Queensland mum Lucy Aura living in tent with two children due to rental crisis

A Queensland mum has said she moved with her two young kids into a surprising new home due to Australia’s crippling rental crisis.

A Queensland mum of two has taken to living in a tent with her two children due to the pressure of Australia’s rental crisis.

Lucy Aura and her kids Asa, 5, and Alana, 7, moved into 10 person tent in Kuranda, near Cairns, in February after her relationship broke down.

She pays $110 a week for the plot on private property with rainforest views she shares with other campers including a “wisdom keeper” called Koa Windsong.

“Financially, things were tough and I wanted to live close to Kuranda to send my two children to school there,” Ms Aura said, reported the Cairns Post.

Lucy Aura moved into a 10-man tent in February after splitting with her partner. Picture: Lucy Aura.

‘A lot of fear’

She had tried living in another property, she said, “with lots of dwellings … but the culture was a hard one to adjust to … there was a lot of prejudice towards single mums with kids”.

Ms Aura said there was at first “a lot of fear” about moving into the tent “especially when it came to men walking around” but now she loved it.

Ms Aura has documented her tent life on social media.

On one post she gave a tour including the kids’ room which is “literally like they live in a cubby house all the time,” storage areas, a place for music and yoga and a “altar” with incense burning.

The tent has electricity for lights, a kettle and a heater.

The tent has rainforest views. Picture: Lucy Aura

Inside is room for her and her kids and a yoga area. Picture: Lucy Aura

Ms Aura said she has an online course on “yoga, energy and inner child healing” but now can’t see clients in person as she lives in a tent, which has restricted her income.

She is aiming to raise $10,000 via GoFundMe, she said, so she can build a deck, shower and toilet facilities and buy a car. So far, $400 has been raised.

“Due to the current rental crisis I have chosen to live in a tent so I can commit my time and presence to my children,” she said on the website.

“So I don’t have to work all the hours that would be needed to live in a house, and feel absolutely wiped in myself so I have nothing left to give to my children.”

Ms Aura added that her “dream is to create a space where people who cannot cope within the current system can come to heal”.

However, tent living has had its problems. Initially she spent a week in hospital with a staph infection.

“It has taught us to be careful and respect nature.”

Ms Aura’s kids Asa and Alana are “starting to love it”. Picture: Facebook

Ms Aura said her children were adapting to their new home.

“The kids are starting to really love it and I’m trying to put out positivity,” she said.

Ms Aura said that now she’d had a taste of campsite living, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back to bricks and mortar.

“It’s comfortable and we have everything the kids need and want, they’re connecting to nature and we are living a simple and loving life.

“Now I don’t think I’ll leave until a house comes with everything we want to live happily rather than just a roof over our head.”