don't come to work hungry!
day 26 - day 31: tony and val's laidback homestay consisted of the following daily regimen...
8am -- coffee (with skimpy kiwi milk rather than the beloved american half and half) and mushy wheatbix
8:30am-10:00am -- following tony around the property wondering if he wants our help; weeding among the sweetest smelling lavender and rosemary "whilst" receiving hourly medicinal injections of the dreaded stinging nettle.
10:00am-10:30am -- tea time! chocolate! fresh picked oranges from the yard! more coffee!
10:30am-whenever it got too hot to work -- continue blindly meandering behind tony's beloved tractor, occasionally weeding gardens out of guilt for not working.
noon -- lunch! leftovers and sandwiches (aka mattie's mandatory pb&h)! home brewed beer! trying to properly digest while keeping up with val's speed eating.
1:30pm-4:00pm -- wine tours (by bicycle through the strong winds when possible) sampling myriad vineyard's interpretations of the infamous nz sauvignon blanc; we quickly learned to heed our limit of one vineyard per day!
4:00pm-5:00pm -- get in the way of val's whirlwind cooking techniques while drinking more homemade wine, beer and spirits (the favorite being "tony's london dry gin").
5:00pm-7:00pm -- eat, look around for what dishes haven't been licked clean, eat more, continue trying to take first place in the clean plate club, listen to outrageous stories told by tony and contradicted by val.
7:00pm-9:00pm -- attempt to put off the urge to sleep by playing rummy 50,000 until elisabeth throws a childish fit for losing so consistently.
9:00pm -- bedtime for the old ladies!
day 32: began our journey to golden bay passing through the funky town of nelson. with rain preventing us from another rigorous hike through the rainforest we decided to arrive at our next "farm" (the dangerous kitchen cafe) early, only to be put straight to work washing dishes like the illegal immigrants that we are.
day 33: becoming accustomed to life in the unfinished old farmhouse with alex, the fiery german freilein who "loves to party" and is sure to remind us to keep the toilet seat down, and flur, her lively french business partner, and louisa, our fellow wwoofer in crime from austria.
day 34: pleasant hike to wainui falls.
day 35: mattie requests the early cinderella shift in order to make it in time for evening cow-milking at the neighbors'. she quickly learned how the kiwis do it on a floating, rotating milk line whilst drinking beer.
day 36: due to the sunny forecast, mattie and i confidently embark in the rain on another trip into the northern section of abel tasman geared up in anything plastic we could find. what did you say mattie? rain or shine, i'm up for camping?
day 37: lying impatiently and damply in the tent until 10am waiting for the alleged sun to end the constant hammering sound of rain and violent ocean waves. without a trace of hope, we forge ahead tramping as quickly back to captain's warm shag carpet interior as possible.
day 38: mattie is reprimanded for scavenging for something edible to nourish her young active body while slaving away scrubbing the obscure wall behind the dough mixer at the cafe.
day 39: no longer phased by looming clouds and damp clothes we head to the northern-most point of the south island, the much raved about Farewell Spit. upon arrival, however, the clouds proved too thick and the wise sheep along the trail laughed with their belittling "baah"s at our attempt to summit the 5 minute walk to the overlook. alas! we drove away wet and defeated for the time being.
day 40: with sunny skies and only a few clouds on the western mountains, surely this was our chance to witness the Spit in all its glory. so what began as a well marked beach walk with warm sand between our toes ended in a confused state of bushwhacking through thick, prickly, swampy, foreign vegetation. we're still trying to figure out where exactly we went wrong, but are grateful we could utilize our wilskills knowledge and did not have to spend our final moments out there in that rugged square mile of terrain.
day 41: as soon as mattie could no longer tolerate alex's challenging personality, she bravely headed straight for the beauty and solitude of the Abel Tasman coast for a 3 day solo adventure.
day 42: while mattie is hanging out in the huts with 80 year old women in their underwear and diligently tracking along the challenging coastline, elisabeth is finding a few peaceful solo adventures of her own back in takaka.
day 43: while mattie spends the lord's day watching the sun rise over the tasman sea, sailing through the open waters along the coast she just tracked, and celebrating the weekend with a cold beer (and cold hostel shower), elisabeth hikes deep into the heart of the Kahurangi National Forest to the Sylvester Alpine Lakes.
day 44: mattie and elisabeth fulfill their designated arrangements for reuniting (with elisabeth 30 minutes late of course) in Motueka. tears of appreciation and joy abound and on to the fly fishing lodge in Hokitika! arriving to a 5 star luxurious room in the lodge, and just in time for a rowdy dinner of hand-picked mussels offered a refreshing start.
day 45 - present: while entertaining the awkward belgian wwoofer, alex, we have been steadily enjoying the company of our hosts marj and tony, landscaping the neighboring property, harassing their deer (deer are farm animals here), touring new zealand breweries, hiking through enchanted forests, and gawking at the occasional view of the southern alps through the clouds. now, after 4 days of constant hinting we have finally arranged a set of fishing poles to attempt our inexperienced hands at those infamous brown trout infested waters... better have a backup dinner plan.
Thank you all for following our travels and for having patience with our infrequent blogging... enjoy the antecdotes!
8am -- coffee (with skimpy kiwi milk rather than the beloved american half and half) and mushy wheatbix
8:30am-10:00am -- following tony around the property wondering if he wants our help; weeding among the sweetest smelling lavender and rosemary "whilst" receiving hourly medicinal injections of the dreaded stinging nettle.
10:00am-10:30am -- tea time! chocolate! fresh picked oranges from the yard! more coffee!
10:30am-whenever it got too hot to work -- continue blindly meandering behind tony's beloved tractor, occasionally weeding gardens out of guilt for not working.
noon -- lunch! leftovers and sandwiches (aka mattie's mandatory pb&h)! home brewed beer! trying to properly digest while keeping up with val's speed eating.
1:30pm-4:00pm -- wine tours (by bicycle through the strong winds when possible) sampling myriad vineyard's interpretations of the infamous nz sauvignon blanc; we quickly learned to heed our limit of one vineyard per day!
4:00pm-5:00pm -- get in the way of val's whirlwind cooking techniques while drinking more homemade wine, beer and spirits (the favorite being "tony's london dry gin").
5:00pm-7:00pm -- eat, look around for what dishes haven't been licked clean, eat more, continue trying to take first place in the clean plate club, listen to outrageous stories told by tony and contradicted by val.
7:00pm-9:00pm -- attempt to put off the urge to sleep by playing rummy 50,000 until elisabeth throws a childish fit for losing so consistently.
9:00pm -- bedtime for the old ladies!
day 32: began our journey to golden bay passing through the funky town of nelson. with rain preventing us from another rigorous hike through the rainforest we decided to arrive at our next "farm" (the dangerous kitchen cafe) early, only to be put straight to work washing dishes like the illegal immigrants that we are.
day 33: becoming accustomed to life in the unfinished old farmhouse with alex, the fiery german freilein who "loves to party" and is sure to remind us to keep the toilet seat down, and flur, her lively french business partner, and louisa, our fellow wwoofer in crime from austria.
day 34: pleasant hike to wainui falls.
day 35: mattie requests the early cinderella shift in order to make it in time for evening cow-milking at the neighbors'. she quickly learned how the kiwis do it on a floating, rotating milk line whilst drinking beer.
day 36: due to the sunny forecast, mattie and i confidently embark in the rain on another trip into the northern section of abel tasman geared up in anything plastic we could find. what did you say mattie? rain or shine, i'm up for camping?
day 37: lying impatiently and damply in the tent until 10am waiting for the alleged sun to end the constant hammering sound of rain and violent ocean waves. without a trace of hope, we forge ahead tramping as quickly back to captain's warm shag carpet interior as possible.
day 38: mattie is reprimanded for scavenging for something edible to nourish her young active body while slaving away scrubbing the obscure wall behind the dough mixer at the cafe.
day 39: no longer phased by looming clouds and damp clothes we head to the northern-most point of the south island, the much raved about Farewell Spit. upon arrival, however, the clouds proved too thick and the wise sheep along the trail laughed with their belittling "baah"s at our attempt to summit the 5 minute walk to the overlook. alas! we drove away wet and defeated for the time being.
day 40: with sunny skies and only a few clouds on the western mountains, surely this was our chance to witness the Spit in all its glory. so what began as a well marked beach walk with warm sand between our toes ended in a confused state of bushwhacking through thick, prickly, swampy, foreign vegetation. we're still trying to figure out where exactly we went wrong, but are grateful we could utilize our wilskills knowledge and did not have to spend our final moments out there in that rugged square mile of terrain.
day 41: as soon as mattie could no longer tolerate alex's challenging personality, she bravely headed straight for the beauty and solitude of the Abel Tasman coast for a 3 day solo adventure.
day 42: while mattie is hanging out in the huts with 80 year old women in their underwear and diligently tracking along the challenging coastline, elisabeth is finding a few peaceful solo adventures of her own back in takaka.
day 43: while mattie spends the lord's day watching the sun rise over the tasman sea, sailing through the open waters along the coast she just tracked, and celebrating the weekend with a cold beer (and cold hostel shower), elisabeth hikes deep into the heart of the Kahurangi National Forest to the Sylvester Alpine Lakes.
day 44: mattie and elisabeth fulfill their designated arrangements for reuniting (with elisabeth 30 minutes late of course) in Motueka. tears of appreciation and joy abound and on to the fly fishing lodge in Hokitika! arriving to a 5 star luxurious room in the lodge, and just in time for a rowdy dinner of hand-picked mussels offered a refreshing start.
day 45 - present: while entertaining the awkward belgian wwoofer, alex, we have been steadily enjoying the company of our hosts marj and tony, landscaping the neighboring property, harassing their deer (deer are farm animals here), touring new zealand breweries, hiking through enchanted forests, and gawking at the occasional view of the southern alps through the clouds. now, after 4 days of constant hinting we have finally arranged a set of fishing poles to attempt our inexperienced hands at those infamous brown trout infested waters... better have a backup dinner plan.
Thank you all for following our travels and for having patience with our infrequent blogging... enjoy the antecdotes!
posted by Mattie Ruth | 3:43 AM
2 Comments:
How was the fishing? Do the Kiwi's drinkg beer during this activity as well?
Ya, what Jake said,,,,whats abouts the fishin?...blimey!
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