The Dubya, Dubya, Dubya

The What, Who, Why @ Wangat

“Simply, how life should be”

Simply, Ponderings:

Have you thought of a seasonal calendar? I use one. No, I don’t mean Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. I mean where nature informs what “season” it is rather than a word (trying to) imposing nature onto a set time frame. A British-European, colonial, system slapped onto the Australian context!…Spring says, “bloom now flowers”, Summer commands, “bushfires can happen now”, and Autumn pipes up, “get windy and strip the trees of leaves” and Winter mumbles, “disappear reptiles”. For those of us who take time in nature, we know it’s A LOT more nuanced than that! If you fish, surf, garden, bush walk, or simply do anything outdoors, you learn to take cues from what is actually happening in nature, rather than what is pre-determined!

Recently, I have got busy with diary entries to populate my seasonal calendar. Some examples: August 18th - First Goanna seen - just emerged from the tree hollow (viewed from Shaky Knees Lookout I have watched this hollow since I first saw the Goanna appear from it in 2019!); August 28th - the shining bronze cuckoo has started calling incessantly; August 30th Peach tree in orchard blossoms (first fruit tree to flower); September 5, first asparagus harvest; September 6th, male koala heard calling at 3am; September 7th - Dendrobium orchid at side-deck blooms; September 11th - first emerging Cicada witnessed (early!!); September 14th - The leaden flycatcher has arrived (migratory bird from PNG). September 17th - bass are rising and breaking the surface of the river non stop; September 21st - Wangat faces first bush fire threat of season; September 23rd - the first raucous call of the channel-billed cuckoo heard at Wangat. September 24th - I notice the first native hibiscus in bloom from the Lodge deck.

As you can see, these observations are rich in observation and story telling of country, or rather, by Country. They are hyper-local, and thus help me to connect deeply to the land I live on, and thus become a better custodian and someone who can authentically share with others. Importantly, keeping these records, using the same species, means over 10, 20, 30+ years we will have a evidence of trends and changes. This helps me/us to take better care and land manage, garden, and live here in peace and connection. It is super fun too!

Keen to learn this skill and also understand those we call the “news-reporters of the bush” - our birds? Birds have 8 or more different distinct voices, as studied and taught by the amazing Andrew Turbill. He teaches this and so much more on our magnificent Bird Language and Nature Connection Retreat, October 15-18 2026 (only 4 more spots!). Annually, every October.

The Dubya #1 - WHAT’s On:

How to experience the magic of the Gat

Events/ Retreats / More BOOK-ABLE NOW:

Bird Language and Nature Connection Retreat, 3 nights, fully catered, life changing (only 4 more spots). October 15-18 2026

Dungog Shakespearience, Proffessional theatre outdoors at Wangat! 3 evening shows, 1 matinee. Dinner and stay packages available! Family packages available. October 29, 30, 31

“Friends of Wangat” - FAMILY NATURE CAMPS. Deeply connect to your loved ones - whilst the young people receive kind and inspiring mentoring and rites-of-passage experiences, and the adults engage in all sorts of nature based activities, and can also, wind down and recharge. Literally for ALL AGES! Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, carers WELCOME - your family is our family! During the school holidays for families - 4 glorious nights, dinners catered,various accommodation options from camping to lodge room to cottages. Summer Camp - January 10-14 2027.

SAVE THE DATE

(& CONTACT US TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT):

Currawong Camp for Teens. Mentoring, Rite-of-passage, nature based, overnight hikes, bush crafts and more - 6 night camps for high-school aged young people. Every Autumn and Spring holidays. Next April 10-16 2027. Contact us to reserve a spot.

Retreats and Events by our Friends:

Singing/Yoga/Sound bath/Bush walking with Jacki Stuart. All welcome. Catering and guided walks by Wangat Lodge. Social singing, yoga and sound baths by Jacki and her team. November 6-8 2026 (May 2027 too).

Trail Running Retreat with the incredible and lovable coaches, Emily and Sean Brunt. For it’s 3rd year running (hehe). 3 nights, fully catered, amazing diversity of trails for ALL LEVELS. A Dan favourite!! April 16-19 2027 BOOK NOW

Back to Nature yoga and bush walking retreats with Fran Davy. Walks led by Wangat crew; Yoga and full-Catering by Fran and team! November 27-29 2026.

Art Making Workshop with Audrey Rhoda (Dan’s Mum) in her Katoomba Studio. POSTER BELOW. You may have seen the stunning and curiosity grabbing art works hanging in the Lodge and Cottages. These are from Dan’s mum, an exhibiting and full time artist for over 30 years (or since 1949 - birth - as she proudly proclaims). You can join her in one of the most meaningful art making experiences for anyone! See below…

ACCOMMODATION VACANCIES

The Lodge:

2027: May 7-9, 28-30; April 23-25; 2027 July 2-4,16-18; Aug 6-8, 20-22, 27-29; Jan 29-31 (that is the only weekend availability for now…so get in touch quick!)

Some gaps in the school holidays too…

2026: October 6-9 (we generally have a vacancy in the second week - midweek - of the Spring School Holidays - FYI!); XMAS/NYE period!, December 18 - Jan 2, Jan 20-27

2027: Jan 15-27, April 20-23, July 2-4, July 12-18, Oct 5-9

Cottages: 3 Gorgeous cottages on 50 acres of pristine bush and river to choose from! Get someone a voucher for their birthday/XMAS! (see below). Contact us to organise.

The Dubya #2 - Who:

Special beings at Wangat

Juzzy and Timbo:

If, in the last 2 years, you have been to one of our retreats, school camps,a family camp, teen camp, Bird Language, or asked us to cater your special weekend, you have been WOWED by the quality and deliciousness of Wangat’s catering…brought to you by the dynamic duo, Timothy “Timbo-spin-that-wheel” Stockton and Justin “Juzzy Cool” Harrison or collectively know as the Justim Food Inc, or the Wheel Spinners!

Spinning that wheel, is the euphemism I coined for their magic work on their wheel - aka the fry-pan! Think the DJ creating atmosphere spinning their records, and you get the picture!

Yes, they have elevated the food here to a new level - still simple, wholesome, mainly vego - but with creativity and love and fun - you are what you eat after all! But, last month, they showed the true depth of their natures as they volunteered to cook the dinner for our fundraiser the Fantastical Galactical! - A variety night, with headline band, to raise funds to support youth to attend our 6-night teen camps, who otherwise would not be financially able to. Feeding 60+ people in the Bandon Grove Hall, on little more than two gas rings, they helped to top the event off. “If music be the food of love” (Twelfth Night…just saying), well, consider ourselves satiated and butts-danced-off by the amazing SF Wrens pop-up group, The Rave Wrenlins. WELL, AND, NOW…the Justim Food Inc, showed us that FOOD be the food of love with a two course meal of hand made Thai spring rolls and chickpea jungle-curry with accompaniments. Food infects and creates an atmosphere, and in that moment, the 60 guests, sat in true bliss eating from the magnificent spinning of their wheels, listening to the Teen’s (of our Currawong Camps) speeches, sharing heart warming stories of their “growing up and rites-of-passage experiences” at Wangat’s camps during their school holidays. A huge thanks to the many who volunteered to make this night so uplifting and also a successful fundraiser. And to our Wangat Community, who either attended, or purchased tickets from our online raffle, or made generous donations, I am so stoked we now have about $6k that can be used to subsidise any young person to attend a Currawong Camp, no matter their circumstances!

The Dubya #3 - Why we Wangat:

The reason we exist, simply.

“Follow your bliss”, Joseph Campbell.

One of my favourite pieces of media to indulge in, is an online continual essay series (blog of sorts) by Maria Popova, called The Marginalian. Described by Maria as, “The Marginalian is my one-woman labor of love — marginalia on our search for meaning, from science and philosophy to poetry and children’s books — free, ad-free, AI-free, fully human since 2006.” It is visually stunning, always totally engrossing and mind-bogglingly rich in philosophy and arts. To say the least, I would highly recommend it!

I wanted to deepen my understanding of “The Heroes Journey” monomyth by Joseph Campbell and turned to The Marginalian, and was caught by a phrase I had heard, but did not know was attributed to Campbell unti I read Maria’s essay, How to Find Your Bliss: Joseph Campbell on What It Takes to Have a Fulfilling Life.

In the essay this passage struck me -

Campbell saw as the greatest human transgression “the sin of inadvertence, of not being alert, not quite awake.” This, perhaps, is why the most rewarding part of the conversation deals with the dictum that has come to encapsulate Campbell’s philosophy on life: “Follow your bliss.” Decades before the screaming tyranny of work/life balance reached its modern crescendo, Campbell put a sympathetic ear to the soul’s cry and identified with enormous elegance and precision the root of our existential dissatisfaction.

Living at and running Wangat Lodge I get the most satisfaction seeing guests and participants of our diverse programs, and accommodation stays, “dropping into” a slower pace. A kinder sound scape of bird and frog choruses, and flowing river. Of conversations about starting fire circles, baking cakes and stories of adventures and misadventures!

On the current Currawong Camp I wandered into the camp site of our “Caterpillars” (young people in high-school years 7-9; Metamorphising into “The Moths” in years 10+), and was overwhelmed with joy. I approached the colourful palette of 2-person tents, and a gentle wisp of smoke coming from the camp fire. The 15 young people were totally absorbed in a number of pursuits. Some were whittling, some were playing down by the creek, some were talking in a circle, one was climbing a tree, some were nursing the camp fire and others were making preparations to cook a big pot of pasta. They were so PRESENT! I entered their space to warm greetings and they all gathered and told stories of their 2 nights under the stars and the insights they gained. The overriding theme was that in being there, there was no sense or pressure of social hierarchy, and that they could truley be themselves and creativity flowed! There was a genuine atmosphere of calm and bliss.

This Joseph Campbell quote echoed in my head -

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.

People, young and old, choose to step out of their life to be at Wangat (as did I). To put down phones and modern distractions/stresses and pick up books and connections with children and freinds. Some do ask me to put wifi on at the Lodge, to put air conditioning in the rooms, and a dishwsher in the kitchen. They ask for mirrors in the rooms, and no cobwebs. But keeping the mud bricks and timber frames in good nick is what we focus on, so we can keep, for countless people, over multiple generations now, a “bliss station”. I will leave you with these Joseph Campbell quotes to sum it all up. And again, huge thanks to Maria Popova and her The Marginalian for inspiring me.

Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where the hell you are, or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it.

And…

It’s characteristic of democracy that majority rule is understood as being effective not only in politics but also in thinking. In thinking, of course, the majority is always wrong.

Go well! Dan

Love Wangat? Share the Love! Forward Newsletter on.