Little eco footprints

Are you prepared to pay extra to keep manufacturing in Australia?

I’ve purchased more ‘new’ items in the past few months than I have in the previous few years. Most of the gear I needed or wanted for Wildendurance was impossible to find second hand. There were trail runners, compression tights, shorts, back pack, quick dry t–shirt, light weight rain jacket, and so on. Trying to make ethical and sustainable choices was doing my head in. I searched out Australian made products and invariably gave up. I ended up buying most of my equipment at a local outdoor adventure store because at least I was supporting a local business.

But not with socks!

I was thrilled to discover we still make socks in Australia!

Family-owned Humphey Law has been making high-quality socks wholly in Australia with natural yarns for over 50 years.

I contacted Humphrey Law with a few questions and they sent me a pair of sport socks, hiking socks, and super soft fine merino wool socks to try.

I was so thrilled with the comfort and durability of the socks that I've since bought a few more pairs including some children's socks for Little Eco (seen above).

I'm particularly in love with their super comfortable hiking socks.

I plan to gradually replace our existing socks as they wear out with Humphrey Law socks. They do cost a little more than imported socks - but I'm prepared to pay the extra for quality and to support manufacturing in Australia. 

"Our socks are wholly made in our Melbourne suburban factory which means that our overheads are greater than those of our overseas competitors whose cheap and often poorly made socks we compete against. Fortunately we do have a loyal customer base who understand that our socks will generally outlast several pairs of imported socks, but it is diminishing as smaller menswear retailers disappear. But we intend to keep going and maintain at least some manufacturing capacity in Australia." Dennis from Humphrey Law.

Are you prepared to pay extra to keep manufacturing in Australia?

Giveaway from Humphrey Law

Would you like a pair of Australian made Humphrey law socks? Dennis from Humphrey Law has kindly offered to gift a pair of socks to five lucky Little Eco Footprints readers.

Entries have now closed and the winners are: comment numbers 22, 47, 87, 91, and 16:

Josie - bed socks.

Karina - Feet First Men's socks

Nadine - Children's Health socks.

Kirsty - Hiking sock.

Vinay - Fine Merino Wool socks.

Congratulations all. I'll be emailing you shortly.

To enter head on over to Humphrey Law and check out their range of socks and pop back here and leave a comment sharing which of their socks you’d love to try.

Entries close midnight (Australian EST) Wednesday 23rd May 2012.

One entry per person, please. Sorry, entries only open to those with Australian addresses.

The winners will be chosen by Random Number Generator and will be announced here in this post on the Thursday morning. I'll contact the winners directly by email. Good luck.

Why did we wait so long? - Barrington Tops National Park

Barrington Tops National Park is a place we've been meaning to visit for years. We recently popped in for a wander along some of the Gloucester Tops Walking Tracks.

I can't believe we waited so long to visit this magical place. It's only a few hours north of Newcastle, so we'll definitely be back to explore more of this World Heritage listed National Park.

I fell in love with the majestic old Antarctic Beech forest.

Little Eco and I couldn't help but imagine fairies living under the mushrooms and within tree hollows. I'm convinced fairies truly do live in that forest. Can you see the fairy in the photograph above? I can ;-)

Is there a place in your neighbourhood that you've been meaning to visit for years? Whats stopping you? Perhaps you could visit this weekend?

Last week...

..was the week that we finally exchanged contracts on that magical piece of land. It will be ours in less than five weeks and we'll be living there by the end of the year.

..was the week that Little Eco and I celebrated milestone birthdays. She turned five and I turned 40.

..was the week that our delivery van finally became a camper van.

Photographer: Anna Warr 2012

...was the week that I walked Wildendurance. That's 'Just us' us in green above. I unfortunately didn't complete the entire 100km - but managed around 65 km. I withdrew at 3am, 19 hours into the event, after losing a toe nail. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't complete the full 100km, but am still extremely proud of what I did achieve. I'm also thrilled that I raised $1665 for the Wilderness Society and our team 'Just us' raised $3435. The walk was an incredible experience and I'll definitely be back next year to complete the entire walk.

...and was the week that Daddy Eco left a job he's been in for over a decade.

Last week was a huge week for the Little Eco Footprints household. It was full of change and defining moments. I've always been excited about the future - but at this point in time I'm more excited than ever. My mind is drowning in dreams of miniature milking goats, a rammed earth cottage, being surrounded by nature rather than having to search it out, and connecting with the Hunter Valley community.

We wern't planning this change - but then an opportunity arose and we decided to embrace it. After all, we only live once.

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” ― Joseph Campbell

Wildendurance - tomorrow i'll be walking 100km for the Wilderness Society

It's time. After months of training, planning, and freaking out - Wildendurance is happening.

Tomorrow i'll be walking 100km. Pop over here if you are wondering why i'd bother.

I'm anxious and excited...tired and restless...but most of all I'm happy and proud that I'm even giving it a go.  

Thank you to those who have sponsored me. I truly appreciate your generosity and am certain the Wilderness Society will put your donation to good use.

If you are interested in following our progress there will be live updates on the Wildendurance facebook page. Our Team is called 'Just Us'.  

I've enjoyed my blogging break - but am looking forward to returning to regular blogging next week.

Wordless Week (3 weeks until...)

I'm having a blog break while I simplify my life in the lead-up to Wildendurance (only 3 weeks to go). However, I couldn't resist a quick wordless week post, sharing a few images from my week.

Intrigued by an image and want to know more? Click on each image to be taken to a little more information.

Thank you to those who have sponsored me in Wildendurence! Your generosity is helping to make the pain worthwhile (I'm about to lose a toe nail!).