We're still in the Shire

Kia Ora!

There have been a lot of exciting happenings since we last wrote. We just arrived at our second farm today, after spending a week with our last hosts, Maria (the owner) and Molly (the absurdly adorable dog). Sorry Lily and Bailey, Chase and I were kind of cheating on you. Dal and Sam mentioned a bit in the last post, but we spent most of our time there working in the garden and orchard weeding/picking/mulching things (including the odd possum), feeding the chickens, chopping wood, and generally doing things that are fun, outside, and make you really appreciate how fulfilling a lifestyle farming must be. It's pretty cool to eat a meal mostly out of things you grew in your own backyard. (And yes, Dad, I did just say that mulching was kind of fun. I might regret that one.) Maria's "lifestyle block" also had its own water and septic system, and they were making efforts to live as self-sufficiently as possible, which is a pretty cool idea that is actually really popular in New Zealand, which I guess isn't that surprising considering how much beautiful, fertile land is all over this country. But anyways!

The farm we're at now is looking like the makings of a fantastic week. We're living in an 11-meter long "housebus," which is kind of a combination between an RV and a camper, and is 100% superfly. Pictures will definitely be attached once we have fast enough internet to deal with photos. Amanda and Alistair, the parents here, are really sweet and accomodating, and they have two boys (4 and 7), that are adorable wildmen who spent today alternating between "helping" us mulch around sapling citrus trees and running/climbing/jumping on and off the roof of their garage. Hilarious. We finished the evening by cooking some chicken korma (hey Lars!), drinking homemade pear hard cider from the orchard, and admiring the view (of the sunset, surrounding hills, and Sam's mousetail) from the hilltop. Not too shabby.

Anyways, I'll try to keep this one brief (we have internet at this farm, unlike the last one), but here are a few other highlights from the past little while:

- Generally, the weather has improved, but we did spend a really wet day last week doing "indoor wwoofing" at Maria's, which turned out to be really fun and delicious. We learned how to make preserves, which is now one of the only things on our list of farming hard skills , and ended up with a bunch of jars of plum jam, blueberry and red currant preserves, and fantastic homemade relish, in addition to some banana bread and blueberry muffins.

- On our last day in Taranaki, we went to Egmont National Park to hike Mt. Taranaki. Although Dallis unfortunately had to turn back because of her knee, the three boys summited the 8,000 ft. ACTIVE volcano, complete with crazy steep trail over volcanic sand and shale (between 30 and 45 degrees), intense bouldering, a crater filled with an ice and snow field, and a fantastic view of the ocean and countryside from the top. Though we've had some good hikes before, I think we all agree that Taranaki is one of the hardest mountains we've ever climbed.

- The following day, we made our way to the Waitomo Caves, one of the many "don't miss this" recommendations we received before leaving for New Zealand. They definitely didn't disappoint. We had guided tours through two separate caves, which are famous not just for being really cool, beautiful limestone caves, but also for the glowworms (actually larvae of a specific gnat species) that hang like constellations scattered across the ceiling of the caves. They're really interesting creatures, and there were lots of cool things to see and learn about, including a big cavern in one of the caves which is reputed for having nearly perfect acoustics, and has hosted a lot of famous groups for concerts, including the Vienna Boys Choir. Pretty neat stuff. One of the best quotes from our guide: "The glowworm adult male, which only lives about 2 or 3 days, copulates for about 12-24 hours...which is pretty standard for the average Kiwi male. He then keels over and dies, which is also pretty standard for the average Kiwi male."

- The Ascot has proven to be quite a trooper ('94 was a good year for cars, apparently). While New Zealand is known for many things, "gas-stations-open-after-7PM-on-a-Sunday" apparently are not one of them. On our way from Waitomo to Wanganui, where we spent the night last night before arriving at the Vickers' farm, we were running seriously low on gas, with over 100 kilometers to go. After passing many closed gas stations (one with a painted over "24 hour gas' sign), we knocked on a strangers door to ask if he knew where the nearest open gas station was. Unfortunately, it was in Wanganui. But after glancing at our car and and VERY generously estimating that we had a quarter tank of gas left, he assured us we could make it there without running out of gas, so... we went for it. There wasn't any gas, cell phone service (for AA), or really a town to be seen for the entire twisting, rainy drive, but we just made it into town on fumes.

That's it for now, we're headed to the beach to swim. Hope you're all doing well, and let us know what you're up to!