Dirt has been lodged underneath our fingernails for over a week.
After our stint of camping and traveling through the South Island’s northern paradise, we’ve spent our time in Takaka almost exclusively covered in soil, sand, or plants.
We’re partaking in a global activity called WWOOF-ing, which stands for World Wide Organization of Organic Farmers- basically an organization where organic farmers in need of work can contact backpackers like us, and vice versa, on an work-exchange-for-food-and-accomodation contract.
Our host, also named Kevin, has proved to be extremely hospitable. Not only have we learned tons about growing, gardening, and self-sufficiency, but we’ve reaped the benefits of having an extensive fruit and vegetable garden. Whether it’s going out in the morning to pick fresh strawberries for our Muesli, or pulling carrots for the evening’s salads- we’ve been feasting on the most local and “clean” produce we’ve ever had.
And perhaps the best thing is that we’ve had a hand in creating it as well. Even if it’s grunt work: weeding through the vegetable beds, the powerful smell of fresh basil radiating around me, small flecks of pollen clustered on my shoulders, which disappear in a puff of golden cloud when I flick them; the work never ceases to be rewarding, for body and soul. And there’s alway time to take a break and eat some beautifully ripe plums right off the tree.
We are just monkeys in shoes, after all. Sometimes it’s good to kick civilization off your feet and remember what’s its like to just engage with the earth at it’s very roots.
Golden Bay really is a paradise on Earth. Bonus weather, the friendliest of people (Bryan and I have knocked back another first: hitchhiking, which was wicked cool), and as is a theme of New Zealand, beautiful scenery
After our stint of camping and traveling through the South Island’s northern paradise, we’ve spent our time in Takaka almost exclusively covered in soil, sand, or plants.
We’re partaking in a global activity called WWOOF-ing, which stands for World Wide Organization of Organic Farmers- basically an organization where organic farmers in need of work can contact backpackers like us, and vice versa, on an work-exchange-for-food-and-accomodation contract.
Our host, also named Kevin, has proved to be extremely hospitable. Not only have we learned tons about growing, gardening, and self-sufficiency, but we’ve reaped the benefits of having an extensive fruit and vegetable garden. Whether it’s going out in the morning to pick fresh strawberries for our Muesli, or pulling carrots for the evening’s salads- we’ve been feasting on the most local and “clean” produce we’ve ever had.
And perhaps the best thing is that we’ve had a hand in creating it as well. Even if it’s grunt work: weeding through the vegetable beds, the powerful smell of fresh basil radiating around me, small flecks of pollen clustered on my shoulders, which disappear in a puff of golden cloud when I flick them; the work never ceases to be rewarding, for body and soul. And there’s alway time to take a break and eat some beautifully ripe plums right off the tree.
We are just monkeys in shoes, after all. Sometimes it’s good to kick civilization off your feet and remember what’s its like to just engage with the earth at it’s very roots.
Golden Bay really is a paradise on Earth. Bonus weather, the friendliest of people (Bryan and I have knocked back another first: hitchhiking, which was wicked cool), and as is a theme of New Zealand, beautiful scenery
With an abundant amount of sunshine, the sea and beautiful coastline always close, mountains just a hearty tramp inland, wine country around the corner, there’s a whole lot of what New Zealand offers to visitors crammed into a very small geographical area. It’s no wonder many people who want to immigrate to New Zealand find themselves staying in Golden Bay.
The nearby Takaka, probably Golden Bay’s largest municipality, is a modern-day woodstock. A hippie haven- the streets are saturated with dreadlocks, artisan jewellery, baggie cloths and bandanas.
And everyone seems to know each other. Small drum circles pop up in the park and the streets are lined with heavily painted camper vans, often equipped with cryptic quoteables: “Save a tree, throw a party”
We’ve had time for some real authentic sight seeing. With the benefit of a local host, we’ve been able to discover some amazing hidden gems that provided us with a genuine sense of discovery. Despite the amazing things we’ve seen this week, whether it’s the Rawhiti Cave, the tips of the Abel Tasman National Park, or the incredible Wharariki beach, we haven’t had to jostle with several other backpackers and tourists to get a good photo. And Bryan is acquiring quite the photographer’s eye.
The nearby Takaka, probably Golden Bay’s largest municipality, is a modern-day woodstock. A hippie haven- the streets are saturated with dreadlocks, artisan jewellery, baggie cloths and bandanas.
And everyone seems to know each other. Small drum circles pop up in the park and the streets are lined with heavily painted camper vans, often equipped with cryptic quoteables: “Save a tree, throw a party”
We’ve had time for some real authentic sight seeing. With the benefit of a local host, we’ve been able to discover some amazing hidden gems that provided us with a genuine sense of discovery. Despite the amazing things we’ve seen this week, whether it’s the Rawhiti Cave, the tips of the Abel Tasman National Park, or the incredible Wharariki beach, we haven’t had to jostle with several other backpackers and tourists to get a good photo. And Bryan is acquiring quite the photographer’s eye.
WWOOFING has been, above all, a great opportunity to learn about the earth: it’s soil, it’s plants. Kevin says the supermarket prioritizes colour and consistency in it’s vegetables rather than taste and nutrition. We’ve been spoiled with our food intake over the last week- the rich food almost overloading our palates, which had become quite use to simple rice-based dishes. The house has solar panels that provide it’s own electricity. It’s constructed out of alow-ecological footprint materials. Some walls are even sand based (if you scrape one hard enough with your finger, sand grains fall off). He even has a tree that climbs its way through the centre of the house.
We’ve shared in Tango dancing, story telling, live music and open mic nights, more mussel foraging, beach lounging, tramping, gardening, weeding, tilling composte, bonfires, tree pruning, and trench digging. It’s been a busy week. We don’t have trouble sleeping.
But if there’s one thing about this week, it’s that Bryan and I can say that our reached a whole new level of authenticity after this week. We really are making up our journey as we go along. We’re also glad that our readers are taking the time to come along with us.
Travel isn’t always easy, but it is good. And it nourishes in so many intangible ways.
To quote (our host) Kevin:
“This is not my land. I’m just a custodian. A single person who is taking care of it until the next person comes along and needs it.”
That echoes a fundamental Maori idea. You cannot ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ the land (in Maori land is called Whenua) . How can one own land? It’s a gift for us, something we establish a relation ship with, not control. We can only be thankful to benefit from the nutrients and the sustenance the land provides.
We’ve shared in Tango dancing, story telling, live music and open mic nights, more mussel foraging, beach lounging, tramping, gardening, weeding, tilling composte, bonfires, tree pruning, and trench digging. It’s been a busy week. We don’t have trouble sleeping.
But if there’s one thing about this week, it’s that Bryan and I can say that our reached a whole new level of authenticity after this week. We really are making up our journey as we go along. We’re also glad that our readers are taking the time to come along with us.
Travel isn’t always easy, but it is good. And it nourishes in so many intangible ways.
To quote (our host) Kevin:
“This is not my land. I’m just a custodian. A single person who is taking care of it until the next person comes along and needs it.”
That echoes a fundamental Maori idea. You cannot ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ the land (in Maori land is called Whenua) . How can one own land? It’s a gift for us, something we establish a relation ship with, not control. We can only be thankful to benefit from the nutrients and the sustenance the land provides.
And we can’t wait to discover more beautiful, plentiful land as we head south. Departure is within the hour. Off we go.
-Kevin
-Kevin