Hollin: WWOOFing at Harmony Farm

WWOOF (Worldwide Workers On Organic Farms or Willing Workers on Organic Farms)

On Friday I woke up around seven o'clock and gathered all my belongings together, making sure five times to place my notebook (with my bus confirmation number) in the back pocket of my bookbag. As I paced down the steep hill from my flat into town, I thought maybe I would double check the directions to the bus stop, only to realize that my notebook was not in my pack. Of course as I was happily walking down the hill, thankful it wasn't raining, I thought how nice it was that I wouldn't have to walk back up the hill for at least three days. Wrong. Realizing that I had taken the notebook out of my backpack in order to hold onto it so I really wouldn't forget it, I had inadvertantly set it on my desk. I ran as fast as I could up the hill (because I had planned only enough time to get to the bus stop) and begrudgingly snatched the little sucker off my desk. At this point, I was probably going to be late and decided to run down the hill. Once I made it into town I was thinking I was pretty lucky that I still had twenty minutes. Only then did I start going the wrong way and totally forgot how to get to Wakefield street. This is what happens when you get to0 confident with your bearings and when you're Hollin Roberts (hopelessly directionally impaired). Anyway, with three minutes on the dot until my bus departure I decided to start running in the direction that I thought maybe the stop would be...and as I searched the sky for the Buxen hotel (landmark accross from the bus stop) I spotted a large bus stopped about 50 yards from me, checking in the last passenger. I literally sprinted accross the street and yelled for the bus driver to wait. Sweating, and slightly proud of myself for actually making it in such a chaotic state, I told the driver I was headed to Otaki and handed him my confirmation number. He teased me about something and then said because I was the only one going there, he didn't need to the confirmation. Ha.

Anyway, after an interesting start I made it to Otaki where Leeanne picked me up from the bus stop and took me out to get coffee and have a chat. We talked and exchanged stories for a while before making it back to the farm. Upon arrival it was pouring, hailing and thundering (the news said it was the biggest storm in the world!) and so most of my first day's work was inside. I was put in charge of dinner for the first two days and made a red lentil loaf on the first day with organic sausage from the local butcher, and then spanish tortilla which my spanish friend Eugenia taught be how to make. Everyone LOVED it! On the first day I also learned how to make little boxes out of newspaper for seedlings, homemade cleaning supplies, and toothpaste! Jill-- you would have loved this! I have all the recipes so we can make some when I get home. I also spent a few hours with my friend Hannah turning the different compost piles around the property and getting the lay of the land. After all the work was done on the second day Ron offered to take us to Otaki beach with the intention of teaching us how to blow cart (which is basically a go-cart with a wind sail that goes at a rediculously fast speed). It turned out to be WAY to windy at the beach and there was foam blowing everywhere off the ocean, it was pretty insane. He then drove us into the bush and we got to see some rolling hills and the Otaki river. He seemed so happy to talk with each of us, learn our stories, and show us the richness of the town.

On the property, Ron and Leanne have a variety of feijoa and olive trees, grapes, a home orchard and herb garden. Leeanne is interested in herbal medicine and showed me some books that might be helpful for a beginner! On the third day it was really nice outside and so with two other "flash wwoofers" who came for the day, we planted a huge potato garden in record time and took out about 12 olive trees (that weren't of the right variety to produce anything worth keeping) in order to build a "play area" for the wwoofers to throw a frisbee or play games. Ron said that it's just as important for people to play as it is for them to work and so we snipped and sawed and pulled those trees out of the ground! It was so satisfying to work in the dirt and learn about the different ways that people plant, grow, and treat the earth they live on.

I am so excited to WWOOF for an even longer period of time because it is just so easy and fun connecting with people so quickly. You really get to know the character of someone you work alongside and eat all your meals with. There were three other WWOOFers there with us, Lyra from Canada who is actually staying with Hannah and I for a few days in Wellington, and Robin and Angelica, a soft spoken couple from Sweden who are planning to spend a year or even two WWOOFing around New Zealand.

What better way to really get to know a country than to work in the dirt and learn how the people there live? I loved wwoofing and can't wait for the month that soon awaits!

My lovely host, Leeanne