ironbark grange

We arrived at Ironbark Grange on November 14th after a few days of camping at Springbrook National Park. It is our third WWOOF spot on the trip so far and we have three more to go; although, I'm not sure how they could ever top this. Peter and Ann Van Velzen built a beautiful, modern-style home on Tamborine Mountain almost twenty years ago. They have two great kids: Alex (19) and Zoe (13). Peter is a retired engineer and Ann is a practicing physician in the community. They built Ironbark Grange from the ground up - the house, the orchard, the garden, the "chook house" (chickens) and finally, the tennis court. They organically grow most of what they eat, everything from coffee to grapes (wine) to artichokes to paw paw (papaya) grows in the orchard. They have hundreds of fruit trees. It's definitely a full-time job which is why they have had over 450 WWOOFers stay with them over the years. When we arrived, there were four other WWOOFers here already from Italy, France and New Zealand. The first night at dinner felt like an international dinner party with amazing food, great wine and hilarious conversation. The Van Velzen's have been extremely generous to us in terms of the accommodation, food, knowledge and spirit they've provided us during our time here. So far, we've learned to bake homemade bread and croissants, dance salsa, cook delicious Asian food, prune the orchard, take care of the chickens (and the duck, Madeline) and we have yet to learn about brewing beer, beekeeping and making homemade cheese.We honestly couldn't ask for a better experience. Check out their website...it's pretty awesome.