Visit the photo gallery : Stephane

Stéphane is 40 and has been living in Australia for 7 years. First he wandered around the world sometimes on his own and sometimes with an Australian girlfriend that he met over there. They had two children and even though they are not together anymore they raise them alternately.

Stéphane's house, looks like one from the brothers Grimm's tales.

He has been living in Crystal Water for 5 years among kangaroos, wallabys and an amazing nature, where he is gardener and road-mender. This eco village (http://crystalwaters.org.au/) located at the east south of Queensland area in Australia (26 km from Maleny) was created about 20 years ago. There are about 200 houses and most of the population is part of the cooperative based on the permaculture principle. Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that is modeled on the relationships found in nature. It is based on the ecology of how things interrelate rather than on the strictly biological concerns that form the foundation of modern agriculture. Permaculture aims to create stable, productive systems that provide for human needs; it’s a system of design where each element supports and feeds other elements, ultimately aiming at systems that are virtually self-sustaining and into which humans fit as an integral part.

Stephane does the maintenance of the roads, fences and different common places of the village (600 acres). He also helps some people from the village to keep there house nice. He collects and grows

Wallabys are walking around

rare seeds of trees and acts to make them growing back in his area, the Queensland.

How do you feel about your emigration?

I am feeling great about it, I have build my life there with my children, friends and job. I would have done the same if I would have been in France.

He had learned about it while he was living there. He is very happy with his integration, probably thanks to the alternative way of life he is living. He believes that they all have a lot of common ideas, the way of thinking about life on topics like education or politics. Also there are many people who come from different parts of the world.

Nowodays, his life is bringing him more and more to the eco-agriculture, natural agriculture

After a swim in the river Stéphane helps his neighbours who have some troubles this day to move the cows to another paddock.

(Masanobu Fukuoka) “forest-garden” and common agriculture. He is one of the originator of the common vegetable garden and is part of the common dairy with six others, where everyday somebody different is coming to milk the cows.

Where are you from?

From the stars?! I was born in Châteaubriant, we used to live in Rennes for my 14 first years, then we moved around Paris, and then in the south west part of France.

Stéphane is doing his own garden.

Why did you decide to leave from France?

I originally left to improve my English speaking, I wanted to work there, but I first had only a tourist visa and couldn’t work in the field I wanted to work in (luxury hospitality). So then I have picked up fruits.

Have you had already lived abroad before?

Yes I used to live in England for 3 months where I was working in a hotel. Then I have spend one and a half months in Barcelona during the 92 olympics games, but my surroundings was mainly French.

Why did you choose Australia?

A friend came to visit me for a week-end when I was living in Rennes (France), he was with an Aussie woman,

Julia, I had just left my job and was thinking about going abroad to improve my English speaking. I wasn’t interested by the States and I had already been to England, so I was thinking about Scotland or Ireland. At the end of the week-end julia gave me her parents’ phone number in case I would get there. So I went there for 3 months then to New Zealand for 6 months and went again to Australia for 3 more months. The day I left I was thinking at the airport that my story there wasn’t over.

When I came back in France few things in me had changed, I felt a want to live in a different way I was understanding the world LIVING in a deeper sense. At this time it wasn’t really clear in my mind I was confused and was looking for answers to my questions. After few months spend at my parent’s I went to Scotland with one of my friend’s phone number. There I have been working for two months and left on a road trip, hitchhiking (France, England, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain) meeting people from different background and kind of life. I was randomly following the coincidences one after each others like if I was climbing up a stair. I went to Australia again with a 3 months visa but I couldn’t re new it so I came back to France, went to festivals, grapes harvesting, fruits picking up with a group of friends and with three of them I came back to Australia.

After a couple of months we took different roads. I stayed for sometimes with an aboriginal community, who helped me to get an extension to my visa, so I stayed with them for longer.

Everything started with a simple phone number during a meeting in France. So he went there but because he couldn’t get a visa he kept travelling for more than 4 years picking up fruits in both sides of the world.

It’s during his third visit in Australia that he met Zoe, the woman with who he shares two children.

What are you missing from France?

My family, some old friends with who I have lost contact and a part of the French culture.

He admits that sometimes he can miss a good French meal (yes… the famous cheese!), but he is satisfied here and balances that with all his activities, experiences and people he had met here.

Stéphane is using an old machine to select the « Acacia Macradenia » seeds. He keeps an artisanal way to work on this tresor. These seeds make trees with vivid yellow flowers and are natives from Australia.

The machine helps him to share the seeds from the wastes.

He sees his parents about once every two years and the rest of his family less.

He doesn’t think that he will go back to live in France, he is happy with his life over here. But he would like to bring his two children for about 6 months to show them his roots and to make them travel. He doesn’t go to France often (average of about every 3 years) and his parents came only once. He misses his mother but he had built and found a new family here.

He speaks English really well now, language that has come naturally throughout his travels. It helped that he used to live in England for about a year before he came to Australia. He heard about Australia while he was working as a waiter, then he decided to see it by himself. Once his visa expired he decided to stay. First the government refused to extend it, but the second time he got it.

What have you kept from the French identity?

Pleasures of the table.

Do you feel well about the language?

Yes totally. Humor and expressions are an endless discovery.

How many years did it take you do feel comfortable about it?

I cannot count with years, it depends with who and of the environment.

If you go over there he recommends you to come on a Saturday when there is the market. The farmers from the village gather to sell their fresh organic vegetables and fruits depending on the season, some honey, home-made cakes, bread cook in their common brick oven, a restaurant with vegetarian or healthy food, and Stéphane sells his seeds and young plants of unusual trees. Also you will enjoy listening the village band (Crystal Limba) that plays cheerful songs only on drums.