Ch apter 2 Digging In. Having completed a smooth path from our place to the nearest ‘hamlet’, Helen and I made it our personal project to blaze a new trail all the way down to the road. The one being used below ‘the kitchen’ was steep and slippery in places so we hacked away at the lantana, moved a few rocks, and forged a really easy path going gradually downhill across the contour and then planted native trees at intervals beside the path where we’d chopped away a decent amount of space back into the wall of lantana. The main restriction on planting trees was the cost of buying seedlings large e nough to plant out so it was important to keep the weeds cut back around them until they ‘took off’. The new ‘contour track’ made a big difference when coming home carrying supplies or children. We’d officially joined the group by making the new path. There was a lot of carrying materials up from the road so working together made a lot of sense and it was pleasant to sit ...