood and possibly some beams for kinky furniture.

Photos:
Ms160
sol

Retreats for Dominant Women...

2009-05-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

Down, male subs! This one is for the Ladies!

It's a terrific thing, watching kinky communities learn to socialize a bit more. "Usually we only meet at play parties every few months", one friend said at a Femdom tea party recently, "it's nice to just sit and talk". Absolutely. Look at the types of events sol and I have been attending this year: not just play parties and educational events but kinky weddings, tea parties, formal dinners, etc.

It's nice to have like minded friends to socialize with (although let's be honest here, sometimes their political views can scare you witless). It's one of the reasons we wanted to set up our D/s retreat and eventually our kinky community. There are so few places kinksters can go to be themselves.

We are constantly asked when the retreat will be formally open, to the point where we are now organizing events (from CFNM tea parties to sub hunts to educational workshops to retreat programs for couples) BEFORE the opening lol. The event I get asked about most is the inaugural Dommes' Retreat we have planned for late 2009, when a small group of professional and lifestyle dominant women - at all levels of experience - will gather here for a long weekend towards the end of the year:

The Northern Rivers region is a beautiful part of Oz, and trips to local markets, national parks and beaches, even a famous local leather fetish workshop, are under consideration. However mostly we will sit around at the Retreat, catch up with old friends and make new ones, and share our knowledge and skills within a comfortable, relaxed environment. There are not many places left but if it's something you'd like to attend, or even just join the mailing list for future retreats, drop me a line via Fetlife.

For those reading this in other parts of the globe, all hope is not lost. As I said before, there appears to be a swing towards the organization of these types of social events. If one is not happening near you, then why not make it happen yourself? As for those reading this in North America you are in luck! In fact I sincerely envy you! Because there is a similar event planned for June 2009 by some extraordinary women whom I would dearly love to spent retreat time with:

The Mistresses Retreat is being organized by the reknown Mistress Cyan, Dona, partner of Lady Robin and Lady Robin. The retreat will be held at the latter's property "The Farm" in Kentucky:

'Rural, yes, remote, NO! 'The Farm' is located in south central KY only six (6) miles from the Cumberland Parkway and about half way between I-75 on the E and I-65 on the W. Facilities include, acres of fields and woods most of which is isolated from 'neighbors', highway traffic, and development. The retreat takes place on the
second floor of a newer building where there is a furnished apartment (living room, kitchen, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms though one is a dedicated medial room) complete with a separate dungeon which has it's own full bath. There is comfortable seating, several beds plus inflatable beds, and ample floor space. There
are two motels six miles away in one town and two more in the next nearest town which is eleven miles away. We ask (urge) Mistresses to plan to stay at
'The Farm' so as to facilitate interaction, growth, and fellowship.

It sounds very similar to the setup here at Nostromo, except in our case we are all in one large open plan area.

What's happening at The Mistresses Retreat? Well, similar to the event in Oz, YOU as an attendee will be a part of the creation of it's program:

"We want to make sure that every woman who attends this Retreat learns something and will leave after the weekend much more enriched than when she arrived. So, rather than set a pre-set agenda, we ask that every woman, upon registering, submit two questions or topics, you want covered during The Mistresses Retreat, and a short bio. The point of this retreat is to learn from each other. A more detailed agenda will be created from the questions and topics you submit, and will be published as we get close to the dates of The Mistresses Retreat."

This makes the event perfect for any American new female dominants reading this post - just imagine what your two questions might be. Lady Robin has also created a group for the Mistresses Retreat on Fetlife and there is also an events page. We'll do the same once the dates are confirmed.

I look forward to hearing how The Mistresses Retreat goes. It sounds like a lot of fun will be had at both events. Let's hope many similar ones are soon scheduled.

Thank you: Mistress Cyan

Banners:

Dommes' Retreat banner - Ms160
Mistresses' Retreat quotes and logo - http://www.themistressretreat.com

Outdoor picnics at the retreat....

2009-04-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

I've been talking with some friends on Fetlife about holding outdoor picnics and wanted to show them some photos of where we hold them - up on the top of the hill:

With a wonderful view of Mt Warning:

We sometimes use marquees by Nomadic Tents in Byron Bay:

Here's a small version:

Sometimes we decorate the tent with Egyptian panels:

And have Persian / Bedouin carpets and Indian silk cushions to recline on:

And lots of pretty glasses to drink tea or home made lemonade out of:

As you can imagine it's a really tough way to spend an afternoon....

We regularly hold outdoor picnics and tea parties with naked subs of both sexes (all genders of dominant welcome) and sometimes do something similar after sub hunts (depending on the state of the subs lol). Drop me a line if you'd like to join the invite list, either as a guest or a server. There is a very special outdoor picnic event with just naked males servers for the Dommes' Retreat later in the year.

Photos:
Ms160
Nomadic Tents

Tawny Frogmouths.....

2009-04-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

The Xmas Present barked a while ago and I looked out the window - she was letting me know a Tawny Frogmouth was visiting us again.:

The first one turned up about a month back, sitting on the same pole one moonlit night:

We'd seen them around since we arrived, heard their gentle hoot hooting at night (although that may have been a real owl!) but never been this close....

Here's a good look at a Tawny Frogmouth:

I'm not the first to mistake this type of bird for an owl. You can read about the differences between the types of bird here. Tawny Frogmouths (Podargus strigoides) are sometimes placed in the order of Coraciiformes which, in Australia, includes kingfishers and kookaburras.

Wiki says:

The Tawny Frogmouth, Podargus strigoides, is an Australian variety of frogmouth, a type of bird found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. The Tawny Frogmouth is often thought to be an owl.

Males and females look alike, and are 35–50 cm long. They have yellow eyes and a wide beak topped with a tuft of bristly feathers. They make loud clacking sounds with their beaks and emit a reverberating booming call.

Owls fly around at night hunting food, but Tawny Frogmouths generally remain sitting very still on a low perch, and wait for food to come to them. They catch prey with their beaks, and sometimes drop from their perch onto the prey on the ground.

That probably explains why our pole is so popular!. It is also eye level with our roof, where the odd mouse and other prey, basking in the sub, might be spotted:

The Tawny Frogmouth feeds on rats, mice, cicadas, beetles, frogs and other small prey. They catch their prey with their beaks rather than with their talons, another way in which they are different from owls.

Wiki goes on:

Tawny Frogmouths hunt at night and spend the day roosting on a dead log or tree branch close to the tree trunk. Their camouflage is excellent — staying very still and upright, they look just like part of the branch"

They do indeed. When the one visiting today was bored with the pole (after about 4 hours!) it moved to the nearest tree. Not that I could spot it for a while:

Let me enlarge that for you lol:

I think this one is still very young. Wiki notes:

Tawny Frogmouth pairs stay together until one of the pair dies. They breed from August to December. They usually use the same nest each year, and must make repairs to their loose, untidy platforms of sticks. After mating, the female lays two or three eggs onto a lining of green leaves in the nest.

Both male and female take turns sitting on the eggs to incubate them until they hatch about 30 days later. Both parents help feed the chicks.

The chicks move to the edge of the nest and direct their droppings over the edge. About 25 days after hatching, the chicks are ready to leave the nest and lead their own lives.

Perhaps this one has just started exploring...

A moment later I looked up and saw the bird swoop on wide wings down to catch prey on the old wood pile:

Again, you might need an enlargement:

They way they blend in is truly amazing. Such beautiful birds. I'll let you know of any further adventures....

REFERENCES AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

Myth of the Tawny Frogmouth "owl" - Owl Pages
Tawny Frogmouth - Wiki
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth

photos:
sol
Ms160
wiki - Michael Howard

So sol's driving to work and he sees....

2009-04-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

So sol's driving to work on Monday, I'm with him in the car and ahead we see a temporary road sign ... one of those new fangled computer signs that let's you know about the water over the bridge around the next corner...

Except this one reads:

Don't you love technology?!

Photos: Ms160

For Destiny and chance

2009-04-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

Our friends Destiny and chance are beginning a journey similar to the one sol and I started last year.

Chance has been painting an image of the Indian god Ganesha. It's a damn fine work in progress and I look forward some day to seeing it complete. I wanted to share with him the Ganesha statue from Bali that graces our home. OK so we are a Tibetan Buddhist household LOL but Ganesha came to us with much love.

You can see him above, in the rain, and below, on a wilder day, the Balinese prayer flags waving in the wind:

As chance noted, Ganesha is the "remover of obstacles. Lord of beginnings". He was the last item we packed and the first item we unpacked here. He has kept us safe, and receives a stick of Balinese incense every day in thanks.

Knowing Ganesha is watching over our friends makes me happy, and I will think of them when I take the "Lord of beginnings" his daily incense.

Safe journey, you two :)!

Back to the wild, sort of....

2009-04-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

We released the possum we were caring for recently. Here is he, enjoying his final pre release sweet corn! It was quiet for a few days but now he's discovered the house, and drops in for a visit now and then...

He likes to watch me when I'm cooking ... ever hopeful for more sweet corn ... I think he may soon discover it's growing in our nearest neighbor's veggie patch!

Photos: Ms160

The Hammock

2009-03-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

The hammock that overlooks the valley is my office.

Unfortunately the Xmas Present thinks it should be HER office. Dialogues in the morning often go like this:

You're in the hammock. Can I please come in too? I'm being really really good and I'll stay still, please please (how can you resist I'm so cute):

I'll pathetically bite the side of the hammock until you let me in:

I can come up?! Yippee ... here I come!:

I lied about the promising to lie still and snooze thing, let's play!:

Love me, I'm adorable!

Oh oh something more interesting's happening over there, I'm off!

The joys of puppyhood ... or adolescence!

(photos: Ms160)

Kinky intentional communities ... and faeries, lol...

2009-02-22T20:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, the signage in the photo above does read "Faerieland", and yes, these particular faeries are very close to where we live. What's the connection?! Read on ... all will be explained....

Many regular readers know sol and I made a major lifestyle change last year, and are now living as eco kinksters in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, Australia. You may also know of our other dream, the main reason we moved to this particular area. I've been amused in a nice way by some of my American regular readers who've dropped me a line to ask me if I'm promoting communism in posting about my desire to create a kinky intentional community, or in their terms: "commune" *grin*. I should call a spade a spade, one of you wrote.

The thing is, I'm not of the generation that used the word, so it's not that I'm avoiding it, it's just not my term of choice. We use intentional community. Here in Northern NSW we also use MO or "multiple occupancy" and I've posted about the meaning of that term before. It's because Northern Rivers region councils tolerate MO's that sol and I moved north to organize a kinky intentional community here.

So what's an intentional community, some of you ask.

There are thousands of intentional communities worldwide - you'll find some listed here, here and here. People form intentional communities for all sorts of reasons. For example, it's very fashionable at the moment to practice all things green - you'll find lots of self sustaining, eco friendly communities listed places like here. In fact, sol and I looked at buying into one of these communities when we first began to look seriously at moving. But the more we looked at these terrific places the more we realized what we wanted was a sense of community, yes, but amongst like minds. As I wrote in the "Dreaming of Rainbows" post:

"There are hundreds of intentional communities in Australia, each with its own way of living, philosophy and goals. When sol and I moved to the Rainbow Region it was in part in the hope that at some time in the future we could initiate a kinky MO, which would be accepted by the many alternative lifestyle communities that would surround it. Privacy is also important in the design of most MO's, something kinksters share. For example, you can see the proximity to vanilla neighbours that most kinksters experience in an average suburban street, in the diagram below:

Now compare that to the layout of the average MO, keeping in mind that even when you encounter your neighbors they will be kinky and so not mind what you get up to!:

The community hall found in most MO's (yellow square above) also becomes a play space for kinksters..."

Etc, etc. And I certainly touched a chord in what I wrote because we've had several kinksters contact us wanting to join us. We all possess a dream of a couple of hundred acres where we can live the Lifestyle openly, make all the noise we want, play outdoors all we want ... there is now a small group of us discussing this. What type of land, and where, and how much? How many shares will we sell? Let's run a kinky community play space, and an education centre, and a D/s restreat ... they are wonderful dreams...

This desire to be a part of a community is common to many kinksters worldwide, and is often the focus of discussions at kinky events. After attending TEASE (a 5 day long BDSM camping convention near London, Ontario) last year chloe from Fetlife wrote:

"By the end of five days, the general consensus was that no one wanted to leave! The experience of being able to be completely free to live our lifestyle and build an accepting, welcoming community affected so many people. It was truly a chosen family, and many people realised that there is a void when it comes to the kinky community in that there really is no place where like-minded kinksters can gather for more than a few hours besides the usual munches, parties and the occasional weekend event. While those types of events are fun and an integral part of what the community has consisted of so far, many people felt that the fellowship and community of a real place to call "home" (if only for a few days at a time) is something that many people are missing and would embrace with open arms.
"For more and more people, BDSM is a lifestyle, but one that is generally practised behind closed doors or in short-duration parties and conferences. Wouldn't having somewhere to go (where everybody knows your naaaaame, dun dun dun) where you had a home, friendly neighbours, and the sounds of flogging and screams be just... lovely? I think so!"

So do sol and myself and our friends but we want more than "a few days at a time". Chloe by the way has started making her own dream of a kinky community happen - she created the "Kinky Campground Planning Group" on Fetlife : "a group for those interested in helping to organize a permanent BDSM/fetish/kink tent and trailer park in Southwestern Ontario. Feel free to join, post your ideas and input, and help make this dream a reality!". Although this is not planned to be a year round abode, there are some great ideas being posted in the group. I loved one post in particular, a part of discussion re a site they were considering that was currently owned by a Christian group. Here's DliciouslyEvil:

"A car drives up the driveway, its occupants' eyes wide with shock stare at the woman suspended from a tree and the near-naked human pony pulling a cart. The car turns quickly and retreats down the driveway its hurried departure kicking up dust. The kinky folk look at each other, "Christians, another year and word will get around that the campground's changed ownership".

This soooo sums up why we kinksters desire our own communities!

So why not join a pre-existing kinky community? Because they are very rare, or at least hard to find, that's why. As usual the kinky community is running years behind the queer community, who have already created some extraordinary intentional communities to live. A good place to check those communities out is via Queer In Community: "the intentional communities network for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendereds, queers, faeries, dykes, and the people who love us":

"We do not limit ourselves to any particular definition of queer. For some, it means sexuality in any form beyond traditional heterosexual coupling. Others refuse to define queer at all, on the basis that you know queer when you see it, and any definition is limiting and confining. By "queer-positive" we mean welcoming with open arms, embracing the queerness of queer members and friends, and considering a queer life path to be a positive thing..."

Sounds a good place to live, doesn't it? You can find their Directory here. It's an inspiring read. They list one kinky gay - and Christian - community:

Sir's Retreat
Wanted Serious Replies from Submissive Slendar Bisexuals & Gay Men for a Christian Commune up in Siskiyou County 15 miles northeast of Yreka, California and 25 miles southeast of Ashland, Oregan a Hippy Commune for Men

I had trouble with the contact details for this place, but was able to find a further mention in a post about BornSlaves, from which I assumed the retreat was an annual event rather than a permanent community. Let's hope there are more kinky communities out there, somewhere, practicing the privacy we all thrive on. There MUST be some. You'd think that Gor communities and even leather families would go for the idea of a vanilla free community. In fact extended leather families are not dissimilar from poly familes, and there are an increasing number of those "going public" on various lists - like this New Zealand website. It's terrific to read that:

"intentional communities are springing up all around New Zealand as people begin to see the value in living with like minded people ...

"sometimes [intentional] communities are based on religion or belief, sometimes they are based on relationship dynamics like polyamory. Although a relatively new concept to modern Europeans it has long been a part of the way of life of many indigenous cultures"

QIC also list polyamorous communities, such as Kyn Hearth:

"Located in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains of southwestern Virginia on 69 acres of wooded land ... Kyn Hearth is open to and supportive of all healthy relationship orientations, including gay, bi, trans, poly, lesbian, and celibate sexual orientations. The present "main" focus though, is on creating a polyamorous extended family/community:

Nasalam ( "a tantric community ... experience shows that only queer people open to this kind of energy exchange") and Starland ("generally promote polysexual and polyamorous lifestyles ... we also serve as the Southern California Radical Faeries Sanctuary").

Fairie sanctuary? Do I see you raise your eyebrows? Ah ha. Then perhaps you've not of the Radical Faeries?! There are all sorts of versions of their history around - take a look here for a few of them. Larry Roberts once described a Radical Faerie event as "like coming home, when you've never been there before." Hold that thought. The Radical Faeries certainly understand the need for intentional communities. You'll find a list of their sanctuaries - basically rural or urban intentional communities where Faeries live a communal life - on the radfae.org website, extraordinary places like Zuni Mountain Sanctuary in New Mexico:

"a gender-inclusive Radical Faerie Sanctuary on 315 acres in a four season mountain climate. Our community works to create an earth-oriented rural permaculture which supports our individual and collective spiritual and creative growth"

There is even a sanctuary in Australia. Let me digress here a little and tell you about the history of the Australian Radical Faeries:

"While the radical faerie community in the USA has been gathering and forming intentional communities for over thirty years, Australia has experienced its own history of faerie gatherings, circles, communities and networking since the early 80’s. Gays and lesbians had begun doing the hippie thing spurred on by the same motivations as their North American brother and sister “hippies”. There was a queer presence at the earliest rock, lifestyle and alternative festivals that began in 1967. But where it all took off was the Nimbin Aquarius Festival in 1973"

Aquarius Festival, Nimbin, 1993
Photo: Jacklyn Wagner
from the 'Some Children of the Dream' exhibition'
Nimbin Regional Gallery 2nd - 25th May, 2003

I wrote about this festival in the earlier post where I discussed our dream of creating a kinky intentional community. It was held literally just down the road. The festival:

"was concerned more with lifestyle than music, and gays and lesbians were there in force playing key roles. In rural areas, as well as Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra, queer hippies were dropping out and turning on in the same ways as their US counterparts ...

"Australian gay men had discovered the radical faeries and their magazine RFD ... The Northern Rivers/Nimbin region of NSW has had a long history of queer hippie folk living communally and being part of the counter-culture movement ... Mandala near Murwillumbah, Lawrence Station near Grafton and CommonGround near Kempsey were three communities that began to grow in the early 80’s in northern NSW.

"The first “faerie” gathering was held at Mandala near Nimbin in the Spring of 1982 hosted by Lemuel and David. Other gatherings followed and at the 10th Anniversary Aquarius Festival at Nimbin NSW over 100 queers created a fabulous faerie camp supported by the Mandala crew ... Over the years, an emerging group of faeries gathered for meetings and began thinking and dreaming about purchasing a property to create an Australian sanctuary...

In 2002 they purchased "134 acres of rolling re-growth rainforests and more open land about 20min north-west of Nimbin, Northern N.S.W". So their dream closely coincides with ours - not only in location but in the nature of our experiences:

"Faeries gather together to explore the pathways leading to our spiritual essence, to find out who we are as queer people. Most of us grew up in nuclear families. The feeling of being outside the norm was for many painful and gave many of us no choice but to develop the understanding of an outsider. Our erotic inclinations release most of us from our duties of child rearing. Without a map we have had the chance to re-invent our lives by extending our passions in art, nature, play, work, fantasy and magic. We are gifted with difference"

I am truly delighted that they have made their dream a reality, and that Faerieland is so close to where sol and I now live. It makes me happy to imagine this particular intentional community going about it's day... Let's hope we can make our dream - and chloe's dream over in Canada - happen, too. Kinksters are also gifted with difference.

Thank you to those of you who have contacted us, about this. Your support and enthusiasm keeps us going. Keep in touch. Keep giving us your valuable feedback on the real estate links we send you (and keep sending your own links!).

And if you are reading this and it makes you recall your own dreams, drop me a line (via the private message system on Fetlife, where I also run a Northern NSW group for kinksters). Please! It doesn't matter whether you can join us now or in ten years time when the kids leave home, this kinky community idea is unusual enough that you really should get involved now, at it's beginning - take part in discussions about land selection and location and purchase ... and reserve a share!

UPDATE - July 2009:
Plans are proceeding well :)

REFERENCES AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

Local poly resources
New Zealand poly resources (also chat and forum)

Kinky Campground Planning Group

You'll find a huge list of resources about intentional communities and multiple occupancies at the end on my Dreaming of Rainbows post :)

Thank you:
http://www.ozfaeries.com/
Kinky Campground Planning Group on Fetlife

Photos:
courtesy
http://www.ozfaeries.com/
Jacklyn Wagner
Re-imagining Utopia ABC Radio National

The Xmas Present takes Ms160 and sol to a dog show...

2009-02-08T22:31:00.001-08:00

We buy our locally grown veggies from a nearby stall and the staff always make a wonderful fuss of the Xmas Present. "There's a dog show here at the cafe next weekend", said one lady, "you should enter her, they have a cutest puppy award ... AND it's for some very good charities, including local wildlife carers groups". So that was it. Instead of spending Saturday in bed having riotous kinky sex we took the XP to the dog show.

It was set up very nicely and we had a lot of fun. I also learned a lot about how to run a puppy play dog show event lol.

There were some beautiful dogs on display, including these dingos:

And sol, who I think was secretly pinning for some forced feminization, kept taking photos of dogs in cute little outfits ... sadly they didn't have a best dressed award!

The Xmas Present insisted we enter her in Prettiest Bitch, Cutest Puppy and Waggiest Tail.

You can see her above sucking up to the judges for Prettiest Bitch.

And then it was time to line up for Cutest Puppy. The XP and I were suddenly surrounded by cute kids with cute dogs...

The XP and I looked at the husky / dingo mix puppy sitting next to us and sighed. "You are not going to win this, sweetheart", I said to her, "you're about two months too old, they'll go for the little cuties ...".

The Xmas Present checked out her opposition...

"Can we go home for Third Breakfast RIGHT NOW?" she asked, dignified in defeat. "Absolutely" said Ms160, and we headed home... "I think she would have won" said sol loyally.

(photos: sol)

Wind and prayers....

2009-02-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

Today we put up our vertical silk Tibetan prayer flag. Wiki writes:

"Prayer flags are colorful panels or rectangular cloths often found strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas to bless the surrounding countryside or for other purposes. Unknown in other branches of Buddhism, prayer flags are believed to have originated with Bön, which predated Buddhism in Tibet. Traditionally they are woodblock-printed with texts and images".

The photo above from Wiki shows horizontal prayer flags along a mountain path in Nepal.

"There are two kinds of prayer flags: horizontal ones, called lung ta (meaning "Wind Horse") in Tibetan, and the vertical Darchor. "Dar" translates as "to increase life, fortune, health and wealth", "Cho" translates as "all sentient beings".^[1]

"Lung Ta (horizontal) prayer flags are of square or rectangular shape and are connected along their top edges to a long string or thread. They are commonly hung on a diagonal line from high to low between two objects (e.g., a rock and the top of a pole) in high places such as the tops of temples, monasteries, stupas or mountain passes.

"Darchor (vertical) prayer flags are usually large single rectangles attached to poles along their vertical edge. Darchor are commonly planted in the ground, mountains, cairns or on rooftops and are iconographically and symbolically related to the Dhvaja"

Our contemporary version of a vertical prayer flag was purchased from a local company who also design a great demountable bamboo pole kit. We decided to place it near the house in a space that catches lots of wind.

Then sol attached the lovely silk flag with it's block printed prayers:

Wiki says of these, that traditionally:

"The center of a prayer flag features a "Ta" (powerful or strong horse) bearing three flaming jewels (specifically ratna) on its back. The Ta is a symbol of speed and the transformation of bad fortune to good fortune. The three flaming jewels symbolize the Buddha, the Dharma (Buddhist teachings), and the Sangha (Buddhist community), the three cornerstones of Tibetan philosophical tradition.

"Surrounding the Ta are various versions of approximately 20 traditional mantras (powerful ritual utterances), each dedicated to a particular deity (in Tibetan, deities are not so much gods as "aspects of the divine" which are manifest in each part of the whole non-dual universe, including individual humans). These writings include mantras from three of the great Buddhist Bodhisattvas: Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), Avalokiteśvara (Chenrezig, the bodhisattva of compassion, and the patron of the Tibetan people), and Manjusri...
"Images (or the names) of four powerful animals (also known as the Four Dignities), the dragon, the garuda (a wise eagle-like bird), the tiger, and the Snowlion, adorn each corner of a flag."

The "wind horse" design has become synonymous with the English term "prayer flag". Our flag looked stunning glowing in the sunset...

"Traditionally, prayer flags come in sets of five, one in each of five colors. The five colors represent the elements and the Five Pure Lights and are arranged from left to right in a specific order. Different elements are associated with different colors for specific traditions, purposes and sadhana:
Blue (symbolizing sky/space)
White (symbolizing air/wind)
Red (symbolizing fire)
Green (symbolizing water)
Yellow (symbolizing earth)"

Finally it was up! Soon there will be more to keep it company and carry more prayers, but for now we left our prayer flag glowing in the evening light, the light silk easily catching the breeze...

(Photos: Wiki and Ms160)

Magic clouds, magic stones...

2009-02-04T23:30:00.000-08:00

The magic of this place where we live never ceases to amaze me.

Take the last few days. My friends in other parts of Australia are wilting in extreme heat and here on the mountaintops the mist is soft on my skin, like England. This is because the mountain ranges here are topped with orographic clouds. These:

"form when humid air blows over the top of the mountain. The air must rise to go over the mountain range. When the air rises it reaches its LCL and clouds form. On the downwind side of the mountains the air sinks back into the valley and warms. During warming the water droplets (i.e., clouds) evaporate into invisible water vapor. It is fascinating to watch orographic clouds and understand that a single cloud is not hanging onto the mountain range. Rather the cloud is rapidly forming and dissipating at the speed of the wind as air rises over the mountain range then sinks on the other side. The parcel of air suddenly becomes visible as it passes over the top of the mountains and clouds temporarily form"

That's the scientific explanation. To me it seems like magic, the way the clouds appear and vanish along the crest of the mountains, the mist dissipating into the valleys.

We have a view of the mountains from our outside loo and I can tell you watching clouds form and drift over the ranges is a pretty stunning sight. The clouds even feature in local tourist promotion - the nearest village to us uses the tag "where mountains touch the sky".

These mountain ranges are extremely important in Aboriginal history and are part of local songlines. An Aboriginal nature reserve has been created quite close to us, near the photo above. Their aim is to:

"utilize the Australian flora to emphasize their culinary and medicinal attributes, allowing visitors to positively embrace Australia’s true cultural and environmental heritage ... facilitate the education and promotion of these processes ... share the land, its natural qualities and a knowledge of progressive healing practices with those who are interested in achieving balance between their lifestyles and their living environments".

This is very much in keeping with the many alternative lifestyles practiced in this region. The nature reserve is located on one of our favorite roads and we took the Xmas Present there the other day. We passed the nature reserve and drove to the top of the mountain, to where the road becomes private property. The clouds were so close to us:

Then we began the wonderful meandering drive back down. The Xmas Present loved having her nose out my window in the passenger seat, with the strange white fog outside!

We crossed creeks and waterfalls along the narrow road, but what we love most about the road are the tiny exquisite cairns all along it.

Cairns can be made for many reasons. One is to mark the top of a mountain. Perhaps these tiny cairns are to mark the road leading to the top - cairns often were left as directional markers mark. Perhaps they have religious significance. Piles of stones are common in Buddhism. Sometimes they mark the beginning of the construction of a stupa. In fact the word stupa means pile in sanskrit. In Tibet mani stones are commonly piled up. Wiki documents New Agers in Sedona Arizona piling stones to mark "vortices":

Perhaps they are simply art. So many different reasons for such beautiful creations. Here is one on our road, probably the largest:

Being a Buddhist household we especially loved this one, with it's red string:

And this one:

So much beauty ...

We headed home to make some cairns :)!

(Photos: Ms160 + wiki)

Hello to North Coast / Northern Rivers kinksters!

2009-02-01T23:52:00.000-08:00

Thanks to google, when someone looks for kinky connections in Northern NSW these days this blog comes up. So I thought I'd post directly to local kinksters searching for other kinksters. Hello! Welcome!

The question you'll want me to answer is probably: where can you find other local kinksters?

Firstly, I have a new North Coast / Northern Rivers group at Fetlife. Come join. It's free. The group will list local educational events, munches, parties etc as well as any events we hold here at the retreat (it's not officially open yet but friends are always welcome).

Secondly, here are some groups you might like to join, that will provide info about various events in Brisbane, southern Queensland and regional NSW. Most of the action is in Qld, sorry, we need to work on that, lol. But the border is not exactly a long way away...

Fetlife - Australia - NSW Central Coast Region

Fetlife - Australia - Far South Coast Kinksters

Fetlife - Gold Coast Kinksters

Yahoo - BDSM Group Brissy Darling Downs (they have a sister group on Fetlife here)

Yahoo - BrisNews

Fetlife - BrisBDSM - Happenings and News

South East Qld Perverts

Yahoo - South East Qld Ds Community

Don't forget to also bookmark the Australian Kinks Events Calendar, which covers munches, educational events and parties in all States and Territories.

If you know other links I should post here please drop me a line below. The more connections we all make the greater our growing sense of community and security!

(photo: Ms160)

Dreaming of rainbows....

2009-01-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

Ms160 and sol's valley

Readers of our blogs sometimes ask for more info about where we live, so here are some photos from a walk we took with the Xmas Present last weekend:

This particular road is about three kilometres from our place by road, but much shorter as the crow flies - it's just at the back of our property and the creek you'll see in the photos goes through our place.

We drove to the end of the road, where there are several multiple occupancy properties, and parked in one of their driveways:

What's a multiple occupancy property? I need to give you a bit of history here...

I usually describe the area we live in as the Northern Rivers region. But it's more than that. It's part of what's called the Rainbow Region of the NSW Far North Coast. Why "rainbow"? That was the term applied when the counter culture movement arrived here in the 1970s with the Aquarius Festival:

Aquarius Festival, Nimbin, 1993
Photo: Jacklyn Wagner
from the 'Some Children of the Dream' exhibition'
Nimbin Regional Gallery 2nd - 25th May, 2003

The term "multiple occupancy" derives from the NSW State Environment Planning Policy of 1979 which first enabled these communities to become a distinct form of rural settlement. Although the policy doesn't use the term it does state in it's introduction that it is:

"a type of rural development where a group of people, not necessarily related to each other, live on a property in single dwellings. These people usually have the desire to live as a community ... and manage the land for communal purposes in an environmentally sensitive way"

There were already "MO's" in the North Coast, around the Byron Bay region, but after the huge success of the Aquarius festival many people stayed on, some banding together to buy farms, and the MO movement really took off. Since then, many small alternative lifestyle communities have formed, most as a counter-cultural rejection of the consumerist, suburban nature of urban life in our cities, often espousing ecological sustainability and living harmoniously with nature. It always makes me smile that "hippy" politics are again so fashionable in the environmentally conscious 21st century - in fact Nimbin, where the Festival was held, is now sister city to Woodstock!

So why the history lesson? Because sol and I had a dream about rainbows...

There are hundreds of intentional communities in Australia, each with its own way of living, philosophy and goals. When sol and I moved to the Rainbow Region it was in part in the hope that at some time in the future we could initiate a kinky MO, which would be accepted by the many alternative lifestyle communities that would surround it. Privacy is also important in the design of most MO's, something kinksters share. For example, you can see the proximity to vanilla neighbours that most kinksters experience in an average suburban street, in the diagram below:

Now compare that to the layout of the average MO, keeping in mind that even when you encounter your neighbors they will be kinky and so not mind what you get up to!:

The community hall found in most MO's (yellow square above) also becomes a play space for kinksters.

This is our dream. It won't cost a lot if others are involved. We have several kinky friends who are interested - drop us a line if it's something you'd like to be a part of.

So. Back to walking around our neighborhood. We parked the car outside an MO's entrance, then we walked back to the creek with the XP:

I love the fact our creek runs through so many properties, including ours.

The creek is wild and mysterious:

It's easy to see why the Aquarius generation loved the place:

When the XP is older we can ride around this road on our bikes and all get some exercise. For now, the only problem with walking on the main roads is that we have to wear clothes lol. Once we get home, this is how sol walks the XP:

It's going to be interesting to see where the XP's paws land on sol when she gets bigger and jumps up!:

It was a lovely walk, and we enjoyed discussing local history, but now it was definitely time to head home and take our clothes off...

REFERENCES:
Some info on the Rainbow Region and
Australia's alternative lifestyle communities:

Re-imagining Utopia ABC Radio National
The Re-Imagining Utopia project was inspired "by the changing nature of life on intentional communities in the Rainbow Region of northern coastal NSW and their important impact on the social and cultural development of the area".

Beginners Guide to Intentional Community
This DIY manual, published in 2001, came out of several Intentional Communities Conferences & Gatherings, and was put together by members of communities across Australia

Intentional communities
A richly researched site on community studies developed by Ian Hughes, from Sydney University's faculty of Health Sciences.

Beyond Sustainability
Author and researcher Dr David Holmgren joined Bill Mollison as the co-founder of the permaculture movement in Australia. Holmgren's eco-village community 'Melliodora' at Fryers Forest in Victoria is testimony to 25 years of sustainable living. His book 'Principle and Pathways: Beyond Sustainability' is regarded as an important text for developing communities.

Children of the Dream
Photos and stories of the original Nimbin Aquarians, communitarians and other Rainbow Region change agents. These are a large part of a photo-documentary exhibition being held at the Nimbin Regional Gallery from Friday 2nd - Sunday 25th May 2003, as part of the Aquarius festival 30th anniversary.

Findhorn Community
One of the older contemporary intentional communities in Europe, Findhorn is a place built on New Age spiritual exploration and a humanist vision. Its foundation runs a variety of educational programs and it welcomes thousands of visitors every year.

BOOKS:

Alternative Australia: Communities of the Future? Peter Cock.
The original survey of Australia's intentional communities movement. Quartet Books, Melbourne, 1979 ISBN: 0 9081 2809 6.
Communes In Rural Australia: the movement since 1970, Margaret Munroe-Clark.
A field study of 36 Australian intentional communities with a report on the various forms of settlement and who lives there. Uses the work of Benjamin Zablocki to analyse social change and decision making processes. Hale and Iremonger in association with the Ian Buchan Fell Research Centre, Dept Architecture Sydney University, 1986. ISBN 0 86806 219 7.

Belonging in the Rainbow Region: Cultural perspectives on the NSW North Coast Helen Wilson (ed).
A range of writers look at the social and cultural impact of alternative lifestyle settlers of the 1970s on the Rainbow Region of north-east NSW. Includes a chapter on intentional communities. Southern Cross University Press, Lismore, 2003, ISBN 1 875855 61 0.

Photos:
Ms160
Jacklyn Wagner
Re-imagining Utopia ABC Radio National

A summer stormy day...

2009-01-16T23:11:00.000-08:00

Today is a classic summer stormy day....

Two pix to show you our favorite outdoor play space for restraints, near the house. We have two of these climbing tape and snap hook lines out on the deck, looking over the valley. A quick snap of those hooks onto sol's wrist cuffs, a corresponding snap of the snaps on the spreader bar at his feet, and there you have it: a spreadeagled naked sub waiting for your attention!

Perfect entertainment for a summer stormy day ... isn't it nice that we don't have to constantly conceal restraint attachment points any more?!

(photos: Ms160)

The Xmas Present Takes Ms160 for a Walk....

2009-01-11T16:08:00.000-08:00

Walking the Xmas Present provides a great excuse to wander around the property. At the moment XP is still very small but she's already walking over a kilometer a day down our driveway and back. I thought you might like to share in our daily ritual...

First we drop in on our latest wildlife care charge, who lives in a cage near an extraordinary old tree:

He's always very keen to see us because there's a good chance we are bringing his evening meal of fruit:

Then we wander across the top of the hill, looking out over the mountains:

And then head down the driveway:

The bush is quite beautiful ... and most important, provides extreme privacy for extreme play... never forgot, that's the reason we came here!

The driveway winds around the side of the hill ... in the photo below you can just glimpse the house as a dark shape through the trees...

The Xmas Present enjoys a round of Leash Game on our return trip up the hill. Leash Game is where you leap in the air and grab a mouthful of leash and then have a tug of war with your owner. I must teach it to sol next time we play puppy games:

It's a magic walk. The trees are so tall, and the air so clear and warm...

And some parts of the property are like secret gardens...

Let's head home, says the Xmas Present, it's time for Third Breakfast...

(photos: Ms160)

Storms...

2008-12-31T13:45:00.000-08:00

This was the actual color of the sky the other evening, during a storm just before dusk. The whole landscape simply glowed!

Another member of Ms160's family....

2008-12-22T22:38:00.000-08:00

Meet the latest member of Ms160 and sol's community. We help the local wildlife groups place animals who need a new home, often after being orphaned by cars. This possum joey was rescued a couple of months ago.

He will remain caged (in a large cage out under eucalyptus trees, with his own house as you can see above) until his body weight doubles and then he'll be released into our forest.

He especially loves sol, who cuts fresh leaves for him every day and creates a nice habitat within the cage every weekend. The cage is near our caravan, so guests can make friends with him when they come to stay. We'll miss him when he's released, but will look forward to catching glimpses of him in the trees :)

An unexpected gift...

2008-12-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

On Sunday sol and I were cleaning out the caravan, our "guest accommodation" at present, for visitors over Xmas and New Year. We "inherited" the caravan when we purchased the property and it's very useful.

The caravan sits in a lovely private grove, over looking the mountains:

It's a magical peaceful spot.

The van had obviously provided guest accommodation and storage to the property's former owner and there were a couple of storage cupboards we'd not emptied. One contained linen: towels, sheets etc. But the other proved more intriguing. It contained a large plastic bag. Sol looked inside, then laughed and pulled out a pale pink feather boa. "My God" I said, "where was THAT when we took the burlesque contest photos last weekend?!"

But he'd only just begun uncovered this treasure trove. Next out was a long sleeveless shimmerly black dress. Here are both items hanging up for an airing later:

And then a wig. And then another wig. And another. AND another. Four shorthaired wigs! Followed by a red feather fan ("now THAT we could REALLY have used" said Ms160) and a pair of black opera gloves:

What an amazing find. How kind of the former owner to leave us such a perfect cross dressing gift at Xmas time! "I'll make you dress up in everything next weekend" I said to sol, who was dressed in his denim mini skirt and pink sleeveless T shirt at the time.

As we packed up sol suddenly exclaimed "look at the sunset!". The mountains had turned the most exquisite pink:

As we walked back towards the house hand in hand, the gumtrees were silhouetted against the glorious sky. So beautiful, this place we live :)

(Photos: Ms160 and sol)

Macushla Farm BDSM B&B Open Day in January!

2008-12-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

(xposted from Bolddogxxx's profile at Fetlife
... please see here for further details :)

Recent hunt photo taken in Nightcap Ranges National Park

2008-12-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

Something beautiful...

2008-11-17T22:48:00.000-08:00

Something beautiful growing outside in the garden :)

New kinky Bed & Breakfast: Macushla Farm, Taradale, Victoria

2008-10-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Wallabies at Nostromo Lodge

There's a new BDSM Bed & Breakfast opening very soon in Victoria. Peter (BoldDogxxx on Fetlife) has just posted:

"Here at Macushla Farm Taradale Victoria 3447 [we] will very soon be opening our BDSM B&B to the kink people of the world. We will have two cabins for hire both set up with some basic equipment, with more for private hire.
Cabin 1. (Tara) Will be set with a warm bordello style complete with steel four poster bed, on a raised carpeted floor set behind turned timber hand rails, lounge/play area having polished oak floor and plenty of room to swing a flogger or two at your subbie. The bathroom has a waterfall spa/shower and all other bathroom ameneties. Sorry maid service not supplied.

Cabin 2. (dale) The old gold rush style, Polished oak floor, Half timber paneled walls through out, antique style lighting and furniture with a timber and scrolled steel four poster bed with latex mattress. The bathroom is mostly timber and corrigated iron with a standard bath/shower wash stand and yes a thunder box. Once again the maid is not supplied both cabins have a central main beam of welded steel strong enough for any suspension play. and if you get the urge there are many trees surrounding each cabin.
We are also in the process of getting a full licence for our bar (Macushla Farms very own Nudie bar, Cloths optional). we will keep you all posted regards the up cuming web site and opening with a BBQ/PLAY PARTY for all. We expect both to be open around November/December 2008.

Sounds wonderful. I'll add website details when Peter posts them. Our two places have another similarity:

"I am a Wildlife Rescuer/Carer and run a Wildlife Shelter here at the farm with my GF, and have many sick, injured and orphaned animals to look after till they are ready for re-release back into the wild. It is something i cherish doing and know it is the most important aspect of my life"

We are just about to receive a possum to feed for a little while before it's re-release in a pre-approved valley on our property.

We wish Peter and his partner all the best with Macushla Farm and look forward to staying there soon :)

NOTE IN FEB 2009: Macushla Farm now has it's own website:

http://www.macushlafarm.com.au/

and a very stylish website it is, too. Check it out ... and then go check out Macushla Farm :) !

DIY kinksters...

2008-10-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

What I love about our new home are the skills we are developing.

Last weekend we made flyscreens. FLYSCREENS. I mean, I have just totally taken those for granted in my various abodes. But our enormous windows here don't have any. Summer approaches. Thus we need some FAST!

Here's sol making the frame of one. I did the other side :). You can see him holding up the final product in the photo at the top of the post. Below you can see it in place:

Amazing, the skills we learn! And doesn't sol look pretty in his girl's skirt and stockings?!

The joys of pony play...

2008-10-16T20:06:00.003-07:00

It's tricky creating a riding ring, or track.

Contractors expect it to be for horses. Of course. Funny, that.

Above is the pony trap we plan to purchase from feelings, a local online company who make lovely toys. I'm still planning to talk to friends in the US (catwoman mostly) about making one, but I adore the workmanship in the trap above. Can't wait. We must build somewhere to store it, first.

This one is a single pony unit. I have plans to purchase a double pony unit soon. I really wish I could get Destiny and chance on a plane *evil grin*...

Photos:
courtesy
feelings

Our new home...

2008-10-16T20:06:00.001-07:00

Regular readers and friends have asked for more info about our new home, so here are some recent photos...

The idea when we were looking for property was to escape the restrictions of being active kinksters in suburbia. We were lucky that we had access to our play cabin (friends owned it) but our play time was limited to times the cabin was available. We wanted the freedom to move our D/s relationship to a higher level, to live a 24/7 lifestyle without concerns for neighbors, small children and the local police. We wanted somewhere where other kinksters could come to visit, and feel comfortable themselves playing. We wanted a warm climate where outdoor play could be an everyday thing.

"You're looking for a mythical pot of gold at the end of the rainbow", laughed one kinky friend. She stopped laughing and asked when she could come stay when we sent the photo below, lol:

We now have twenty acres set back from the main road, high in the mountains of the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. The nearest town is 15 kilometres away. Our driveway is over half a kilometre in length:

So there is plenty of privacy and space.

The house is open plan, originally built as a weekender. We'll build a slightly larger place elsewhere, I'll show you where in a moment. When we do this light filled building - with it's wooden beams and columns perfect for restraint and suspension, it's huge windows and double French doors - will become a permanent play hall, great for play parties.

There is plenty of room inside, we have a small kitchen and living area. There is a raised bed platform, with a window level with the mattress, so you can look out when lying in bed.

Underneath is a huge storage area (the photo to the left was taken before we moved in ... you can see the wonderfully comfortable bed that's on the platform now, in the photo above).

This also acts as a terrific sub cage, which can be locked. I love the idea of sleeping comfortably while sol curls up beneath me... we are also designing a series of tubes that feed into the caged area, in case the sub is restrained and needs feeding / water or is required to perform certain services...

Let me tell you about the land...

The property is half bush land, half cleared. Here is a pic of sol checking out an area that had just been slashed to clear lantana, taken one day when we were walking our boundaries, planning the BDSM trail we will mark out:

While the cleared areas will make great play spaces, both cleared areas (see photo below)

and bushland (photo below) will be marvelous for holding sub hunts.

There are wonderful views on the property. You can see one below.

This is where we will eventually build another home, but for now it acts as a place for our visitors to stay (there is a caravan on site ... we will be putting a yurt and a teepee on other parts of the property) and we are also building a large wooden deck and St Andrew's Cross for play. So I can admire the view when flogging sol!

Another play area - probably the pony corrals and track - will be centered around the tree below...

But for now (until it gets a bit warmer) our main play area is the outdoor deck at the end of the house, that overlooks another valley.

It makes a great view during play (here's a photo of sol strung up there ... although alas he's admiring pain rather than the view!)

We plan to have a lot of fun here. In fact we are already having a lot of fun here!

We are quite serious about doing the eco kinkster thing properly: our water comes from rainwater tanks and we have solar power. We use natural gas for cooking and have a log fire. The wood for any extensions and the new home we will build later will come from our own property.

Being eco kinksters can be a sharp learning at times. We had little power for months which made being online difficult, and you have to learn to adapt kinky-wise. It's hard to play at night, for example, if light is limited to kerosene lamps and candles, and of course electrical toys won't work! And play parties in cities that were once easy to reach, now become a luxury to attend due to travel time and costs. But we think it's worth it.

We have called the property Nostromo. Friends think it's Joseph Conrad, sort of "Heart of Darkness", dark journeys and all that ... but it's more from the film Alien ... remember the promotion tagline for the first film in the series: in space no-one can hear you scream?!

(Photos: Ms160)

Weird and wonderful nature: part 1

2008-10-16T19:52:00.001-07:00

Here's a fascinating and strange creature that sol found last weekend, when it dropped in while he was constructing flyscreens!

The Move

2008-10-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

In mid 2008 Mistress160 and solipsist acquired a twenty acre property in the mountains of the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia.

Our aim is to create a BSDM retreat both for ourselves, and for other kinksters interested in exploring real time play in privacy, with an emphasis on outdoor play (sub hunts / pony and puppy play etc).

This blog will document our journey...