Yes that should be Merry Christmas but it is already Boxing Day here. Didn’t get a Christmas day post up because I was out being a surfin’ bum- quite literally. Many thanks to Laura for the surf lesson.
Trying not to be knocked over- not a skill I've needed yet.
One day I will stand up!
Thought it time to do a follow up on our second WWOOFing experience. Resisting the urge to string together five or ten glowing adjectives. Splendid about covers our 10 days working in the vines at Brodie Estate, a small vineyard in Martinborough. Allowing myself one more adjective, charming. That is about the couple who own and operate this vineyard. As James and Ann neared retirement age they decided a vineyard would be interesting. I agree. They make award winning pinot noir. Splendid as.
There is something a little different about Ngawi. In a country as diverse as New Zealand you get used to seeing the oddities of a town. But in this tiny fishing village on Cape Palliser the difference meets you smack dab at the edge of ‘town’. Bulldozers. Dozens of them. Its a little boys dream, these earth movers pulled up next to the road in a long rusty line. No there isn’t a housing boom in Ngawi, far from it. Not even a massive road construction project, still unsealed gravel on the only road in. Just the Pacific Ocean with no safe harbor for miles. Enter the bulldozers. If there is one way to get your gigantic fishing vessel and trailer out of the water and to the safety of the black sand shore it is Caterpiller (or some treaded variant there of). My only regret; that the fishermen weren’t coming and going so I could watch these dozers haul in their catch.
For years I held out on a buying a new lens. There were pictures I wanted and they were just out of my reach. I was spoiled by the TV zoom. The old zoom lens for my still rig that I thought was sufficient had been letting me down all summer. Turns out 105mm wasn’t enough for that black bear in the Tetons. It was time for a new lens. But did I really need a longer lens for our travels in New Zealand? After all this is a country known for its beautiful scenery, my wider lens would do. Or would it?
I answered my own question when I stumbled, quite literally, onto the seal colony at Cape Palliser. I read there were fur seals along this part of the Cape and saw tourists standing along the shore gawking, as tourists do, at something out in the water. But it wasn’t until I walked out onto the rocks to get a better look at these creatures across the way that I realized I had walked right into some of the seals’ dry dock.
My lens had arrived days before we left the country. I hadn’t had much time play with it, read; figure out what the heck I would do with 250mm of zoom. Now here I was standing feet from these smelly beasts with a long lens. I was close (Jill thought too close and so did the large seal that snorted, barked, growled and charged me) and I had more zoom than I was used to. Sweet as. While my new piece of equipment won’t stand up to some professional wildlife photographer’s gear it will allow me to get close enough to get a decent picture. As long as that big seal doesn’t keep lumbering closer to me.
Before coming to New Zealand we obtained what is called a Holiday/Working Visa. Sometimes the word “scheme” is thrown in there; here it doesn’t mean you are up to no good.
Under this plan we are eligible for most jobs. However people with this scheme tend to drift toward casual jobs, temporary kinds of things where you won’t be obligated for long because remember you are on holiday. This is all well enough but after a year of travel in the van we don’t feel the need to always be on the go. Lucky for us we have those good mates in Gizzy which lends a bit of stability to our wanderings. A flat of our own may even be in the cards.
Time will sort all that out. For now though we are WWOOFers, Willing Workers on Organic Farms. In this scheme you work a half day, about 4-5 hours, in return for meals and a place to stay. All sorts of places are in the program including farm stays (think B&B with a farm) to families with small vegetable gardens to wineries with guest cottages. Usually the stay is around a week although it can vary. Workers contact the participating farms through the WWOOFer website.
We’ve just completed our first week long stint as WWOOFers at the upscale Knapdale Eco Lodge. Knapdale is an environmentally friendly lodge and farm. It is owner operated by Kay & Kees, a hardy local couple. For us it was five hours of work and the rest of the day spent wondering around the farm, relaxing on the deck or playing with dogs. To top it off someone else cooked dinner. The someone else being Kay, an excellent cook ,who caters events at the lodge. Both Kay & Kees stayed in constant motion as they have outside jobs in addition to managing their property. We felt very decadent stopping work after only five hours when there was always more, much more to be done as there is on any farm.
Next up for us is Brodie Estates, a vineyard with olive groves and a farm stay. It is in the up and coming wine region of Martinborough- not Marlborough the super sized wine region on South Island. Martinborough, known for pinot noir, is a village of about eleven hundred souls an hour northeast of Wellington. I’m looking forward to checking out southern North Island and then cruising back to Gisborne to be among the first in the world to ring in 2010.
The calendar says December but the scenery says July. So it goes in our world of seasonal contradictions that is Gisborne, New Zealand. Saturday was the annual Christmas parade here in Gissy and while the weather was a little more like home on this day, remember contradictions, the traditions were pretty similar.
Happy Holidays from your mates south of the equator.
Of course I’ve always, always wanted to scheme out some sort of way to live, really live in a foreign country. And New Zealand is on everyone’s hot list these days but for a leap like this it takes some special inspiration. That inspiration came from our friends Eric & Laura. We tend to share their taste in travel and adventure. At about the same time we decided on the van, they shook up their lives by moving themselves and their super cool kids to NZ.
Even though our friendship spans years and many adventures we weren’t a constant fixture in each others lives. For much of our time in Lexington, they were raising kids while Steve and I were still deciding if we liked each other.
Eric has a knack for talking people into things. He and Laura gushed about cross country skiing and we became hooked. Eric intensely lobbied us to take up running…hello marathons and ultras.
When it came to deciding on New Zealand little lobbying was needed. Their blog posts quickly did the trick. With them both, especially Laura, falling hard for Gisborne and the laid back Kiwi culture I trusted it would suit us as well.
So here we are in their New Zealand town, Gisborne, borrowing their address as I can’t live without a library card and stashing stuff at their house. Even though we are finding plenty to do on our own and trying to not crash at there place too much, we love the magic of spending time with old friends in a new country.
Enjoy this random list of what I like about NZ specifically Gisborne, NZ. Gissy is an off the beaten path beach town that I’m happy to claim as home for as long as Steve will let me. Check out our NZ additions to the Blogroll.
Love the slang, although mixed with the accent I’m occasionally left clueless.
Sunscreen sold in liter jugs. Love the sunshine but love your skin more.
Our friends’ kids have picked up the Kiwi accent yet occasionally it comes out with just a touch of KY twang.
When consumed moderately I can handle the fish and chips.
There is a local dophin- he makes headlines in the Gisborne Herald.
Chardonny is queen here. Typically not my go to grape but when in Kentucky I eat country ham, in Gisborne I’ll drink Chardonny.
Our friends’ house may contain the most Bourbon in a private residence in the whole country.
There is a butchery and the lady there is kind to Yankees just learning about lamb.
Super-sized kleenex. I took a cold.
A luxury B&B that accepts WWOOFers.
Stay tuned…more to come although, I don’t want the word to get out about this place.
Abracadabra I’m an ex-pat. Okay not really, probably not in the technical sense of the word but close enough for me to pretend. Ex-pat, sounds so exotic and beyond it all. No longer am I burdened by McDonald’s and big box stores. Ooops they have all that here. I can overlook the development considering it is not unusual to hike across green hills with sweeping ocean views and end up at a secluded cove. For that matter it is easy to drive to an empty spot of beach.
So here is the update. About two weeks ago we landed in Auckland. Auckland is fine if your tastes run toward cities with 1.3 million people. So it goes without saying we were outta of there quick but not before doing a few basic life in new country chores such a buying Blue. Blue is pictured below in a rather straightforward intro written by someone not at all in love with Blue. I love Blue. Blue is delightful. A fun little car that just screams I don’t live in Texas or Colorado or any other typical stateside location. We bought blue from a Canadian who has lived in NZ for 30 years or so. He gave us lots of great travel beta. As we followed him back into town- we were going the same way- he pulled off, hopped out of his car, to give us a mixed CD. We had to have tunes after all. Yep, these folks are nice.
So we did a slow roll in the direction of our friends in Gisborne. Anxious to start taking in the sights we headed off up the Coromandel Peninsula. Lovely but rainy and cloudy and what with us trying to drive and sight see at the same time it became a bit of a pain. We did hike to Cathederal Cove a popular spot on the peninsula. We skipped hot water beach where you dig your own hot tub in the sand that is then feed by under the sand springs. Sounds interesting but the weather was not cooperating. We did work in a steep but short hike up Mt. Maunganui, an old volcano in the Bay of Plenty.
Finally, Gisborne. We feared that the awful weather would follow us here. It hasn’t happened. While the weather can change hourly. We’ve had some fine days. We’ve enjoyed visiting our friends and taking in some of their favorite walks including the Makorori Headway, Te Kuri Farm and the walk to Cook’s Cove. Then there are the miles of beuatiful beaches. This is not Florida. The beaches here are nearly empty. Town beach has a little development. You can get lunch and an ice cream cone there. On my first beach run I saw someone out training a horse.
Steve and I are ready for a break from constant travel. We’ve picked the perfect country for it and for now are happy to hide out in Gisborne, a destination overlooked by many. The weekend is here. It will back to the farmer’s market and there are threats, er invitations for me try out the surf board. Then there is Moko the town’s pet dolphin. He makes about as much news here as basketball does back in KY. Yes, it does seem magical.
