Page 26 - C.A.L.L. #45 - Summer 2019
P. 26
‘‘I visited other communities up north and I meet Bob Rich, a psychologist and author
they weren’t for me,’’ Peter tells me. ‘‘I who lived on Moora Moora for almost 40
didn’t want to be sitting on a veranda years. Originally from Hungary, Bob
smoking dope in a benign climate.’’ married his fabulously capable Dutch wife
Yolanda and together they built their mud-
Peter was never interested in dropping out. brick house among a cluster of other
His focus was – and remains – to create a houses on the mountain.
place of life-
long learning. Now 76, Bob
Living here has reluctantly
keeps people come down to
active. the town,
acquiescing to
‘‘We are under Yolanda’s plan
challenge,’’ he for a new
says. ‘‘It’s no chapter in
easy place. their lives.
People can’t
sit on their Bob and
arses. Fire is The Darrius at Moora Moora started out as a wind turbine, but Yolanda joined
ever-present in now functions as 'an installation'. the Moora
the summer.’’ Moora
community in January 1976. Bob wanted to
But now it is autumn. The fire season is change the world. Yolanda wanted to build
over for another year. The community her own home.
breathes out and gives thanks. A brisk
wind blows up from the valley and bustles ‘‘This is why I came to Australia,’’ says
through the gum trees. Yolanda in her matter-of-fact Dutch way.
‘‘The wind is a great source of energy,’’ ‘‘Yolanda is a practical person,’’ says Bob.
Peter says. ‘‘A great cleanser. Even my ‘‘She’s not interested in philosophy.’’
anger can be blown away.’’
‘‘I always thought, I am going to marry a
Moora Moora has a written manifesto built guy who can do things. But I married Bob.’’
on the principles of conservation, Bob grins cheerfully. ‘‘I was born with
sustainability, community and education. three left hands.’’
The language can feel a bit 1960s,
lamenting the superficiality of human Bob says that his philosophy is all about
relationships in the suburbs. And the need creating ‘‘a survivable world – one worth
to get away from the foul air and pollution surviving’’. His fervent belief is that
of the city. mainstream society only changes when
creative minorities on the margins come up
Some of it reminded me of the essays we with new solutions to the challenges of
had to write at high school in the '60s: survival.
‘‘Competitive, violent and materialistic
values permeate our society. Discuss.’’
