Ahoy, Moo, and WWOOF — HaffsWay Around The World

As I’m sure will become customary, we last left you on the brink of new adventure aplenty. The past week saw us drenched in rain and ocean spray on the high seas, withstand a full range of possible sleeping arrangements, and nurture a very young calf to a volatile but optimistic level of health, just for starters. We seem to continue experiencing and/or learning something brand new with each passing day, even when we remain in the same place multiple nights- as we did this week with our first WWOOFing encounter. If it hadn’t already presented itself as obvious, the growth of our love for this place and the people here keeps sprouting upward like the mighty kauri trees and outward like the expanse of blooming plants at Long Reach Nursery (don’t freak out just yet though, we’re still coming back).

Last Saturday, for any followers of the show Parks and Recreation, evolved into quite the luxurious “Treat Yoself Day”. It began with a morning boat cruise out to Hole in the Rock, a Bay of Islands visitor’s staple experience. Now don’t get ahead of me here, but Hole in the Rock is- as you quite well may have guessed- is a massive arching ocean rock with a hole in the center! The seaway between is even large enough for our double decker vessel to cruise through… or at least we are told it would have been possible, had the combination of wind, rain, fog, and aggressively choppy waters not prevailed to make it an unwise risk. Fortunately, Laura had her Dramamine and the captain sported a dry sense of humor through it all, steering us through a barrage of swells outside the bay and adding a surge of authentic adrenaline to the journey. Of course, as fate would have it, the weather began to cooperate just in time to take in beautiful views of the bay during our lunch stop on Urupukapuka Island.

Atop Urupukapuka Island. We had planned to camp here, but the forecast had us too nervous, and we opted to change our plans.

Laura excited about being on the high seas and making it to the hole in the rock!

The rains stopped for about an hour, giving us a chance to explore Urupukapuka! Our boat is down there in the small harbor on the island.

Now, that in itself was only the beginning of the treat yoself onslaught. After our boat tour, we took a car ferry from Paihia (our port of origin) over to Russell (a cozy Cape Cod-esque sea town formerly notorious for being the sin-soaked, scoundrel-filled, “Hellhole of the Pacific”). After a hike up to the historic hilltop flagpole that was defiantly chopped down four times by frustrated Maori (think Boston Tea Party style), our appetites led us into a quaint restaurant on the coastal boardwalk. Here’s where we went a bit overboard: splitting oysters, clam chowder, scallops and fish & chips (plus a beer each)! Now that may seem like just average Tuesday fare at Red Lobster, but a) it was as fresh as can be, so possibly a tad better, and b) when you’re adhering to a typically modest budget it was a well understood one-time reward for thrifty decisions prior. Sometimes you just gotta be a little shellfish, ya know?

The treating, to our own surprise, did not end there. As we pulled up at dusk to a small homegrown “campground”, we were greeted by Miles, the property owner, at his back door. We gave him the meager fee for use of facilities and wi-fi, but when we mentioned we planned to rearrange the van for sleeping in to stay dry, he offered us the downstairs bedroom and full bathroom instead! What followed was a fitting example of our overtly generous interactions with the people here: a stand-off of politeness, as he said it was “up to us” whether we should pay more for this crème de la crème of accommodations. As it happened, our gratitude and Midwest values compelled us to throw an extra $10 his way, conveniently the rest of our cash on hand at the time. For our first real bed in over a week, it was beyond a steal.

Our respite from the rain- Waikare Retreat!

The next day and a half felt pretty commonplace in the scheme of it all. Of course, sun and rock climbing at the beach, hours of winding roads through thickly forested hills, and another walk through vibrant Kauri forest is anything but ordinary. But a few easygoing, less scripted days offered a pleasant transition into our first WWOOFing experience in Whangarei. As I’ve discussed with some of you, the WWOOF organization (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms) in its simplest transactional sense is working a few hours per day in exchange for room and board. But, as contrived and cliché as it may sound, the real value we got during our stay was that of the cultural exchange experience. Our colorful, industrious hosts Tony and Yvonne own and run Long Reach nursery (as in plants not babies) on their expansive property adjacent to the house they built, but that is really just the tip of the iceberg. On top of the nursery, which is open seven days a week, they have cows, sheep, chickens, and a full grove of seemingly every type of fruit tree. Additionally, their efforts in energy and resource conservation are beyond admirable; their home is made entirely out of earth materials (clay walls with a broad, high lofted ceiling), powered more than half the time by solar panels, and all of the water they use on the property originates from rainwater on their roof (still trying to wrap my head around that one). Lastly, their passion extended into numerous facets of life, from sustainable forestry to sculpting to acting to Tony’s favorite pet project: building his own boat from scratch. They proved to be as well-rounded as our enlightening five-day experience staying there, and we quickly became their favorite American WWOOFers (there were head shaking stories about the only other one). Our time there also provided many options for animal puns, but ewe had to expect that.

Our WWOOFing hosts, Tony and Yvonne, in front of one of their many gardens.

A view of one of their gardens, our room is on the left- we were spoiled!

Will being a goof in the hallway to our room.

Each day offered something new in the way of work, leisure, and food. Our first day we laid mulch around a circular courtyard that happened to be directly outside our bedroom window, which set the tone for us feeling the value of a day’s work (it had been so long we damn near forgot). Otherwise, Laura primarily helped out around the nursery – potting 329 plants is no small feat – while I did a bit of everything: thistle killing, fence planning, pothole filling, ceiling painting, and dirt shoveling, to be thorough. The highlight, though, was when we all dropped our projects upon the realization that one of the cows had given birth, a shocking surprise since it was five weeks premature. What followed was udder mayhem. It took Tony and Laura a couple hours to locate the young calf, which had somehow gotten atop a high ridge. I was first alerted to the situation when Tony came strolling down, calf in his arms, as Yvonne scrambled to get some milk for it. There was a genuine concern that it would not survive due to its immaturity. The next step, then, was to reunite it with Starlet (his mother), in a pen on the other side of the property away from the rest of the herd. This was no small task. Tony, Yvonne, and I had to lead Starlet down and around and through electric fenced gates, at one point with me running stride for stride alongside her, to get her to the knoll close to where Laura was waiting with the little guy. Even then as we brought her back her baby, she was convinced she had to get back up to that ridge to save it. This meant one escape and re-corral and one attempted escape that involved her tripping over and snapping an electric fence. In the end, the young calf was able to stand and had figured out the nursing process, and Starlet had begun to accept that we weren’t trying to trick her. We’ve asked them to keep us posted on its health.

Laura keeping the baby calf warm after Tony found it and brought it down so we could keep an eye on it.

Reunited! After we got mom, we rushed to reunite her with the Calf. Tony stands by to keep tabs on the situation.

Yvonne feeding the little guy. He was still very weak at five weeks early!

The town of Whangarei and surrounding area afforded us great opportunities for exploring, as it sports a large harbor and access to picturesque beaches- once you go around two huge mountains. We took in those sights when our work was done around 2 or so, but arguably had more fun hanging out around the house. Hours were spent on cryptic crosswords- a commonplace in their paper – where the nonsensical clues require all types of re-shuffling and puzzling language. One night Tony went in to his room of instruments and an impromptu concert was suddenly on the way. Or perhaps you could call it a guitar and vocal collaborative showcase between Laura and Tony (man did I rock those bongos though!) We also ate exceptionally well during our stay. From new things like toasties (basically a homemade hot pocket made with a panini press-like contraption) to curry to the New Zealand take on burgers (apparently never to be had without beet root). We elected to cook for them one night at the request of Tony’s wry half-joking nature, and decided to make fajitas. Little did we know that we would be feeding them their first ever! The whole experience set the bar impossibly high for our other WWOOF hosts, as every aspect from what we learned to our room with floor to ceiling windows and a view of the rolling paddocks was such a great fit.

A swing bridge, taken literally here, on a walk by Tony and Yvonne's place. O

Tony's boat he is building from scratch! One of many projects.

King of the rock scramblers on Ocean Beach.

All in all, Northland proved to be quite a broad-ranging cornucopia of fun and adventure, oftentimes in spite of the weather. The strangest thing is, in spite of the outstanding sights (and sites) we were able to take in, most northerners tend to echo more or less the same sentiment: genuine surprise that we are spending such a good chunk of time up here, because the South Island is where the real landscapes are. Well, considering the consistently picturesque sights (and sites) we took in, I’d say we’ve completed the Northland with a full feeling of satisfaction- rain be damned! Between Laura’s stellar planning and my… improvisation(?) we’ve completed one leg unscathed and thirsty for more. It’s scary to think that it still seems like there are at least a few cool places we just didn’t have time for- if only there weren’t so many here!

Up next for us: Blackwater cave rafting, beach beauty at the Coromandel Peninsula, and some little hole in the wall (or hill) called Hobbiton. Til next time…