Andrew & Kamila, Australia

Background:
I first heard about Peak Oil about two years ago - not long after discovering Permaculture - in David Holmgren's Permaculture Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. At the time I was working as a Product Manager at an Australian appliance manufacturer and feeling more uneasy every day as like most businesses, their was a relentless focus on continued growth. The company (150 years old) originally made wood fired ovens, but eventually transformed into an electric appliance manufacturer and importer with most future plans pointing towards sourcing everything from China.

My role was changing in the company and I was given an export project to the UK. This involved lots of flying...by that stage I was well aware of my carbon footprint and viewed flying as a once every five year luxury, not a tool to promote further consumerism.

My wife, Kamila, and I started looking for other jobs that more closely mirrored our emerging values and now manage a passive and active solar rammed earth backpackers hostel in the Grampians national park in Victoria, Australia.

Adapting to Oil Depletion

Transport:
Once we'd secured the jobs we sold one of our two cars. The live-in position at the Grampians means we had a zero km commute, and only have to drive once or twice a week for food and other supplies not available in Halls Gap, which is essentially a tourist town. My previous employment had involved driving to our advertising agency and photographer which were located about 110kms away - usually once a week, as well as about a 30km daily commute. Kamila's commute was around 40kms per day.

While our combined car-kilometers have been reduced significantly (around half I'd estimate) we have found that when we've wanted to catch up with family and friends back in our home town (every 8 weeks or so), the 600km return trip adds up. Public transport in regional Victoria can be a little patchy, so we favoured using the car as we also used the trips to source food for ourselves (very poor produce up here) and business supplies for the hostel.

The more I followed the peak oil movement the more concerned I became with our oil dependency, so about 4 months ago we traded our Subaru Forester Turbo for a Peugeot 307 Hdi diesel wagon. The Subaru's fuel consumption compared to bigger SUVs was quite good at an average of 10L per 100km (23.5mpg U.S.). We chose the Peugeot because of their diesel experience in Australia, and because the country driving is less suited to a hybrid. The hybrids were also more expensive and while diesel can be made locally using waste vegetable oil, we can't do the same to replace petrol (gas). So far our 'Pug' has averaged 5.7L/100kms (41.2mpg U.S.) and I'm currently sourcing a biodiesel supplier that won't void our warranty.

Employment:
The Eco Hostel has been a fantastic building to manage, but ultimately it is still highly dependant on cheap aviation fuel and petrol so guests from all around the world can visit. We are very dependant on international and interstate guests visiting from other Australian states. Our closest rail link is a little over an hour away, while buses run to Halls Gap around twice a day. Infrastructure in the town is very poor as it has grown for tourism, not for a vibrant local economy. No food is produced in the town; however a 40km drive on a dirt road leads to an excellent Biodynamic Olive farm with another seasonal organic herb farm being around 25kms away. The closest major shopping town is a 50km round trip, with very little organic food available (none local). Australian supermarkets are starting to stock some organic produce, but ship it from anywhere; pasta from Italy, tinned corn from Thailand...crazy stuff.

Later this year we are contemplating leaving the hostel and heading back to Geelong to our Suburban home. Kamila has some work lined up in event management for around 8 months and I'm starting a consulting business to help local medium size manufacturing businesses adapt to climate change and peak oil (hurry up and release Relocalize Now! :) This will leave me time to work on our Permaculture garden and also learn other practical skills. This hasn't been possible at the hostel as running a 24/7 accommodation business is very tiring! I'm also doing a Permaculture Design Course in October 2006.

Geelong is no Portland, Oregon - but it has a commercial port, established commuter and freight rail links and fairly mild weather patterns. Urban sprawl is a huge issue, but even most outer suburbs still have public transport links. The suburb we live in is very multicultural and many people have backyard chickens, food gardens and produce their own wine, sausages etc. The skills lost a generation ago to most Australians are still practiced in our suburb - hence our food security is much better there than in our current position in rural Victoria.

Our 40 year old house is nothing flash, but captures the winter sun and has good prospects for growing food. We've had tenants renting it since we moved from Geelong as we weren't sure how permanent the trip to Halls Gap was going to be. Our power is sourced from 100% solar and we also buy 'Green Gas'. Our tenants have so far been happy to pay the premium for this despite being offered a rebate from us! Not sure if they're too lazy to post a copy of the bills to us or very environmentally aware? We also have very good neighbours, friends and family close by; the opportunity to share skills, produce and to socialise is far better than in our current situation, despite managing a sustainable building.

The future:
Kamila (born in Poland) is itching to live overseas, so I imagine in late 2007/08 we may travel to Europe for an extended stay. I'd love to visit Kinsale, Ireland and also check out traditional food production and preserving in Poland and other parts of eastern Europe. This part of the plan is still a little hazy - but our currently priority is to reduce our debt as much as possible and to obtain skills useful in a post carbon future.