A Brief History of Time
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Two groups of stones were discovered in 1965 by a tractor operator clearing land at the top of Grays Lane. They lay in spiral patterns about three feet across. These stones were entrusted to the guardianship of the late Mr Russell Maslen of Mullumbimby, and are now cemented into an approximation of their original pattern at the entrance to Mullumbimby Heritage Park, where their story is told. The land around Tyagarah was once lush forest, through which wove the stories of members of the Bunjulung people, the Du-rung-bil, Minjangbul and Arakwal.
The Hancock Farm
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The Hancock family owned the land for several generations prior to our purchase of it from Albert Hancock in 1987. At that time the land had been cleared and was given to dairy cattle. There were approximately 250 acres to the family land and this had been successively divided up into smaller lots for sale. On the northern side of Grays Lane the land continued down to the ‘ti-tree lake’, an abandoned sand quarry. This wetlands area was later donated by Albert to National Parks and Wildlife.
It is of interest to note two disasters that struck the Hancock family. Albert’s father was swept from his horse to his death in a flood on Grays Lane in the early seventies. Also in the early seventies a cyclone carried away an entire house that had stood, on its concrete base, facing Preston's Lane and the ocean. The one-time Tyagarah rail station was also destroyed at this time.
The Search for a Site
In mid-1986, Charlie Walker (Bhakta) began looking for land around Byron Bay, and he eventually located 40 hectares (100 acres) of rural land, part of a larger subdivision created by farmer Albert Hancock. This was located at Tyagarah, about 10 km north of Byron Bay and contained a house and other buildings fronting onto Prestons Lane.
At the same time he was making contact with other like-minded people who were interested in intentional communities and shared a vision of community and spiritual life.
During the initial stages of purchasing the land and setting up the community legal structure, Bhakta, Agata and Anurati acted as trustees for Gondwana.
Some Key Dates
31st December 1986 – The first shareholders (Bhakta, Aparimit and Agata) commenced living on the Gondwana property prior to purchase, under a license agreement with the owner.
1st April 1987 – Incorporation of Gondwana Sanctuary Pty Ltd. This was not the first choice of name, but was able to be approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission. Gondwana is the name of the ancient land mass of the southern hemisphere. . . . it also evokes the idea of restoring the land to its original rain forest state.
22nd June 1987 – Approval by shareholders of Gondwana Sanctuary Pty Ltd for the allocation of residential sites of the proposed Multiple Occupancy.
8th October 1987 – Purchase completion of the property by Gondwana Sanctuary Pty Ltd. The delayed completion was due to the need to wait until separate titles had been obtained by Albert Hancock for his land subdivision.
12th July 1988 – Approval by Byron Shire Council of Development Application for a Multiple Occupancy of 10 dwellings.
12th December 1988 – Approval by Byron Shire Council of Development Application for an additional 11th dwelling site.
The Early Gondwana Community
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Some of the early shared understandings about the Gondwana community were:
- We are all in this together - all have equal rights, privileges and responsibilities
- Only vegetarian food on the premises
- No cats, dogs or illegal drugs permitted
- The main house to be a quiet meditative space for adults. Children and their parents will have living space elsewhere on Gondwana but may share main house facilities
- Each shareholding has an associated house site area on Gondwana
- Every Tuesday the shareholders work on the common land, and the first day of each month is our tree-planting day
- Gondwana shareholder meetings are to be held each Monday evening.
At a later date more extensive "Gondwana Understandings" were agreed to, and a formal company constitution for Gondwana Sanctuary Pty Ltd was adopted.
Throughout the life of the community , "vision meetings" have been held from time to time as a way of talking through broad community questions about community participation, land issues and building projects. Some initial ideas from 1987 included
- Reforesting about 50% of the land
- Creating a dam
- Planting a small pine forest
- Growing bamboo
- Raising orchard trees for fruit
- Providing a paddock for shareholders' horses
- Building a space for meditations
- Building a pyramid
- Making a Zen garden around "The Hole" (a rock excavation)
- Building a water garden in "The Hole"
- Constructing walking and driving tracks
- Constructing fire breaks.
Shareholders
The initial shareholders of Gondwana were Bhakta, Agata and Anurati, Sahi, Saroja, Bodhi and Prashanti, Aparimit, Robert, Richard, Ans, Neeten, Wendy, and Subodhi (Sky).
Of these initial founding shareholders only Aparimit and Neeten remain today as shareholders of Gondwana.
Early Newsletters
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The first Gondwana newsletter (compiled by Anurati in early 1987) finishes by saying
. . . . So, beloved shareholders, this is where some of us are at. If you have not yet stayed at beautiful Gondwana, you have not yet found its peacefulness, the expanse of the ocean, and the call of the land to be loved back into its earlier condition. The soil is deep reddish-brown - volcanic and rich. The Kikuyu grass spongy and lush. The mountains fill the western skyline. Ideas are tumbling out of us all. Hopes are high.
"Whoopee" says Bhakta. "Bewdy, Mate" says Agata. "Ja, Ja, Ja" says Aparimit.
A slightly later newsletter (June 1987) says
. . . . . Everyone is still madly renovating, planting, meditating, loving - sharing this wonderful experience, and looking forward to the time when we can all be together.
