Thanks for visiting!
Mangana Mission is located in the peaceful hamlet of Mangana situated in the beautiful North East of Tasmania. At the foot of the spectacular Ben Lomond one of the highest mountains in Tasmania yet only 35 minutes from the sea. We pride ourselves in providing high-quality experience in a friendly family environment to all of our valued international guests . We guarantee to exceed your expectations.
The Mangana Spa Side Cabin is now fully operational offering accommodation with heating and cooling, Queen sized futon ,TV. DVD Player, Wireless Internet Access and more.
Leisure activities include a Mountain Bike, Dune Buggy, French Bowls, Croquet, Golf, Gold Prospecting, Bush Walking, Games and more.
With a variety of offerings to choose from, we're sure you'll be happy working with us. Look around our website and if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact us.
We hope to see you again! Check back later for new updates to our website. There's much more to come!
About Us Our vision is to walk lightly upon Mother Earth, respect all creatures (great and small) and live in harmony with our fragile environment.We are blessed with all of natures gifts including a healthy balanced ecosystem, plentiful water and are in the process of establishing a permaculture based chemical free farm.
Mangana is located 10 km from the historic town of Fingal, 116 km from Launceston ( 1.25 hours) , 202 km from Hobart (1.45hours) and 46 km (35 min.) from Scamander.
Google Maps Link provides detailed directions of how to get here:
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=Mangana
In Tasmania the public transport system can be limited.To travel to Mangana Mission for a visit you can either catch a Bus from Hobart or Launceston. Buses run on a daily basis including Sunday's however not on Saturday's. Afternoon services run from both major town centers and depart from Fingal in the mornings via Calows or Redline Coaches. Generally the cheaper tickets are from Launceston and around double the price from Hobart.
Contact numbers for both the Coach Services are:
Redline Coaches: 1300 360 000 and
Calows Coaches 6372 5166 or 0400 570 036
The property is a haven for native Australian wildlife and provides a home to Wombats, Potaroo's, Possums, Wallabies, Kangaroos, Echidnas and numerous species of birds.
The area around the property is dotted with hundreds of mine diggings dating from the period of the 1850's Mangana Gold Rush.
We would welcome to have you visit and share our dream. Stay for a week or more the choice is yours !
Location:
Mangana Mission'
63 Eizabeth Street,
Mangana, 7214
Phone: 61 03 6374 2212
Wwoofing/Helpers at Mangana
WWOOFER's and members of the HelpEX program have played an integral role in the improvements at the Mangana Mission over the past two years. To date they have assisted in numerous developments including the setting up of vegetable plots,cutting firewood, painting around the property, cleaning up the front paddock preparing and planting the organic vegetable gardens, removing over 100 tons of refuse, planting hundreds of gum trees,creating the water feature, removing reeds and gorse, renovating the 120 year old Colonial Barn and much more.
The projects that remain are many and varied. Sadly the hours in each day are far too few! The Colonial Barn renovations are now completed , the establishment of garden beds with cloches throughout the front paddock ( to try and reduce the amount of veggies stolen by the wildlife!), the Hot House , Free Range Chicken Home , Dog Kennel and many other projects are on going.
Thankfully we have now almost completed the removal over over 3 acres of Gorse, and are in the process of preparing the Mangana Orchard. The year ahead has plans for the vineyard, tobacco plot, 25m. Lap Pool and dam.The never ending thistle wars and the Mangana Mission soil improvement program will continue.
Thanks to the following for their great efforts ! :
Testimonials
Nick & Nicky (Hong Kong) 9/1/09
Dear Kate and Andre,
We are so sad hat we have to leave from Mangana Mission. Thanks for giving us a wonderful Xmas and New Year. We won't forget everything here..we had a holiday in heaven! Relax and relax!Please keep you guys happy and happy!One word to summary all the things here...as Andre', always say "Beautiful"! Love N.N
Kevin(Tiawan) 29/1/09
Dear Andre &Kate,
thanks you give me a gorgeous visit with you a week.I can't be forget anything when I stay at Mangana.Thank you. You let me make a good job for you.
Ian and Virna (United Kingdom &Italy)05/02/09
Hi! The "Real" Time to go has now arrived. I'm not sure I have enough words to Thank you but I'll try? We are REALLY grateful for done for us, for your hospitality, the good lessons about the real tassie country life and the big help you gave us for seeing the country. Beautiful experience with amazing unforgettable people. It been a pleasure cooking for you and to hear Kate got a "cooking inspiration"!!! Oh! and thanks for tonight's laugh, that was it the most liberating laugh I had in months!!!! Everyday spent here with you has been a great one. Keep inspired and good luck with Mangana Mission.
Marie-Ida and Etienne (Montreal, Canada) 02/03/09
Dear Andre & Kate, Thank you for the lovely stay at Mangana in the valley. We had a good time in the Hilton. We really enjoyed your company and working in our forest. Thank you again for the guided tour around St. Mary's and St. Helen's with you special pizza night. Take care of your beautiful kittens and all the best for your future projects! Your first C andian Wwoofers!
Helene and Sylvain (France/Bretagne)13/03/09
Thank you for your generosity and for making us feel comfortable! The accommodation is great and we've enjoyed the spa. We wish you the best for Mangana Mission projects! Take care
Joanie (Montrel, Canada) 02/04/09
Thank you to Andre and Kate for the wonderful week I just had. I am really grateful for all you've done for me. I enjoyed the hard work, good food, great company and nice talks. Thats was really nie first helpx experience. It gives me hope for the future ones. I wish you the best in the future projects at Mangana Mission. Good luck and keep the efforts with the "terrible" gorse. You're gonna make it!
Jodie (Bath, England) 15/04/09
So then something witty & funny to remember me by .... remember that hugh pile of gorse?!! I love it, I think I'm going to plant some in my garden when I get back!!! Thanks for an awesome couple of weeks, I've had a lovely time learning about Marshen from Mars & the swine flu!! HaHaHa!! But seriously thank you for everything, I will really miss this place, but shall, for sure keep in touch. P.s Glad you survived my cooking, but in all seriousness it has given me the confidence to cook for other people, so thank you.
Jean (Hong Kong) 16/04/09
It is glad to stay at Mangana. It is my first time to do farm work which is a very good experience.
For the Jean Trail-I have written 4 Chinese wording on it , which mean human purified land . As I feel very peaceful when i saw the grass and forest behind ur house with no car, no noise and I could take complete rest after daily simple work. What a wonderful world!
Thanks for your meaningful present and I hope you would also like my present too. It is brought in Beijing and i think your farm may need a frog as well :)
Scott Andrews (Scotland/Wales)17/4/09
Had an awesome couple of months really glad I choose to come here. Although the barn has been tough at times it has been a great challenge and a bit of fun. Building can be too serious at times! I have had a lot of laughs since I have been here and it has been great to meet both of you. I wish you all the best for the future! Just keep carrying on Kate, hitting Andre's head against the hearth!! Take it easy and keep in touch, thanks for having me.
Barbara Floser (Austria) 3/6/09
Thank you so much for the lovely time I had at your wonderful place! I would love to come back when it stopped raining to see how the barn looks when it's finished.
I felt like at home here and will really miss you all (not just the cats!)
Take care and don't forget your first Austrian visitor,Love,
Barbara
Florent Faure-Geors ( Marseilles/France) 10/06/09
Dear Andre & Kate,
I had a great moment with you,in your property. I had a good time during the work at the Cabin. I will miss so much the mud!! My Hilton Hotel was really nice and comfortable, I enjoyed it. Of course I don't forget Scott with whom it was nice to work, and Jeremy and his friends who helps me during my job. Thank you also Andre to sometimes speak to me in French. It was a kind of delight to use my first language a little. I hope that everything will be fine for you in the future , and maybe if I have the chance, to come back and see you again and be host in Scott's Cabin! Take Care,See You, Au Revoir, Florent
Annie & Eugene (Hong Kong) 18/06/09
Those day in Mangana give me so much unforgettable experience. I enjoy chatting with you every night, laughing loudly, playing card game, sharing the photo. We teach each other Chinese, English, even Thai! It is so funny! I seem like your family member. That's makes me very grateful. Andre is a funny talkative man and always makes us happy. Kate is a lovely beautiful lay and likes sharing her daily life with us. The other wwoofer in the house, Scott, also is funny and take us to see the beach. All of us seem like a family. I am so happy that can meet you.
In Mangana, I tried many kind of work that I never tried, such as washing car, cleaning dead plant on the land, cleaning the metal, painting the wood and digging fresh potato! That jobs are very excited for me! I enjoyed doing them! Maybe when I go back Hong Kong, I can find some job about these work,haha~~Hope you be healthy and happy all day. I love you^^
Bloody Gorgeous Eugene
Hedy Wong (Hong Kong) 05/07/09
Bloody Gorgeous time spent in Mangana! lovely and caring Andre! with friendly and sweet Kate, plus 5 beautiful kittens, brighten up my trip in Aus! I experienced the work that I can never do in HK - washing bottles,drawing on wood pieces,sorting out wood in piles! &it's my first time to be in places with lower than O c degree! Frosting on grass was really shiny and pretty and it's so warm to be around the log fire also, I have never cooked so much and enjoyed it HAHA! Not even my mother and father had tasted my brillant cooking, they definitely would of envy this. More than every I really have to thank you for bringing us on trips even we only stay for o few days, I really apppreciate the effort you two made to making sure we had a good time. Mangana is really a paradise and I will defintely be back to spend more time with you two. Please take care, much love Hedy.
Fuk Wong (Hong Kong) 05/07/09
Yoho! Really fun in mangana everyday! Thank you for taking me and Hady to everywhere like St Helens waterfront,St Mary town, Bicheno Natureworld and to meet pricilla the pig at the Pub. I had a very very nice time there! I love it! Mangana is really different from Hong Kong. It is green, with lots of sheep and sunshine everyday all the time. We really enjoyed the time here. Also my cooking skill have improved alot. Thanks for giving us the chance to cook for us all. We two really enjoyed ourself and appreciatied been taken around we have thousand of great photo's! We would love to come back again, thank for everything. Miss you! All the best to you, wishing you two healthy always.
Maria Gavina Manca ( Sardinia) 17/07/09
After 15 months travel around Australia, I was looking for a quiet, nice place where to spend my last days in Australia. I ended up here in Mangana, the peaceful valley.... what better than that. Of course it couldn't of be better, without lovely Kate, Andre, Jesus, Vanessa, Jerime,Marie and the shy Jo Jo! and without the gorse my stay couldn't of been as special!!!. Hope you won't forget my lovely pasta alla carbonara,my chicken and potatoes (because italian people don't eat only pasta and pizzza!) My big fat pizza, my best in the "world" lasagna....I am sure you enjoyed my cooking and I loved that! I wish you all the best may everything you wish become true....because you deserve that!! Keep your door open, so the world can come and visit you and I can come again. Thank you very much for everything!!!!!!!!!!!
Ian Thrussell & ildiko Faska (Australia) 04/08/09
One week with Ian and the rest of the time by myself. Both equally enjoyable. Thank you for everything Andre & Kate!!!!! This little patch of paradise is a very very special place are so are you two. xoxo
Adrian McCarthy (Ireland) 24/08/09
Well it was unseasonabily wet while I was here so it felt like an early homecoming! I did enjoy burning the gorse and have a few thorns to prove it. A big thank you to Andre & Kate for their hospitality and friendship. Best of luck with ongoing projects at the Mission.
Sandrine & Ange Lethielleux (France) 19/10/09
Thank you for the place you let for Ange and me ! We occupied the kitchen and I hope you enjoyed my "french" cooking. You will certainly remember us when you will sit on the outdoor seats, when you will bake bread (I hope...) or when you take a book in the children library. Thank you for your kindness with Ange. We will never forget you and the lovely kittens. Sandrine.
Ricky Lawne (England)02/11/09
Thank you both so much for making my stay such a special one. I know now what I'll be doing later on in life - living in Tassie ! It's so beautiful .I'll have to come back. Of course I'l need pictures of the puppies - I have fond memories of finding them and taking them in and of course less fond memories of mopping up their piss and poo's& even stepping in the shit barefoot. :LOTS OF LOVE to you both, good luck with everything. PS et me know when the bastard gorse is finally all gone. Ricky x
Gonzague (France) 19/11/09
Andre and Kate, thank you very much for all. A great moment spent here with you both. I really enjoyed to cook for you and to work in the bloody GORSE (I dreamt about it!) It was a real pleasure for me to see your smile after theses two weeks. Definetelly, don't speak ever to me about (Gorse) trees! Ah Ah. Thanks also for the spa, for this nice day in St Helens and for this time for all.... "Mes Amis" , I wish you both the best for the future. Take Care. Gonzague
Sandrine & Ange from France
Mother of three children, who wanted to have a break from teenagers ! Sandrine is travelling with her young son. Ange around this great brown land.
She is very interested in improving her English, and seeing a very different country. As Sandrine is a helpx\exchange host in France in the Loire valley she can see the benefits of travelling this way. She was used to working outside. and loved the garden,.One of her other skills was in the kitchen with a range of healthy meals being prepared. . Her sewing skills were appreciated as she was able to repair a number of damaged items including Andre's patchwork pants.It was a change to have a child in the house but we enjoyed their efforts and input to the Mangana Mission.
Ange would help his mother Sandrine with the gardening well as being appointed as Official Librarian for the Children's Literature Section of the Mangana Library. Our kittens particularly enjoyed their special treatment during their stay.
Ricky from the United Kingdom
Ricky came to Australia in late September and stayed at Mangana in early November. Being a pretty flexible person he came from a mundane office job and was thrown directly into farming work. He had limited farm skills according to himself - after spending two years working in what sounds like a pretty exciting job .He made up for his lack of experience with his kindness, enthusiasm, loyalty, willingness to work, and a great knack for learning.
He was young and fit, very easy going, loved meeting people,sharing stories and was a great enjoyment for us. He played a major role in helping in rescuing and caring for four abandon puppies, 2 of which soon became a part of lives.
His photo skills were excellent and he got some great shots of the puppies and the surrounding area for our website. Thanks Ricky for bring the puppies into our live and choosing to stay at the Mission.
Mangana Mission Mail
2009
Issue7
Recipes from the Helpers/Woofers
Gyoza Recipe – Japanese Recipe
Ingredients:
* 1/3 cup chopped cabbage (boiled)
* 2 tbsps chopped green onion
* 1/2 pound ground pork
* 1 tsp sesame oil
* 1 tsp sugar
* 2 tsps soysauce
* 1/2 tsp garlic salt
* 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
* 20 gyoza wrappers
* 1 tbsp vegetable o
Combine all ingredients other than oil in a bowl and mix well by hands. Place a teaspoonful of filling in a gyoza wrapper and put water along the edge of the wrapper by fingers. Make a semicircle, gathering the front side of the wrapper and sealing the top. Heat oil in a frying pan. Put gyoza in the pan and fry on high heat until the bottoms become brown. Turn down the heat to low. Add 1/4 cup water in the pan. Cover the pan and steam the gyoza on low heat until the water is gone.
Mexican pies
Ingredients
* Olive oil spray
* 3 sheets (25 x 25cm) frozen ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, just thawed
* 1 tbs olive oil
* 800g beef mince
* 1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
* 1 large red capsicum, halved, deseeded, coarsely chopped
* 1 x 35g pkt taco seasoning mix
* 1 x 420g can Woolworths Select Red Kidney Beans, rinsed, drained
* 1 x 400g can diced tomato
* 125ml (1/2 cup) water
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
* Sour cream, to serve
* Fresh coriander leaves, to serve
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C. Spray ten 150ml-capacity muffin pans with olive oil spray to grease. Cut the pastry sheets into quarters. Line the muffin pans with pastry squares. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to rest.Cover the pastry bases with non-stick baking paper. Fill with pastry weights or rice. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove paper and pastry weights or rice. Bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden.Meanwhile, heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the mince and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 5 minutes or until mince changes colour. Add the onion and capsicum. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Add taco seasoning and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add the beans, tomato and water. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Stir in the coriander. Divide the pastry cases among serving plates. Spoon the beef mixture among pastry cases. Top with sour cream and coriander leaves to serve.
Mangana Mission Mail
2009
Issue7
Tales & Antics from Mangana Mission
Guess what Andre was doing from the month of September till November?Still working on clearing the blasted gorse !!!!!
Thankfully it appears to be coming to an end and hopefully shall be completed by the 1 December for our 2 year anniversary of working on the property. As thing are always changing at the Mission we have unexpectedly adopted two abandoned puppies.
October has been a busy time with works on the large vegetable garden in the front paddock in preparation for the planting of this years summers crops. This has been combined with a major clean up of thee house paddock. and water feature thanks to Sandine and our dear friend Kay We are pleased to advise that our secret helpers the worms have been busy breeding and that the soil condition is improving in leaps and bounds..
All our books have had new shelves either made for them or repaired in the cabin. We are now blessed with a very full and organized library.. Kate has also expressed her creative side by working on different pieces of art and pottery in the beautiful art room.
September was thankfully a very quiet month on the WWOOFER/ Helpex scene due to the wettest start to Spring in 125 years. The outdoor jobs had to be put onto hold due to the mud and streams running over the property.Since the Helpers/ WWOOFWER's have returned , our kittens have taken full advantage of the extra cuddles and attention.
We also have adopted two new puppies, Richie and Nini who were dumped in the Creek Reserve over the road from the property. Thanks to our thirty helpers over the past year.
