Week 4 and Week 5
and Week 6- WWOOF in The Marlborough Sounds
Well I have spent the past 3 weeks as a proud
WWOOFer. It has been one of the more
interesting 3 weeks that I have spent traveling to say the least. The family with which I placed myself was
remarkable in more than one way. They
have a beautiful albeit unfinished home that sits near the top of a hill
overlooking part of the Marlborough Sounds.
The view itself is worth whatever they may have paid but having scarcely
a neighbor in site is also a novelty that comes with buying most of the
hill. Ian and Mandy run a household that
resembles something of a caffeinated hotel as their [grown] children stay or
visit or bring their kids or partners on a seemingly random pattern of nights. Add to that the holiday season and even more
relatives and friends appearing not to mention the steady flow of WWOOFers that
occupy one of the bedrooms. It was and
continues to be chaos.
For those unaware allow me to brief you on what WWOOF is - World Wide Opportunities on Organic
Farms. So basically you join a family or
farm or a couple of retired hippies with a veggie garden and you get free accommodation and food for 4 hours
work / day doing whatever they ask you to do.
The good ones integrate you into their lives and show you things you
would otherwise miss about the area and feed you delicious food and have you
weed the garden. The not so good ones do
the exact same thing except maybe they don’t have a “eat or drink anything you
want whenever you want” rule like The Hague family did. Never in my life have I gained weight so
quickly as my stint with them; 5 kg in just over 2 weeks. I still protest that most of it was due to
some cryptic southern hemisphere black magic.
Either that or the beer.
The Hague’s live in the Marlborough Sounds, somewhere in the
paradisiacal setting between Picton and Havelock. When I wasn’t working I never felt bored; but
I can’t say that I did much in my free time though. Sure, their son Ritchie took me fishing a
couple of times. I wouldn’t say we were
bad at fishing, I had a great time. It’s
just that our cooler always came back lighter than when we left. Anyway, the view from their place was enough
to keep me content, listlessly sitting on the deck with a cup of coffee by my
side just taking in the surroundings and dodging the madness inside. The house has an open floor plan that would
accommodate typical events but I doubt it was ever intended to host a Holiday
Circus. Someone at the BBQ burning
something while mom is in the kitchen arguing with her daughter at unknown
decibels while Grandpa presents one of his many opinions about God knows what
but no one is listening because the music is on but someone was watching TV and
is that another 18 people I still haven’t accounted for? No matter what you are picturing I assure you
it was an absolutely lovely place to be and I loved being thrown into the ring
for my share rounds. What else could
explain how I stayed there for 3 weeks?
My work was never consistent but I was happy just to be
doing something again. Strange as it may
sound I sort of missed working, just a little.
I don’t miss having a job, definitely not. But working, being active with a purpose to
accomplish a task can be nice once in a while.
There was plenty of bush to chop and lawns to cut and digging to be
done. It was good to get my hands dirty
and then come in and share dinner and wine with the family and talk about,
well, everything. The Hague’s however
felt that no topic was off limits. There
existed a unique openness that I definitely do not see in many other homes,
anywhere for that matter. Discussions
were had, emotions were displayed and arguments erupted regardless of my
presence. It was refreshing and chaotic
and fun. Despite my disposition towards
discourse I normally just sat back and listened. Afterall there was a language
barrier to contend with; I speak real
English and they speak New Zealand
English.
Christmas was a new experience, not only spending it with
a family of strangers (although by then I felt a part of the family) but
because it was summer. It was hot. Surely they don’t expect Santa to arrive
wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. If
it weren’t for the calendar to prove it I would have never believed that it was
December. Considering the potential the
day was actually a mild affair that was more focused on food and drink than an
exchange of gifts. They were kind enough
to even include me in the small unwrapping ceremony as a new t-shirt was
bestowed upon me. I hadn’t worn a cotton
shirt in 8 months and putting it on was strangely comforting. The real holiday was the following day when
Boxing Day was celebrated with much fanfare and food and drink and of course,
boxes.
And with each holiday there seemed to be at least 2 more
days that were needed for celebrating and you guessed it, didn’t include
working. Birthday’s and relatives in
town and Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve all had us imbibing and eating, rain or
shine, around the clock each with a day for recovery added for good measure. NYE was spent at their house with friends and
it was certainly interesting to be one of the first of the world to usher in
the new year. It was even stranger to
not have Dick Clark on TV with a giant ball dropping to count it down. Although I knew it at the time it was still
strange to realize that they never
see that. Dick Clark wouldn’t even be
having his morning coffee by the time we blew our horns.
It wasn’t until the last few days of my visit did another
WWOOFer come and join us. Yannick was a
quiet fellow from Germany. He too
enjoyed the atmosphere but had a few inhibitions to participate in the nightly
ritual of wine and revelry. Lucky for me
he was heading the same direction that I had desired and so I stayed another
couple of days so as to get a ride with him up to Golden Bay. What a crazy 3 weeks it was.
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