Tasmanian Earthship PART I

Part I 

Since I can remember I have had the urge to build a house of some description but the years and life can grind away an ambitious child's fancy. so here I am in my early forties and I am about to embark, for better or worse on that fateful voyage.

What better vessel for such an undertaking than an Earthship? Recycling tyres, bottles, cans and yes... Dreams!

Bamboo huts in Auroville, India

I first heard about Earthships in December 2011 whilst visiting a place called Auroville in Southern India, I was there participating in a bamboo house building workshop where a Belgian couple (also on the build) told me about Eathships.

people power

Raising one of the bamboo frame walls

Completion of the main framework


My next encounter after I had read volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the Earthship do it yourself books by Mike Reynolds was in January 2013, this time in Guatemala!




The author leaning on the greenhouse in Guatemala week 2


I was an intern on the second Guatemalan Humanitarian Earthship build which went for three weeks, it was here that my body caught up with my mind and heart.

After I pounded my third tyre in Guatemala I started thinking... couldn't we just use bricks?
Feeling a little disenchanted with the whole "let's recycle 600 car tyres" idea I suddenly found myself standing next to Mr Mike Reynolds and he was... you guessed it! pounding a tyre. Racking my brains to come up with something nonchalant to say to the Man, I  heard myself proclaim "I can't believe your'e still doing this shit". to which he replied "I don't wanna do anything else, this is all I wanna do".

Well! what could I say to that!? So I picked up a sledgehammer and continued pounding with my Faith restored.

After coming back from Guatemala I managed to find and buy (with a generous loan from a very good friend) a 5 acre bush block of land in Tasmania where I (along with another very good friend and my then 6 yr old Son) installed an outlaw septic long drop toilet and a 13.500L rainwater tank in preparation for the eventual build, that was in October 2013.

In January 2014 I spent a week in the Adelaide hills helping on earthshipironbank


Construction at Earthship Ironbank week 2


In three Weeks time (April 14th, 2014)  with the help of some more friends my own build will begin at last!

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