Hello!

I am a musician and artist who lives with my partner Oscar (https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/oscarlush) in a small town called Castlemaine, about an hour and a half out of Melbourne, Australia.

We moved out of the city about a 18 months ago to have a little taste of country life and love being amongst the trees.

We are currently planning a trip to the USA where we will road trip from LA-Seattle before spending some time in Canada. We are hoping to meet lots of people we can play music with, cook delicious food with and get to see a slice of life in another part of the world.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Having couchsurfed for the first time in America in 2015 and meeting some fantastic people, I am utterly convinced that there is no better way to meet interesting people and get a sense of the local way of life than couchsurfing. I was lucky to meet people who went out of their way to make my trip memorable - one host even drove me miles out of town to visit the grave of one of my favourite songwriters Townes Van Zandt!

I am blown away by the generosity of people opening up their homes and lives to strangers and hope to start hosting myself once we are in a slightly bigger home.

I hope to continue couch surfing rather than staying in souless hotels because whats the point in travelling otherwise I reckon!!

Interests

I am passionate about the arts in general and love going to galleries/museums, seeing live music, seeing theatre, reading, seeing films, taking photos and playing boardgames with friends.

I also love to cook and Oscar and I spend much of our spare time cooking feasts and making food from scratch. We love going to farmers markets and buying organic, ethically sourced ingredients and love tasting and making food from all over the world. Food is one of life's greatest pleasures for its ability to connect and bring people together. Oh and nothing beats a good glass of vino and the crossword at the end of the day!

I also love thrifting, and we spend lots of time record collecting (we host a radio show on the local community radio station so love anything obscure and weird!!) and looking for interesting furniture in junk yards and tip shops.

Travelling is another thing I love to do, and although I am a homemaker in many ways, I have never learnt so much as when I am on the road. It's all a bit cliche but I believe it really is true that the best way to gain empathy towards other human beings is by seeing how other people live and stepping outside of ones bubble.
I hope when I'm old and wise and grey I can say I've travelled all over this world, and maybe by then we'll be a bit better at looking after this beautiful planet. I can only hope!

I have no interest in meeting people who are homophobic, racist, sexist, transphobic or bigoted towards any minorities so if you hold any of these views then goodbye!

• dogs
• arts
• poetry
• singing
• performing arts
• drinking
• thrifting
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• music
• mountains
• eating
• theatre
• film
• records

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Bill Callahan, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Neil Young, Karen Dalton, Angel Olsen, Joni Mitchell, Patti Smith, Fela Kuti, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed/The Velvet underground, Nico, Bonnie Prince Billy, Mulatu Astake, Dizzy Gillespe, Sun Ra Arkestra, Jessica Pratt, Twain, Jonathan Richman, Lambchop, Hank Williams, so many more !!

Oscar and I host a weekly radio show called 'Beyond the Dunes' on the local community radio station MAINFM so spend a LOT of time discovering music both old and new. We love labels like Light in the Attic and Tompkins Square for reissuing hidden gems and spend many hours perusing Bandcamp for new releases. We love to talk about music and sharing what we're currently listening to.

Films/Directors: Badlands, Thelma and Louise, Summer 1993, Robert Altman, Chris Marker, Jim Jarmusch, Wim Wenders, Pedro Almodovar, Greta Gerwig

Books/Authors: Milan Kundera, Carson McCullers, Joan Didion, Audre Lorde, Lucia Berlin, Jeanette Winterson, Helen Garner, Jonathan Franzen, Roxanne Gay, Maxine Beneba Clarke

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to make delicious fresh pasta - it's so easy but simply the best!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Both Oscar and I are musicians and would love to share our songs with you.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ireland, United Kingdom