FARM STAY
The crew of Sensei was curious for more exposure to
“FHiNZ began in 1994, with the Grady family decided to offer free farmstays on their farm to visitors who wanted to help in exchange for meals, beds and so on. The idea was to treat visitors like one of the family so that they could experience the real Kiwi farming way of life and join in both the highs and lows of living on a farm. Today there are about 130 farms.
“You will be helping the farm on average 4 to 6 hours per day. Each farm sets its own rules and time limits to fit their needs. You will be given jobs that you can do yourself, or you will help the farmer with their jobs depending on the weather and season. Some jobs will be dirty, others boring, but that is all part of farm life.”
We had picked a farm which listed as activities: “Kiwifruit seedlings, mandarins, park like garden, greenhouses, hens, a cow, sheep and pigs. Weeding, pruning, picking, gardening, handyman, feeding animals. Could build accommodation hut if skills. Comments: Homeschool our 2 primary school aged children. Stay in caravan. TePuke has bee product processing plant and Kiwifruit industry. Beach 3 km. Hobbies: Landmark education, fishing, kayaking and Girl Guides.” (Girl Scouts)
In hindsight, all was true. The part that wasn’t mentioned was how lovely this family really was, and how well Claire would get along with their children. Sadly, the weeding part of farm chores was applicable. Kelley and I weeded about half of a rather large (by our standards) field of a kiwifruit seedling bed during our stay. Luckily, the weather was rather unsettled and we were often chased off the field by intermittent rain showers. Claire, Katheryn and Jack took the opportunity during the rain showers to jump with glee on their trampoline out in the forested front yard and get soaking wet. There were no injuries. The backs of Kelley and my legs were rather sore for a few days afterwards, however. We really only worked about 3 hours a day for 3 of our 4 days there, but the farmers were pleased by our efforts. Claire offered our hosts her help in cleaning, and got the opportunity to help Jack with cleaning up his room a few days later.
David and Julliette had bought this 8 acre farm about 10 years ago. It had 4 acres planted with a chestnut orchard with mature trees whose unharvested fruit had fallen for years. The remaining acreage had a mature mandarin orchard, greenhouses, front yard and buildings. The market for chestnuts had never really materialized.
David tore out all the trees and planted kiwifruit. Surrounding their property are four storey tall hedges of pine trees or shrubs. Driving the roads to their farm, you are often in a deep corridor of green. The hedges protect the delicate plants from wind damage and freezing.
The years of deadfall chestnuts had enriched the soil and David’s seedlings have taken off. He has trained the vines along wires and ropes, and the plants will eventually grow on an arbor. His plants appear 1 or 2 years from profitable production. He is now training the male and female vines to grow along the same support, to increase pollination. He hires a beekeeper to leave his hives in his field for a week every year. The flowers are not attractive to the bees, but the proximity of the plants to the hive assists in fertilization regardless. David works full time as boilermaker at a factory.
Julliette schools their kids and grows all of their produce organically. It seems almost everything in
We ate like kings, honey glazed ham, a yearly Christmas present from David’s work of a leg of lamb and of course organic vegetables and fruits. Kelley whipped up crepes and French toast for the family in the kitchen. I cleared the table and scrubbed pots with panache.
Julliette took us to a honey factory where we enjoyed a film on
When it came time to say goodbye, we simply couldn’t and stayed an extra day. Then we took Katheryn back to Sensei for 2 days to show her our rather odd way of life. Two friends from Sydney who we met in
We just lowered the asking price for Sensei. There has been less interest in her than I had hoped. We will decide on one of three options in April if she has not been sold:
Option 1: Leave her here for sale with an Auckland Broker at his docks where he will look after her.
Option 2: Sail her to
Option 3: Either ship her or have her delivered back to the West Coast,
There is always the forth option: keep her. The pros of owning a cruising boat may not be as compelling once we move off of her and take up residency in a house again. Still, many people do it. It is nice to have so many options, but in the meantime, we have our fingers crossed that the right buyer will find us.
We enrolled in a workshop to learn how to make glass beads. Claire has enjoyed jewelry making as we traveled the South Pacific, and I seemed a unique opportunity to try a new craft, get some fresh beads and have a unique souvenir from the river town of
Kelley had her own torch and Claire and I shared another. The process consists of selecting an Italian colored glass rod and heating it in a 1700 degree propane-oxygen flame. When the glass has softened, you wrap it around a clay dipped welding rod called a mandrel. You can then can add other colors in dots or swirls, you can shape the ball with graphite pads, you can poke holes, twist it and generally torture it in an infinite variety of ways. What a unique sensation working with molten glass! We had so much fun that we rented the studio for two hours the next day, then we joined the artist to watch a rugby game that night. Log onto www.annierose.com for more information.
We will be off our boat for 6 weeks as we visit a dairy farm next, see a little more of the North Island, and then explore the South Island for the month of February.
The more we learn about
Chris
S/V Sensei