11/24/13
I've been at my first WWOOFing spot, The Matatoki Cheese Barn, for about a week now, and I've only been in New Zealand for about eleven days. In that time I have already seen and done so many cool things that it feels like I've been here weeks. So far Cathy, Kelvin and their daughter Holly have been great. I really feel at home here in New Zealand. Between Kelvin and Cathy they really keep me busy during the day with jobs here and there but it's nice that they give me space on my own time.
My first morning here I was in the dairy helping Kelvin sort out an equipment problem. He had me skimming milk by hand. After that he put me in the cooler in order to flip and wax wheels of cheese. Its really not as much of a process as you might think. Its taking a wheel of cheese dipping at sponge into a bucket of essentially edible glue and rubbing it into the the cheese. He does this so the cheese can breath out but not in, this way the cheese stops aging and keeps. Other projects they've had me doing is washing the outside of the house and spraying it for spiders (natural spray of course ;). This job is not quite what I imagined when I started WWOOFing but when they are feeding me I'm happy to do it. :) It was a good job to have for the first couple of days really, I got to be outside in the sun, getting my tan on and keeping cool at the same time. Since then I've been helping Kelvin in the fields. We've been putting up gates and fence so the sheep , singular sheep, dosnt get out as well as wresteling the alpaka into differnet paddoks (what they call fields here) :)
Other than that we've been running errands into town and trying to clean their pool. Its been so nice having a summer. Yesterday I was laying in the sun thinking about how it seemed I didn't really have a summer last year and thinking of all the things I should be getting done, the emails I should be sending, or the maps I should be looking at, when it occurred to me that I busted my ass in order to get to this place. I sacrificed my summer in Seattle so I could have this experience by the pool. So I shut my eyes, took a deep breath of gratitude and soaked up the sunshine.
12/2/13
It seems so long since the last time I wrote and I'm quite weary from my traveling today that it's almost impossible to even begin, but I must if I intend to keep up with this journal in order to share my experience.
My time spent on The Matatoki Cheese farm was full of experience. I learned loads from Kelvin about the basics of making differnet tiypes of cheese, Gouda care, butter, ghee, yogurt, and a number of other dairy products, but also getting to go into Auckland and learn the ins and outs of his marketing, distribution, and customer base not to mention the day to day things of running a farm. It was so cool to get to bounce ideas off of him about marketing strategies, developing new markets, nurturing customer bases and just talking about the different levels of his business.
The area where they live in in the Wrotorunga valley is so nice. Matatoki farm is situated at the foot of steep hills, not quite mountains, to the north of me and flat plains to the south. The weather has been everything from hot and sunny to cool and stormy. I've met so many good people here, it seems everyone has a place that I must “absolutely see”. I got to meet Kelvin's mother Joy and his uncle who's name I'm forgetting now. They were a well spring of knowledge and history and I'm so lucky to have gotten to meet and talk with them. In the cafe on the farm there are four lovely girls working, mostly students. I really connected with one of them, Chantal, she is naturopath living near home and working in the cafe before moving to Wellington in order to start a new practice there. She was kind enough to take me up the Rotorunga valley for a hike and a swim. The valley was stunning and Chantal and I had great conversation. It was great to get her insights on the current state of New Zealand as well as talk astrology, stones and the Present state of the Universe. :)
Having only been here for three weeks I'm constantly being surprised by the little things that I find. I knew coming down here that the night sky would be different, but here Orion is right side up instead of upside down, and the milky way is completely different from the southern perspective. Of course there are things here that I would have never expected as well, like the surprising amount of racism that sneaks its way into the culture of New Zealand towards the Native Marui people. I'm finding that this is fueled by lots of cultural differences and historical events but at the core of any generalization of a people it comes mostly from misinformation by the media and educations system and misunderstanding between two different perspectives. Another thing that has surprised me is the amount of agriculture here. I guess I had it in my mind that New Zealand would be this untouched piece of the world that has not really had enough time to be transformed, but I'm finding that just like in the rest of the world, Europeans were quick to come in and make drastic changes. People tell me that the south island is a little more rugged but I'm sure there will be little surprises there as well. :)
What else is there to share in this short little piece of space and time...? The people here are so nice and open. Everyone here is very laid back. Perhaps it is just because I am a traveler but I get this sense that here people are very willing to simply accept you as you are and let you do your own thing. Not in a way that is like “I'm doing my thing and I'll let you do your thing” it is somehow more warm than that. Its as if people are really interested in each others individuality, people are just more open to having a conversation about anything, and willing to really meet you half way when it comes to new experience. My experience with Kelvin and Chantal has been a great reflection of that. Just two really genuine individuals open to learning and sharing with another, and the experiences they bring to the exchange.
I'm headed now to KatiKati where I expect my stay to be much different. Kelvin is a “good ol' boy”, he's an incredibly grounded individual, and a really hard worker. He is so efficient, tough and full of energy and knowledge, I'm so grateful to have gotten to spend so much time with him on the farm. I would really like to thank Chantal as well. I think I would have gone mad if it wasn't for her getting me off the farm and into the mountains. Thank you so much Chantal for being a partner in some really juicy abstract thinking and for your deep sharing. I feel ready for the transition to my new place, maybe a little tired, but ready. My next WWOOFing farm I expect will be a little more airy, more "out there" kinda place.
Currently I'm finding it hard to share my feelings and experiences. I'm riding in a bus through the valley now and its quite beautiful, its like this crazy combination of the rocks of the Rocky mountains and the steepness, the newness of the northwestern alps. But with palm trees, ferns and pine all on the same slope. :) Like so many beautiful moments on this trip I'm excited to see whats around the next corner, through the next valley, or over the next hill. :)
So much Love to be had and shared in this world I'm excited and grateful for every millisecond of it. :)
Until I see you again.
Joe
