Stuart Jensen and Ann Barr

An interesting journey started with Ann being born and raised in Northern Ireland as an Ulster Presbyterian. She married and moved with her then husband to Scotland where she became the youngest Elder in the Church of Scotland. Ann felt that her religion was a very social thing and somehow didn't serve or fulfil her on a daily basis. Almost reluctantly she went with her husband and young family to the Findhorn Community, in northern Scotland . There she blossomed and stayed for ten years as a full member.

Ann soon became a close friend of Eileen Caddy the founder of the community and met and interacted with a virtual who's who of new spiritual thinkers. Two of her friends there channelled the Game of Transformation and Ann's first experience of the game was playing with its original creators.

Many extraordinary people came to or through Findhorn, David Spangler, Dorothy Maclean, Caroline Myss, Joanne Macey, Ian Player and many more,

Towards the end of her time at Findhorn Ann was in charge of communications and when Stuart wrote to Findhorn inquiring if it was still there it was the start of an eighteen month correspondence which culminated in her leaving the community to go to London to help with Stuart's fledgling software business.

Stuart was born in Richmond , Surrey and soon moved with his family to many places circling Stonehenge happily growing up amid ley lines, burial mounds and many monolithic ancient structures. After leaving school he went to college to train as a chef and became a head chef by the age of twenty one. A fortuitous tax rebate and a rude rebuff from his girlfriend set him on a path of travelling the world. Driving people wherever they wished to go. Initially for other companies and eventually running his own expedition company he spent many years travelling to Greece , Turkey and onto India via Iran , Afghanistan and Pakistan . He also travelled across Africa from the UK to Kenya and later from Cape Town up to Nairobi . He is proud to say he didn't get a proper job until his early forties when he started the font selling software company in London with leading graphic designer Neville Brody. FontWorks was one of those rare companies in that the problem wasn't so much in creating success but managing it. It doubled in size every six months! With 20/20 hindsight it is clear that this was the universes way of funding the purchase of Boondocks.

After ten years it was time to move on. Stuart was getting restless and Ann sent him to South Africa to see his mother and help her visit her very elderly sister. During the journey he met some new friends and helped them present a book to the Findhorn Press that they had written. Later when the same people telephoned London to say they had found this amazing place called Boondocks, Stuart and Ann (and their young accountant Everard) flew to South Africa to have a look. End result was the realisation that this is where we are meant to be and when the couple who introduced us realised they would never be able to afford it and the magic accountant pointed out that if our two tiny flats in London were sold we could buy this piece of paradise for cash, it took all of one second for Ann and Stuart to look into each others eyes and say “let's do it”.

So here we are five years later and counting, still determined to share this wonderful place with like minded souls so that they may realise that heaven is indeed here on earth and to find it you have to make the right and often brave choices.

Boondocks Mountain Lodge
t: +27 13 726 0140
c: +27 82 808 2733
f: 0866 804 276
stuart@boondocks.co.za