Kyle has been beavering away on the designs, so we are starting to imagine houses sprouting up soon. Our new community tent is up, and I have enjoyed the coolness of the interior on a hot summer day. Our new culvert is in place which all of a sudden makes us feel like we have a main street rather than two clusters. Bikes go jauntering past often, only the road has been trenched so we can get all the water pipes buried and water on to each section – almost there, just need to watch out at night as we meander back home. Not too bad because lots of solar lights have sprouted up too. Last week as I wandered back from my office on a Saturday night, after many hours of catch-up on a project that had assumed its abandonment, I caught two or three different conversations in the distance, small groups circled about, laughing and chatting. Felt so nice to see the diverging autonomy sharing in the night life. In summer where-ever we can squash down the long grass is a place to enjoy and then head down to the river for a swim. Hopefully by winter we’ll have a few fireplaces to gather around.

One of the highlights for me is when I’m head down and engaged in whatever project I have, and Shaked says- “skype tomorrow” and another prospective settler appears on ‘my screen’ with all the interesting stories and perspective that they will bring. The world is full of turmoil out there, and we never know from one day to the next who will ‘wash up on our shores’. We are still getting interest from people all around the ‘western’ world, who understand the depth of misadventure that industrial society is bound to, and want to seek an alternative.

One of the biggest challenges for me at present is seeing that we are attracting a large number of older people. Largely, I think, because they are the ones who have saved some capital and can afford to invest here. Knowing that we are best to strike a balance with more younger people, I’m about to seek out equity investors in sections with houses on, so we can rent (or rent to buy) with younger people and those with less capital. It seems to me that if we can offer places here, with affordable rents and satisfying work, we will have no trouble attracting the skills we need.

So if you’re in the position of seeking a ‘rewarding’ investment, or you are skilled and keen to join our various work opportunities, do get in touch. (bob@kotarevillage.org.nz) I’m on the road, around Auckland ,for a week from Thursday 21^st January talking to existing ‘interested investors’, and I’d love the opportunity to discuss our program with you.