WWOOF STAY IN URENUI

Feb 21st, 2010
We arrived at our next WWOOF stay in the rain, again. We are situated on a 10 acre lifestyle block (what the kiwis call a small farm, usually for personal use) a few kilometers inland from the coast among native bush. The Whangaru Homestead, it is called, is owned by a kiwi couple, Maria and Simon, along with their 1 yr old Australian terrier named Molly. We wake up to the rooster and all day we hear cicadas humming and their six Hereford cattle mooing. The cattle are especially vocal lately because Maria and Simon just added three calves, but the mooing really blends into the background. Maria is away for a few days organizing a cheese making class and Simon works 12 hr days as a seismic driller, so our calling was perfect timing for them!
This property is beautiful and quiet and just far enough away not to be too far from town. The town of Urenui is about 5km away and we are about 45 min from the nearest city, New Plymouth. Everything you could want is grown, or can grow, here. They recently discovered alot of clay here so Maria and Simon are researching earth houses. They also have plans to build a pizza oven with the clay and to host pizza-making courses here.
Our days consist of feeding the chooks (chickens), feeding Molly (who is a constant source of entertainment for both of us), weeding the veggie garden (the quintessential WWOOFer duty because weeding takes virtually no experience and always needs to be done; it can be meditating), harvesting veggies for the roadside stand (which is monitored by an honesty box), weed-eating along the roadside fence (one of the weed-eaters malfunctioned yesterday, leaving Kris to finish up while I moved on to other things), mowing the lawn (nothing worth parenthesizing about here, just pushing a lawnmower really), looking for surf (most days), and making dinner while Maria is away (Kris made delicious hamburgers last night using ground beef, or mince, from one of their cows slaughtered just outside on the paddock). And typing. All this amounts to about 5 hrs per day (minus looking for surf).
The expected work for a WWOOFer is between 4-6hrs/day, but even that is flexible depending on weather and need. This summer has been unusually wet and we have been working later in the day when the ground has dried out a little. Because we are in the trees, it is cooler here than when we stay closer to the coast. This morning is cool and calm and perfect for getting some reading/writing done.

Our digi-camera is out of batteries and we have yet to get film developed so pics will follow soon, but check Kris's blog (www.newsurfdialogue.com...it rocks!) for more pics. I think managed to snap a few of this place.