Digging drainage trench for hut Building up floor area Chopping wood for posts Fresh water creek A crab Today I learned crabs live in fresh water Back to work Hatchet and timber Hammering low side posts (75 cm high) to form a 2.5 x 2.5 m square.

Making a post hole Central post (2 m high) Climbing fern used as lashing Ridge line (about 3 m long, extends out past the front and back of the hut forming eves) Side beam the same as ridge beam Rafters (about 2 m long) More posts to stabilize structure Thunder foreshadows lots of rain later Battons to hold grass thatch.

More stabilizing posts Stone blade Cutting grass Grass only grows high in the mountain, an hour round trip to get a bundle of thatch Thatching batons Overlapping thatch helps shed rain Trimming eves for neatness and extra grass Covering ridgeline to keep out rain by lifting grass on with pole Gaps filled.

Thatching took 36 hours Cutting wattles weave in and out between posts Rain Last of the wattles Grey mud from nearby clearing (about 20 m away) Plastering wall with mud Mud stays on provided the roof keeps the rain off. Luckily, there is little wind blown (horizontal) rain in the forest. Creek swollen from heavy rain.

Getting wall finished in the rain Each pannel takes about 15 minutes to plaster including fetching the mud Miserable conditions Plastering floor Optimistic fire making attempt. Standing dead wood is selected for fuel Fire sticks kept dry by hut. Tinder is dry candle nut leaves Smoke appears, a good sign Easy to do once you know how Glowing ember is actually powder from fire sticks (punk), the aim is to ignite the tinder with it.

Transferring tinder bundle to fire wood Adding small twigs (kindling) to raise the flames This took about 20 minutes from starting the fire sticks to this stage Fire will dry out the mud and the thatch. Smoke deters bugs. Stone Yam mound progress (45 days approximately) I trained the vine around a dead vine to spread it to the canopy for more light And here trained on a horizontal stick Grass thatched mud hut