I’m finding it hard to sum up the diverse and wonderful experiences I’ve had since early February, as the title of this post probably illustrates. I’ll dive into it chronologically and hope the pretty pictures make up for the twists and turns between events.
The huge relief and turning point of this part of the trip was finally getting my car fixed in early February. I didn’t end up getting any insurance money from the guy who hit me, but the really nice car salesman who sold me the car was kind enough to put me in touch with some panel-beater friends of his who agreed to fix the body damage at cost. So now my car looks pretty enough to sell in a few months, drives straight, and has passed its Warrant of Fitness - all at fairly minimal cost to me given the damage. YAY!
Getting the car fixed freed me to finally arrange some more wwoofing opportunities and head back to the farms! With these lined up, I had a few spare days to explore more of the North Island before getting back to work. I first headed to the Coromandel Peninsula, where I did some hiking through its low but rugged mountains and enjoyed its empty beaches. One morning, I got up before dawn to hike out to the Cathedral Cove for sunrise. The dawn light on the rocks and the water was so worth it!
(Cathedral Cove at Sunrise)
(Dawn light over the water)
With a day and a half left before I was to start farming again, I knew I should get the remainder of the driving done... but the weather was forecast to be fantastic and I was so near the incredible Tongariro Crossing I’d hiked with Michael the month before. We’d climbed the volcanoe Mt. Ngaurahoe but didn’t have time for Mt. Tongariro, which I really wanted to do. So I decided to hike in halfway, climb Mt. Tongariro, and hike back out, which I figured would be about 20km and would save me paying for bus transport!
I awoke before dawn (again) and watched the sun rise over the volcanoes as I drove to the trailhead. The weather turned out to be incredible. I had a fantastic hike up to the plateau, above the clouds, and could see the volcanic cone of Mt. Taranaki sticking out above the clouds halfway across the island! I was already having a great day when, unbelievably, I ran into a friend (Jeff) whom I had met three and half years ago in Mozambique and haven’t seen since! We were both shocked but really excited by such a coincidence, and continued the hike together. We climbed Mt. Tongariro for a great view back to Mt. Ngaurahoe and Mt. Ruapehu, and then continued on to the Red Crater and the Emerald Lakes (which are not emerald but still amazing). Since the day was so beautiful and I was having a great time chatting with Jeff, I ended up hiking a lot farther in than I’d intended (most people do a one-way hike and pay for transport back, but I didn’t want to pay for it again!). This made for a pretty long hike out, but it was so worth it!
(View of Mt. Ngaurohoe and Mt. Ruapehu from Mt. Tongariro)
(Lava Spout in Red Crater, Mt. Ngaurohoe in background)
Feeling elated by the fantastic day in Tongariro National Park, I got up early to drive to the Taranaki District and my next wwoofing farm. The gorgeous weather broke and I had a long, tiring drive through pouring rain. But I finally arrived at Korito Organics Farm and was amazed by its beautiful setting at the base of Mt. Taranaki. I met my hosts, Dee and Dave, whom I immediately liked. After a stroll around the farm, they asked me to do some harvesting - strawberries, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, basil... I had *such* an amazing afternoon harvesting these bright, beautiful foods. I don’t know why I was so extremely happy about it - but being back on a farm after wanting to wwoof for so long was so delightful, and getting to harvest after I’d spent so many hours planting, weeding and nurturing similar plants in the first months I was in NZ was so fulfilling, even though I was harvesting on a different farm than where I’d worked before. It was a super afternoon. That night, I slept in my own little wwoofer cabin overlooking the pond. It was heaven!
(Korito Organics Farm)
The rest of my time with Dee and Dave ended up being terrific as well. They are a Welsh-American couple in their forties who are establishing an amazing farm based on permaculture design principles. They had such a well planned out property that was both beautiful and prolific. I learned so much more about organics and permaculture at their farm than I have at any others so far, largely because Dee teaches both! Beyond our many chats, I got to attend her organic horticulture class three times, look through her books, watch some great educational DVDs, and even go on a class field trip to some other permaculture gardens/farms in the area. I was so glad to see how much these few formal experiences brought together the bits and pieces of knowledge I’d been haphazardly gaining on the other farms, though I’m sure I could really benefit from sitting down for a full course or some detailed books to bring all this knowledge and experiences together when I get home, as well.
(view from the deck of my wwoofer cabin)
On a more personal level, I again lucked out to be with such great hosts. Dave and I seemed to be able to chat about anything, though I didn’t get to know him as well since he was away half the time on a construction project he was doing for friends in another area. Dee I got to know better, and she was just great. She had interesting things to say on virtually any subject we came across while listening to the radio, talking about our life histories, or just plain gossiping! I also discovered after a few evenings that Dee is an avid Jane Austen fan, and has all the books and every film rendition ever made. We spent a few evenings plaiting garlic in the living room while watching the 1976 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, which she swore was even better than the 1995 BBC version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Erhle... and I think she might be right, though I never would have thought it possible!
I spent nearly two weeks with Dee and Dave, then moved a few miles away to another great farm owned by some friends of theirs. They have two young children, two delightful goats, two happy ducks, a noisy and sociable pig, some skittish sheep, lots of silly hens and five or so very friendly but therefore somewhat dangerous highland cattle. Their farm is just AMAZING - a terrific example of permaculture design. It’s such a well-designed system that keeps providing for itself - I’ll try to give a few examples to illustrate. Their farm makes use of existing processes and resources to sustain itself and minimize work (and cost) for them. The sun and soil allow them to grow tons of food (for themselves and the animals). The soil just grows richer as they add compost from food scraps and use animal poos as fertilizer, they rotate crops to keep from depleting certain elements, and they grow “green manure” and nitrogen-fixing plants now and then to enrich the soil when it’s not being used for food crops. The animals are great workers: the sheep “mow” around the orchard while the ducks eat the slugs, they have moveable pig pens and chicken coops to clear plants, eat weed seeds, aerate the soil (in scratching for worms and insects) and fertilize (poo on) an area before planting (instead of having to clear, dig and add chemical fertilizers, then spray the weeds and food in the process). They’ve planted native trees on the property border which provides privacy from the road, creates a shelterbelt from the wind for better growing, provides bird habitat who then eat bad insects, and provides the firewood they use for heating and cooking in the winter. With such great designs and a few years of hard work getting it all set up, they’re now working less than most of the other farmers I’ve stayed with (which is still lots, but it’s not consuming their lives!), and are living very sustainably. I loved it! My hosts were also such lovely people, and we had some great evening chats about the state of the world, music, food and of course their lovely farm. Their kids were also pretty delightful, though my tolerance for playing doll house has dropped from minimal to about non-existent at this point... :)
(Marlborough Sounds from Wellington-Picton Ferry)
From Carmen and Joe’s, I drove to Wellington, took the ferry back across to the South Island, and started the 80km Heaphy Track. It’s known as one of the most diverse tracks in New Zealand, climbing through the mountains of Kahurangi National Park, passing through tussock downs, descending through beech forest and into the nikau palms of the rainforest coast, then finishing with a day hiking along the beach. It was a beautiful hike, though, as I had suspected, I prefer the long-distance and alpine scenery achieved on tracks that climb really high - in fact, my favorite part of the track was a side-trip I took to climb Mt. Perry. Even so, it was a beautiful hike and a nice way to relax before the full schedule planned for my family’s visit to NZ.
(Beech Forest, Day 1)
(Mountain Neinei, Day 2)
(View from Mt. Perry Summit, Day 2)
(Gouland Downs, Day 2)
("Fairy Forest," Day 2)
(Sunrise, Day 3)
(Sunrise Dew, Day 3)
(Tussock and Stream, Day 3)
(Mouth of Heaphy River, Day 4)
(Driftwood and Tasman Sea, Day 4)
I had one day after the hike to do laundry, completely clean out my car and get everything sorted for my family’s visit. I picked up my parents at the Nelson airport on Saturday, and we’ve been having a great - but busy! - time ever since. I’ll talk all about this trip in my next post, since they’re still here for another two weeks and my sister Audrey will be joining us.
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