In 2001 whilst working as a senior executive with an emerging e-commerce company I discovered a major internal fraud.

The consequences were swift and devastating, a business that I had put my heart and soul into (not to mention five years of earnings) was suddenly destroyed whilst my friend and business partner fled the country and left me with nothing.

Suddenly I had to re-evaluate, I didn’t have the desire to start again but I had always felt the desire to travel more, to head off without a plan, to simply go with the flow and see where the road leads so with Penelope by my side we bought a tent and backpacks and headed off on an adventure. I swapped my private office in the city, my black suits and silk ties for sleeping on palm fringed beaches wearing sarongs and hiking boots.

I discovered a new life and a new me, we traveled the East coast of Australia by bus, hopping on and off whenever we felt it time to move. We carried everything we needed on our backs and that’s when I realised how little I needed or wanted material possessions, I was a true capitalist who had seen the damage that greed can do and now money no longer motivated me.

The next few years saw us turn our lives around completely, we bought an old land rover and made the dirt roads our home, we traveled aimlessly, discovered who we were, forged new values, met like minded people and eventually met our tribe in the Northern Rivers of NSW. Then the joyous discovery, Penelope was pregnant, but living in a land rover with no job, no income and a baby on the way meant we had to make some changes.

We returned to our home state and settled in a quiet country town. With the support of Penelope I chose to be a stay at home dad & began a new business venture building websites, a passion I have had since the 1980’s and still continue today (this website is an example of my work). This new lifestyle gave me the time I needed to begin exploring and experiencing alternative ways of thinking and living and I soon discovered the magic of subtle energies.

Eventually though the desire to return to our tribe was too great, We had been exposed to new ideas and new possibilities so with a small child on board we bought ourselves a pop-top camper, registered as WOOFERS and hit the road again.

Nimbin is a colourful town with a small settlement and an alternative lifestyle. It is the self-proclaimed hippie capital of Australia and a delight for free-spirited explorers.

The town didn’t become what it was by accident. In the 1960s Nimbin’s dairy industry collapsed and the place quietly emptied — another rural town the economy had left behind. Then in 1973, the Aquarius Festival arrived and with it more than ten thousand people: students, artists, idealists, and seekers of a different kind of life. What made it unlike anything else in Australia was the spirit those people carried with them — a generation pushing back against the conservative, constricting Australia of the early 1970s, hungry for a different way of living. This was the era of hippies and counter-culture, and Nimbin became their southern hemisphere heartland — it is, fittingly, the sister city to Woodstock, New York. Many of those who came simply never left. They formed community collectives, restored the land, tended gardens, and built a community around values the mainstream had little patience for: environmental activism, alternative medicine, collective creativity, and a quiet but fierce respect for the earth. Six years later that spirit produced the Battle for Terania Creek — a community standing in front of bulldozers to protect local rainforest, and winning. By the time Penelope and I arrived, those values had been taking root for nearly three decades. This wasn’t a place performing alternative culture. It was the real thing, worn-in and lived-in, full of people who had chosen it deliberately.

John Lennons' iconic imagine painting recreated in the heart of Nimbin by renowned activist and artist Benny Zable

Hands-on Lomi Lomi massage training session at the School for the Rising Healer.

Trevor receiving his certificate from Thai Massage College of Chiang Mai, TMC traditional Thai massage school.

Maleney enjoys a fun hula hoop session outdoors.

Joining a CSG protest in Lismore

Penelope Prana & Trippy Trev

Trevor twirling a flaming dragon staff in a dazzling fire performance.

The first lesson of Nimbin is that its inhabitants are not like anywhere else in Australia.

To me Nimbin was paradise and so we stayed for 10 years. We settled in a small off-grid cabin and yurt on the side of a mountain, overlooking a private valley and stream and surrounded by animals. It was in this place that my true education began.

For nearly a decade I spent most of my days alone whilst Penelope worked at the local university and our daughter attended the local school. Our accommodation was basic with (eventually) a small solar system, composting toilet and fresh rainwater. We had snakes in the ceiling, café blinds for walls and open timber decking for floors. I spent everyday outside in silence and solitude and soon found myself connected to the energy of the earth in a way I had never imagined.

Time to think

With time on my hands and surrounded by a community of inclusive creative thinkers and artists I began to explore. I immersed myself in flow arts, and began performing. I would walk to town in the morning and spend the day performing for the tourists on the street, I would travel to markets and festivals to perform just to share the joy. As I was reveling in this alternative life I also became intensely interested in alternative health and energetic healing. I have some physical disabilities and have not had great experiences with our western medical system so I began to read and study. I took courses in homeopathy and Reiki, and became interested in sound baths and the power of singing bowls. I read extensively and eventually took a sabbatical to study at the Thai Massage School of Chang Mai.

The longer I spent living in paradise and working on myself the stronger I felt my powers as a subtle energy worker grow. I had always felt the emotions of others but hadn’t acknowledge their significance, now I couldn’t ignore it.

I couldn’t get enough, I wanted to improve my massage skills so eventually I registered to study Lomi Lomi massage in Byron Bay with Tina Featherheart’s School of the Rising Healer, I will be forever grateful to her for the knowledge and skills she has passed on to me and Penelope.

A tranquil massage therapy clinic offering restorative healing treatments in a calm and welcoming environment.

In 2019 we headed back to our home state.

My father was nearing 80 years old and caring for his terminally ill wife. Penelope had ceased working for the university so we took the opportunity to move home to care for my dad whose wife passed shortly after our arrival.

Unfortunately my father’s health also began to deteriorate and eventually he began to suffer from advanced dementia. It has been my honour to be his carer and support for the last 6 years but sadly he passed away recently.

Whilst I was needed here I used the time to immerse myself in the study of sound healing, I consulted with a remarkable musician — a former member of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra who had left to specialise in music therapy with people living with dementia. Her guidance in selecting my singing bowls was invaluable, and the connection felt right given my father’s own journey with the condition.  I developed the skills needed to perform healing sound baths and began to offer these to the public.

Now that my father no longer requires my assistance I’m working on our next life stage, I’m converting an old school bus into our forever tiny home so that Penelope and I can continue traveling Australia and sharing our gifts.