On November 22-23, I headed into the wilderness outside Bemboka to take part in the Bushmen’s Workshop at Gaia Range Farm.

No running water except for that in a small stream a 100m trek through the undergrowth away, a hole in the ground for a loo – and building and carving without the use of power tools!

The wonderful sounds of bird calls blended with the chip and scrape of knives on timber as we carved our own spoons under the tutelage of spoonsmith Jeff Donne.

Those sounds were soon joined by the rasp of a large cross-cut saw and thump of wooden mauls as another group began constructing a tank stand.

This was real back-to-basics, sweat-soaked, pioneering stuff - somewhat alleviated by the gourmet (albeit campfire-cooked) meals prepared by Geoffrey Grigg and his helpers.

Hearty meals shared around the group of 20 or so were certainly welcome after long days working with our hands.

I absolutely loved it.

It took me right out of my comfort zone (which is usually perched in front of a computer) and I came home with a real sense of achievement, a couple of hand-whittled spoons, a sample of basket-weaving, a close-to-completed shrink-pot (a drinking cup made from peppermint eucalypt) – and numerous blisters and callouses on my hands!

Then on the weekend just gone, I was part of the South Coast Hackathon, judging the creations of a group of software engineers and local techies.

Watching young minds at work designing and developing a technology product from scratch was an eye-opening experience, even for a computer-loving gadget junkie like myself.

From the simplest of graphic adventure game to a neural network designed to facilitate machine learning (don’t ask!), the Hackathon participants were all in their element in the university computer lab.

But how far removed it was from carving a wooden spoon in the bush so I could eat my camp porridge as the sun rose!

Then again, a late-night conversation around the campfire over a glass of wine turned out to be just as enlightening.

As different as you might view the Valley’s growing shift to permaculture practices and sustainable lifestyles to the Valley’s growing reputation as the place to be for IT professionals, as Geoffrey said “I couldn’t organise the Bega Valley Seed Savers without email!”

Email me at ben.smyth@fairfaxmedia.com.au