Life on the Farm, Part 1

Friday the 10th, we moved out of the Ponsonby Backpackers and started our life on the road. We stayed the weekend with Holly and Ryan, our Kiwi friends, in Holly’s parents’ house—a beautiful old Victorian place on a hill overlooking the bay north of Auckland. It proved an excellent base for further exploration of the area. We went on an unbelievable hike with Holly and Ryan along the west coast near a place called Bethell’s Beach. Unfortunately we forgot the camera (!), so if you’re curious you will have to Google the beach for a few images. We hiked along the cliffs above the water, on a path that varied between native bush and windswept pastures. From a small grassy perch overlooking the Pacific Ocean, we shared a great lunch of hummus sandwiches and banana chips. On our walk back, we befriended a sweet white horse who ate the remainder of our carrot sticks and let us pet his velvety-soft head.

The Smith's Beautiful home

Later that night, back in Auckland, we were treated to our first game of Apples to Apples. We were previously unfamiliar with this American word game, but quickly became big fans. We played with some of Holly and Ryan’s friends, a hodgepodge group made up of Kiwis, a Canadian, and a couple of American travelers who were just passing through. We enjoyed the new pastime so thoroughly that we were enticed back for another round Sunday night after a quick game of 3-on-3 basketball in the park.

Basketball at the park

The weekend also involved the discovery of the feijoa, a fruit that is new to us but as common as the apple to New Zealanders. The feijoa is about the size of a big lime or small lemon, with a hard, green rind and a soft, fleshy inside that you scoop out and eat with a spoon. It is delicious, as it tastes and smells almost exactly like sweet tart candies. We harvested several bags from the neighborhood and spent the afternoon on Sunday preserving the majority of them and making a feijoa crumble from the rest. Fantastic.

The crew processing feijoas

Our kitchen/dining/lounging room on wheels

On Monday, with the van all organized and set up as our home on wheels, we said goodbye to Holly, Ryan, Derwin (Holly’s brother), and Treize (the family dog) and left Auckland in search of greener pastures. Successfully navigating Motorway 1, we traveled along the east coast and made our way to our first wwoofing site. About an hour north of Auckland and a few miles southwest of Warkworth, we arrived at our new home, a restored turn of the century villa set among rolling green hills dotted with cows and sheep.

Our new home (thanks to our wonderful hosts)

Our hosts greeted us with a tour around their beautiful property. We met the family, sheep (including several lambs), chickens, ducks and cows (from a distance). Then we put on our gummies and made our way through the glasshouse, garden and up to the new orchard where we’ll be spending the next few days planting native trees. After our tree-planting lesson, we went through the feeding schedule and got our first chance to bottle-feed the farm’s newest lambs. While our host directed us into position, much guidance was offered by our host’s four year-old daughter who was amazed that we’d never fed lambs before. After a short day’s work, we took a walk up the hill to get a better view of the area. For two desert rats like us, the valley’s beauty is unlike anything we’ve seen before. Imagine California’s wine country, mixed with upstate New York’s forest, growing in a Hawaiian climate.

The Cow Paddock

All said we have much to look forward to and even more to be thankful for.