Marion Couvreur was on a one-year sabbatical from her job as an engineer in Lille, France, intending to make her way to New Zealand, when she visited Roberts Creek. That was two years ago.
“There is so much beauty and quiet here. There is a feeling of being a part of the community. I go into the Gumboot [Café] and they care about you,” she said.
During that first visit Marion discovered, tucked away behind the Roberts Creek Post Office, the Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking.
“I’ve always wanted to work with wood,” she said. “And, when I discovered Inside Passage I knew this was the place I wanted to be.” She said she fell in love with the school and with its unique philosophy of creativity, simplicity and attention to detail. Marion became one of the many students who come to the school from around the world to study fine cabinetmaking and to live and make friends in Roberts Creek.
“This school has been a journey for me. All the skills I’ve learned can be transposed to life. I love what I’m doing. I’m happier. Before I wasn’t working with my heart. Here you can share yourself as you are.” She stayed to take every course the school offers.
“Everyone who gets to know them loves our students,” said Yvonne Van Norman, co-founder of the Inside Passage with partner Robert Van Norman. “ They immerse themselves here. No one wants to see them leave.”
On the wall behind Yvonne, in the school’s small office off the spacious woodworking shop, is a map of the world, countries studded with dozens of coloured pins – Romania, Japan, Spain, Israel, Kenya, New Zealand, Nepal. Students have come to the Creek to study from 37 different countries, Yvonne said. They find Inside Passage online or advertised in the international magazine Fine Woodworking.
Thirteen years ago the Van Normans were searching for a location to found their school and a friend suggested the Sunshine Coast.
“There are so many artisans here, so many like-minded people,” Yvonne said. “We knew our students would love it here.”
Beside the door to the workshop is a wall cabinet that students learn to make in the school’s 10 week introductory course. It is fashioned from poplar with a smooth, curved door. Inside is a shelf and a small, dovetailed drawer. The craftsmanship is so perfect that you want to reach out and touch it.
“Many of our students stay on to take advanced courses,” Robert said. “Some return later.”
Marion is one of the students who returned. She said she came back because she wanted to complete a chair. Now she is saying goodbye to Roberts Creek for the last time. Her life is balanced now, she said. She is leaving to go home to France although she doesn’t know what lies ahead or what she will do. But she says she cannot be sad.
“Every apprenticeship has an end,” she said.
