WWOOF!

Our first attempt at Wwoofing-Golden Bay

For those of you who have never heard of it before, Wwoofing stands for 'Willing Workers on Organic Farms’. The gist is that you work 4-6 hours a day in exchange for food and lodging. To us it’s a means of prolonging our trip by not spending money, with the aim of getting some work done and having a bit more of an insight into how the locals live (Nb. ‘organic farm’ is a loose term-basically it seems to be any work in an outdoor/environmentally friendly capacity).

We certainly lucked out on our first experience. Victoria, our host is simply wonderful. She is a retired radiographer, and self-named ‘Hippie’ and ‘Political Activist’ who lives on 10 acres of land on a cliff overlooking Golden Bay, on the Northern coast of South Island (a renowned Hippie-community). She is extremely well-known and well-respected within the local community, and spends her time fighting to improve the lives of those around her in any way she can. She is the proud founder of the ‘Love Revolution’-a concept she created with a friend, by which the idea is that every day you do at least one good gesture for either yourself, for someone else, or for the environment (in roughly equal measure). She’s definitely someone who makes you aspire to be a better person, and I am frequently blown away by her positivity, despite a number of hardships she’s had to endure throughout her life. A genuine gem. She is also a shit-hot cook. Winner.

Our duties each day are all out in the beautiful garden in the sunshine, and mainly involve weeding. As perhaps the least green-fingered biologist that ever existed, this suits me down to the ground (excuse the pun). Killing things is my forte. Brodie is an absolute stalwart in the garden-he’s finally found a use for his muscles aside from pushing a bar around the gym, and has been digging up flower beds left, right and centre. We are kept company all day by the three chickens (Natasha, Rachel and Precious) who wonder around pecking up any bugs we uncover, and the cutest little Jack Russell called Scooter who is simply so cute we are all putty in his hands!

When we finish work we have a dip in the sea on Victoria’s private section of beach, then rinse off in the super-hot solar outdoor shower overlooking the sea. Jealous much?!

When we’re not working we are free to explore the area-with waterfalls, springs, beaches and cafes galore we’ve been pretty spoilt so far. Future Wwoofs have a lot to live up to!