Reports from the North: 7/1/09

I think I was a farmer in a past life.

Either that or my corruption by city life wasn't quite as complete as I'd once thought. For about two weeks I was able to WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms; 4 hours of work per day for room and board) on a small lifestyle block (gentlemen's farm) in Karamea on the west coast of the south island of New Zealand. Pretty dammed cool.

The farm was owned and operated by Tonya, her partner Craig and their son Troy. We hear about folks in the US wanting to "live off the grid." Many in NZ take that to heart and some of the most resourceful, frugal and inventive head to Karamea. The culture there is an interesting mix of recent devotees to the land and families that have been farming there for generations. The long time farmers it seems are able to live entirely off of their land while others work regular jobs up and down the west coast but too a much lesser extent than they would have to living in a city. For isntance, Craig drives truck at a local mine for a couple of months each year while friends of their's (whose children they were watching during my time there) work at the local national park and in the film industry periodically to make ends-meat.

I had the distinction of being a double 1st-timer... this was my first time as a WOOFer and the 1st WOOFer that craig and Tonya had brought on. Given that, the fact that I had such an enriching and wonderful experience is a testament to the type of folks that I was working for... very down to earth, good-hearted, comfortable in their own skins, dammed smart and know how to work hard... and when not to ;-) There were definately times when I could have worked a bit longer but at Craig's urging took the rest of the day for R&R. Trips to the beach to grill out occurred as if we were headed out to the back yard.

They have such a beautiful bit of land and a house a stone's throw away from the ocean (literaly) and really had a great set-up for me with a recently converted caravan that was parked right outside the house. Tonya is an artist and used her talents to decorate the interior while Craig had shaped Manuka planks with their natural edge out and a bee's wax finish for the countertops, would trim, etc. I spent my time digging fence post holes, tending the Callah lillies, mulching, and helping Craig with organizing his shop and tending his bees. Yep... their two cash crops from the farm are the lillies and honey from their bees. I LOVE honey and was tres thrilled to have my toast and butter slathered with a big helping of honey from the five gallon bucket that they kept in the litchen... much better use for a spackle then dry wall compund.

I was fueled for all this work by eating copious amounts of homemade, homegrown muffins, bread, sausages and vegetables from the farm. When I had an afternoon off I headed to the beach with my surfboard or hopped on a bike and headed in to town to broadcast a show at the local community radio station that Craig helped start. Karamea has the feel of say perhaps the west coast of the us about 100 years ago... people still know their neighbor, gossip about the ones they don't particularly like, are always willing to help each other out and aside from providing for themselves and raising their kids, and despite being pretty darned wordly, don't give too much of a rat's behind about what the rest of the world thinks is important i.e fame and fortune.

Here are a few pics that tell the rest of the story:

Post beach BBQ sunset... lot's of flies but only when you stepped out of the wind ;-)

Radio Karamea at the Rongo (Maori word for peace) bacpacker's hostel... Craig and Brian are at the helm showing me the ropes... can't remeber why they were so frowny... ha!