NZ 2012 synergistic WWOOF

26 Jan Thurs: Last day of work and Thanksgiving Beach Hike

2012-01-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

Our last day of work came all too soon. We feel very honored that Jo and Rex have decided to have a Thanksgiving with our little WWOOFing group. The centerpiece will be a Kumara pie, vegan. That's a sweet potato pie.

Teri gets up early to make the crust... the recipe is below

Morning work included turning one of the older compost piles...creating string supports for some of the veges...and peeling cordwood.

Molly turning the compost pile

String supports

the compost turning progresses

Covered and done

Teri leaves her gloves in the glove pile...pretty sure that they will not get through customs.

the kumara pie and the lunch "tester" pie

another glorious beetroot

map to Onekawa Bay beach

45 minute hike to the beach

friendly wood-man

looking back to the Mount

Waihi Beach

Our Thanksgiving spot

dog print in hard sand

Thanksgiving...after our swim -- Rex, Jacques and I went in, but the pix are on Molly's camera

The sandflies were biting, so Rex took his dessert and ate it with his ankles in the ocean

After work, people leave their boat haulers on the beach and take to the sea...

Back on Waihi Beach: Jo Molly Rex

sandfly bites...more on this phenonmenon in a later post

25 Jan Wednesday: Garlic, omelettes and The Biodynamic 500

2012-01-28T16:40:00.000-08:00

Another day...I wake up early, and caught some of the sunrise...

Morning tasks included garlic sorting and hanging

Molly braids garlics selected for starting garlic plants the following year

we hang garlic to dry and use this year in the garage about the "pushbikes" (as opposed to "motorbikes")

Garlic for next years' plants is hidden in the secret toilet in the garage...

Teri with her yellow and green flower heart hexagon...painted on the water reservoir

Molly painted rustle...because it is so much the experience of being on the Busby farm--the the wind blowing, among other things.

Jacques added this, which in Objiway and Cree means "thank you."

A dinner treat: Rex is cooking his specialty--OMELETTES. This is the first animal protein we have indulged in, and we live with it, since the eggs are from chickens we know--at the next door neighbors farm/ homestead.

Jacques is served first

the salad has an extremely tasty dressing with celery stalks pureed and garlic...YUM

Teri's omelette has eyebrows.

Molly's omelette is made from "small" eggs...

After dinner, we had a real treat---preparing and distributing the Biodynamic "500" solution. Biodynamics is a farming system championed by Rudolf Steiner, and it coordinates with earth and celestial body movements. The solution is made of cow dung stored underground over winter in a cow's horn, and it then diluted in water, to form an almost homeopathic low dilution of energized essence.

The final steps involve vortexing the diluted mix for an hour...3 direction changes a minute. This means making the water form a tornado circling clockwise, then as soon as you get it going, reversing the vortex to counter clockwise, then reversing it again. Needless to say, we took turns doing this, but it strangely became smoother and easier as the time went on. We then took brushes and flung it over the whole property where things were growing, like a benediction or a blessing. What fun

Molly and Rex with their bucket of 500

Rex gets an exceptionally vigorous vortex going

I guess I missed this paper mache dog when I was doing the Art photos. It was in Molly's room

At night, we went to Henry's place (he has the chickens) to check out the stream and the glow worms. This is a little glimpse into what we are told is his swimming hole. I will post Molly's crazy-good glow worm pictures in a future post.

24 Jan: Tuesday: FOOD FORESTS and vege chili

2012-01-28T16:18:00.000-08:00

The morning started with muesli and a new version of smoothie, which Molly and I mixed and matched:

the spinach smoothie

Morning: Weeding the tree barrier at the back of the house

Then we had and introduction to Jo's Food Forest Guilds. She is trying out several of them, but we were focusing on just one. It contained a Macadamia nut tree with boysenberries, comfrey and various other flowers, herbs etc. We weeded it,re-training the boysenberry plants, and then we sharked around the comfrey. We removed the temporary and not very rabbit-proofe screen fence. Jo did a “chop and drop” with some of the plants.

Food Forest Guild before our work

Food Forest Guild after

after...from another angle. In real life it is really beautiful

As it grew warmer in the morning, we headed into the shade for some cordwood stripping. More like cordwood whispering. I love finding the place where the log will give up its bark. I took a picture on a former blog of the Cordwood Building book...Rex has some serious plans..

Is the the belly of one of the kunekune pigs? No...it is a piece of soon-to-be totally naked cordwood, in the middle of having its bark peeled. The knotty whorls of tiny twigs leave their mark.

The bark, giving way easily when peeled properly...

Lunch time. Lunch was gorgeous, and all raw: Mexican pate, pesto, bread, beetroot burger with “catsup” on a bed of greens, nicely plated.

Lunch, nicely plated

After lunch Molly and I did a marathon of pre-cooking for dinner, and clean-up, with Molly doing the heavy lifting. There was no “chili powder” in the house, so I made it from the available spices: Cumin, oregano, coriander, pepper of a few kinds. The sauce base was soaked sundried tomatoes with a few dates thrown in to cut it. Something similar to a pinto bean was soaked and had been cooked in the morning. The vege base: onions, colored bell peppers, celery, cabbage, a huge zucchini, garlic. Cooked and left sitting to let the flavors blend.

Molly made a lemon dessert, and also did most of the clean up.

Molly managing the sesame topping on the lemon dessert

Vege chili in progress

I then practiced ukelele and did some internet work (finished booking a room on Waiheke Island, searched for a cheap Vitamix online). Meanwhile Molly gave Jacques a Reiki treatment.

Then more cordwood stripping for afternoon work, and back inside to finish dinner.

And dinner was lovely—vegetarian chili with raw spiraled courgette pasta, salad, and a raw dessert of lemon dates and nuts, topped with sesame seeds.

Molly cordwood "whispering" Please note the mammoth piece of bark she is managing to peel in one piece.

Jo smiles at our gorgeous dinner

I didn't get a picture of the dessert before it was partially devoured...

Rex had his music group, so the rest of us watched a DVD about Food Forests, starring Geoff Lawton, an Australian. Here is a YouTube taste of what the DVD was like:

7 Food Forests in 7 minutes.

The DVD began a a lecture about the pattern structure of any forest—climax trees, intermedeate trees, shrubs, herbaceous layers (weed), climibing plants, ground cover and root plants. He adapted this pattern in nature using permaculture principles to produce a self-sustaining, low-work forest.

The film showed a real Food Forest being planted, then after 6 weeks, 6 months, and 4 years. Geoff then showed a Food Forest that had been abandoned for 6 years—and was producing huge amounts of fruit, as well as fabulous soil.…

What an inspiration...I find myself inspired and totally jazzed. The abundance and the simplicity of this idea is a real change in perspective for me.

23 Jan: Monday: Piggy condos and ukulele lessons

2012-01-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

We built the piggy condo that Jo has been talking about for a week today. It was actually pretty easy--we just put two standards in the ground about 8 feet from the nearby structure--covering the wallowing hole. Like most activities, she is thinking of more than one benefit--shade for her beloved kunekunes--and saving the water resource (pronounced re-zorse') from evaporation.

the completed condo

June and Ceres enjoying their new home

Other morning activities included weeding in and around the kitchen garden and the native tree windbreak on the south side. We took a "break" to herd the neighbor's sheep from the lower paddock into the piggy paddock--because the pigs weren't doing a good enough job of keeping the grass eaten. The herding, which was driving the sheep uphill and through a small gate that they could not see from the bottom of the hill was a little challenging. But Jo, Jacque and I managed it as a team. Complicating factors, besides the geographics, was one lame sheep that hung back and had to be corralled, one tame sheep named Sage, who wanted to be pet, and one frightened sheep who bolted for the bottom of the hill when the herd was 3/4 of the way up. No chance to get any pictures...

Morning weeding brought a surprise--two passion fruits on the spindly vine! These will certainly be nurtured over the next weeks by Jo and Rex.

Another morning task, doubling the shade cloth on the shade house to protect the seedlings better over summer.

Alfalfa ( a small patch) was cut and laid to dry for special mulch. The roots of the alfalfa, being a nitrogen fixer, will nourish the soil for another Food Forest.

Cordwood peeling continues. The naked logs will be used to build a new studio

The sheep at rest in their new (temporary) paddock.

Jo pets the tame Sage--who was ill as an infant and hand fed--so she is the only tamed sheep.

Sage gets some lovin' from Teri as well...

:-) Who is happier?

Dinner was a magnificent vege (note the NZ spelling of "veggie" ) stir fry

another great sunset

In the evening, I got my first stringed instrument lesson--from Rex. He showed me how to play C, F, G7, A7, C7...and had me work strumming "Singing in the Rain". He loaned me one of his ukuleles so I could practice in my bedroom for the remainder of my stay...and practice I did! My fingers are getting string ridges....

The ukulele

Accounting in New Zealand

2012-01-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post this picture, from Dargaville...I include this especially for my hard-working tax-preparing friends....Perhaps, however, the approach is a little too fresh...

Art at the Katikati WWOOF house

2012-01-24T18:47:00.000-08:00

There is some very interesting art at this house, amidst all the items that are practical practical practical. I'll share some of them...

in my bedroom

also in my bedroom...hmmmm

one of several tables from Zambia...more below

an oil or acrylic painting

under glass...it does not look as good as it does in real life

oil

also an oil painting

done by Rex (!) of the kunekune pigs, Juno and Ceres, eating a pumpkin. Who knew he could also paint?!

watercolor...under glass...the photo doesn't do it justice...This was done by Jo. (!)

22 Jan Sunday: A New Zealand Family Outing

2012-01-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

I woke up and got up at 4:54 am, having had (another) night full of compelling dreams/nightmares and frequent, fitful awakenings. Maybe it is the energy treatments, or just being in a different part of the world. Instead of letting the dreams go, grateful that the roller coasters of danger and emotions are part of my sleeping life rather than my waking life, I am writing them down in detail to ponder later.

Part of me knows better, but the situations and stories are so filmic and involving that I can’t help myself.

In gathering the ingredients for the morning smoothie, a great bounty was discovered:

mangelbeet

Rex with beetroot compared to a tennis ball

Jo tests the sugar content of the beetrood (Brix test) with refractometer: an 11 which is just shy of super excellent

the beetroot smoothie

Before embarking on the daily tasks, I said hello to the kunekune pigs:

Ceres and Juno want to be in the picture

We worked an hour on tree clearing this morning...

making process with managing the tree detritus

a row of branches, butt end out, ready for the wood chipper--to be borrowed from Craig, maybe after we have gone

Harrold the tractor helps with some of the big stuff

the view of the Jacaranda from the house...without the three trees behind it

We then had 2 hours for hanging about before an early lunch, after which we were on our way.

signs directed us at the final turns...it was about an hour away

The car trip, with three wwoofers in the backseat, felt totally like a 45 year old memory of an outing with Mom and Dad. Jacques drew, in jest, an imaginary line which was Not To Be Crossed. The twisty turny ride made me a little queasy, which added to the authenticity of the memory of outings as a kid in the backseat.

The Tree Crops event was peopled by farmers. It looked like a group from Iowa--I would have been at the younger end of the bunch, not including Molly, Jacques and Jo--who were the real outliers as far as age was concerned. This was a talkative, grounded bunch, full of stories about successes and failures and all kinds of advice. I think I may have been the only person there who had ever worn make-up...and I mean EVER.

REAL "free range" chickens

Pear

Asian pear

The Tree Crop folks

We continued our holiday at Whangamata Beach, pronounced "fangamata"

At an isolated spot

Jacques

a "completely crowded" beach day at the main beach

Then we visited the gold mine in Waihi:

Rex looks out over quarry

Looking to the bottom

Molly and Rex on the walk up.

All in all, a marvelous day...

21 Jan: Saturday--PizzaMulch, Gazpacho and Reiki training

2012-01-23T17:22:00.000-08:00

Jacques and Molly do trees while I make gazpacho and hummus and help Jo take out the bread. She has a rule, based on some bread and butter orgies by wwoofers in the past: No eating hot bread. Neverthess, the bread looks perfect:

I am all alone in the kitchen, working on lunch and dinner, while the hot bread calls to me. Of course, I incorporate it into the lunch menu...

Molly harvested the garlic, and laid out on screens that can be moved into the garage, then outside when it is sunny to dry. Jacques and I "pizza mulch" a strawberry bed--a flat version of a compost pile, using newspaper and 3 other layers. After that, Molly and I staple gunned shade netting on a frame for a new vegetable bed. We also fixed the wind break in the main garden.

Lunch was a success!

Molly and the garlic--she is holding a monster elephant garlic

sheet mulching aka pizza mulch

back to Molly's garlic screens

the wood is weighing down the sheet mulching

gazpacho with cashew cream and guacamole...fresh bread to have with hummus

Afer lunch Molly and I got the dessert ready for dinner—nut crust and flavored cashew cream. Molly soaked the quinoa and millet for the main course.

Then--a pretty big deal: Reiki lesson #2, attunement #3…and a demo treatment how-to. Then Molly facilitated a Reiki session with Rex, and I did one with Jacques. Very trippy and meditative to act as the energy channel. Wow.

After the Reiki lesson and treatments, Molly and I finished getting dinner together. There was a last minute checking the internet for how to get millet to be un-bitter and un-gummy, but Molly saved the day with fresh tangelo juice. Jacques helped decorate the dessert and serve up the sauerkraut appetizer.

Dessert was for dinner (after quinoa and Millet and vege (as opposed to "veggie," although it is pronounced the same) fantasia... This dessert was raw: nut crust, vanilla flavored cashew cream and fruit.

the clean kitchen after dishwashing...Ahhhhhh

Sky toward the evening

More evening gorgeosity...

An hour of evening watering and we were freed up at 7:30. I gave Dick a call and spent the evening chatting, reading and partly on the internet…

Only 5 more full days here…then off for a few days to Coromandel or somewhere…

Reflection: Courage, Faith and Fear and Delight

2012-01-23T10:26:00.000-08:00

I was looking at yesterday's blog, and I have a small reflection. I gave "The Schedule" the power to make me afraid of myriad unknowns. Ironically, it was more information that made me afraid of the unknowns. When I was in the moment...and when I returned to being in the moment, I was calm.

The sheer number of tasks, and the physical-world-changing nature of the tasks materialize out of the vision and courage of the WWOOF hosts. Instead of pondering and worrying about what might happen if they ( and their WWOOFers) try to do something, they just jump in and do it.

If our hosts dropped into my circle in Santa Monica, folks might scramble for cover. The amount of talking and thinking and pondering that precedes any action back home is several orders of magnitude greater than what happens here, and the physical risks are greater here (from chain saws, aggressive branches, tomohawks, japanese gardening knives, etc.).

The simple, daily courage with which tasks are presented and undertaken is inspiring. There is faith that things will work out, and total acceptance of the (inevitable) setbacks of things that take longer or go wrong. There is delight--clear, happy, joyous delight--at every success. Gratitude toward others and to the cooperation of the physical universe, seemingly working toward the same end.

Hoo Hah! Another day!

20 Jan Friday: a wrinkle in Paradise--of course

2012-01-23T01:44:00.000-08:00

The schedule for the next 10 days was greeting us first thing in the morning. It was very discombobulating. Up until this point, we had been doing things very in-the-moment, from our point of view, even though Jo, as Project Manager, knew the master plan. Actually, she was just asking for our input, to see if this was OK:

Of course everything "looked fine" to me. I was unaware of its effect on me, really, but I kept seeing it out of the corner of my eye during breakfast and all the time we spent in the living area. Unbeknownst to me, I was getting anxious about being able to do everything--particularly since Molly and I were scheduled to cook the Friday dinner and both plan and cook the lunch and the dinner for Saturday...

My way of reacting to the stress of cooking (when the meals planned by Jo were fantastic) was to plan ahead, starting immediately. Molly, who has cooked for 14 co-op-ers on a regular basis, and 100 workers during the dome project was unfazed, and had the experience of not thinking about things till it was time to cook. Very different styles.

Sigh. We talked it out. We worked it out. We made a compromise plan, that let me do the advance prep for lunch and dessert for dinner, and put Molly in charge of the evening meal, with me as sous chef.

It probably helped that I discovered a friend from home on Jo's shelf:

Actually, I have taken classes from Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein, but they are not local. But Insight LA is certainly a refuge and a home.

Then...there was the matter of all the regular work...and so many tasks had been listed on the "Proposed structure to reduce physical work in Sun and fit in Reiki" As long as they weren't on the list, they were fine...

I did an hour of tree clearing in the morning with Jo while Rex used the chain saw. Meanwhile Jacques and Molly were scything away to continue clearing the area behind the Main Garden.

Then we switched things up and I cleared the closer areas with hedge clippers, while Molly and Jacques did tree clearing.

Lunch was rice salad. Afterwards, Molly and I had our talk about the food and the schedule. We also talked about our different beliefs and perspectives about photographs and being photographed. It was a very good bit of sharing for both of us.

Meanwhile, there was more flour to grind...and bread to bake. The EXTREMELY hard part of this was the first kneading of the bread. The 100% whole wheat sourdough bread was very dense.

the manual flour grinder

Molly at work

More grinding

Jo and Teri knead loaves...Molly is also working on her own hunk of dough. They will rise today, get a kneading tonight and place in pans, and be baked tomorrow.

At 4:30 we watered in the shade house

Then we did 1.5 hours of Tree Clearing.

Then Molly and I did some sharking (clearing areas around the native tree-lings). I don't know what Jacques was up to--maybe giving Jo a Reiki or EFT session.

At 6:30 Molly and I made the planned dinner of Miso raw soup and a thai salad. Carrying out Jo's menu plan was pretty easy, and dinner was fine.

I did the dishes and soaked dates, cashews and chickpeas for the next day's cashew cream and hummus. I also arranged to get the lunch gazpacho started right after breakfast, which was an adjustment to the schedule.

After dinner, we kneaded bread and let it rise in pans in the hot water heater closet overnight.

We watch more educational EFT videos, and headed to bed, relaxed and close.

19 Jan Thursday: clearing, compost repair, sewing outdoors and sushi

2012-01-23T00:48:00.000-08:00

When we woke up this morning and saw this note:

Winnie the Pisa had gotten too hot! 175 degrees Fahrenheit

Molly and Jacques had the job of repairing Winnie by moving him/her to a new pile, and adding more carbon (hay). We will be taking the pile's temperature every day to make sure it is in a healthy range. Every backyard composter that I know would love to have a pile that got this hot this fast.

Meanwhile, I was sewing shade cloth to complete the wind break for the Main Garden. I used clothes pins to mark the holes that needed repaired, and to keep it tight.

The "elephant in the room" of course is the clearing of the felled trees. While we were working at the above tasks, Peter the Tree guy came again and the other two trees were cut down. The detritus was to be separated into:

huge piles of branches of a certain size, butt side facing one way to be put through the wood chipper
big, big wood in a pile, waiting for the milling machine to be borrowed, to get milled wood, probably to sell or trade.
rotten wood, to be thrown to the rotten wood pile
cordwood

The purpose of the cordwood is to build a small studio, using a special technique:

Rex's book on cordwood building.

Today was also laundry day. Two mixed loads, which we all pitched in to hang to dry

Those of you looking carefully will probably notice the fuzzy spot that has been on my camera for the last few days. I think it disappears in tomorrow's pictures, but there was some smear on my lens, probably from carrying my camera in my sweaty back pocket...

The main order of the afternoon was tree clearing. It was hot and the sun was bright, even though the afternoon started about 3:30.

Molly with the branches of a certain size.

When we were ready to pass out, we took a break and planted 7 different kind of cabbage seedlings in the shade house/greenhouse.

Dinner was absolutely stunning: family-style vegetarian sushi, which we each made into cones...

the beautiful spread. Not seen: stacks of nori squares

A bit of egg (from chickens at Henry's, the neighbor) was also a choice..the first animal product of the week.

one of my cones, ready to fold

After dinner we watched several "faster EFT' videos by Robert Smith. Jo and Jacques are both practitioners of EFT, and learning this new technique. So many opportunities for healing ourselves as well as the planet...

18 Jan: A Day of Rest???

2012-01-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

This is our “day off.” We WWOOFers were allowed to decide how to pace out our 2 days off per week, and we chose, for the first week, to work three days, and take off today. Then we will work Thurs Fri Saturday, and take off Sunday. Sunday will be an outing day with Rex and Jo to a Tree farmers expo of some sort. I’m sure I have misunderstood that in some way, but I will learn more as the day approaches.

I woke up about 6:30, to the grunting of the pigs. Rex and Jo were already up watering. I pet the pigs and did my morning routine…made coffee and ate my muesli. By that time, the Tree Feller was here, and I took some pictures and videos of that process. As it turned out, the largest of the three trees to be felled was not yet rotted out, so there was some additional grief about downing a tree that was still good.

this is a video of Rex and Peter moving the first section of the trunk of the first of three trees.

Peter the Tree Guy cuts a limb on the first felled tree

Felled tree blocks driveway...did we remember to move the cars?

Just to show the mammoth size. Over the next days of WWOOFing we will be organizing and dealing with all of this biomass

Rex on Harold the tractor. Peter is giving advice...which Rex always takes good-naturedly

These three trees were the remaining trees from a windbreak on the property that had turned out to be rotten trees. Several had been felled in the first round. There were these three left to go.

Jo and Rex are planting native trees as a mix to replace the windbreaks all along the property.

After enjoying the morning "entertainment" we WWOOFers went about our tasks. Only one tree could be taken down today because of the way it fell. We will have to work on clearing it before the other two can be taken down. For a while in the morning we WWOOFers were sitting in the living room, busy at reading, writing, listening, meditating. This particular WWOOFer was finalizing a few blogs in process…

In the afternoon, Jacques and I went to the town of Katikati and walked around. Then we split up. I walked back on my own.

Teri with kiwi gentleman

The cutest police station in the world...actually we never see police on the streets

rebuilt replica of a Kauri Dam

Katikati is known as the Mural Town. Here is one

Public toilet at the visitor centre. It is absolutely typical of every flush toilet we have seen, with 2 options

Teri, true to form, stops in a cafe for a treat and some "mindfood" LOL

another mural

they SAID it was a Haiku Pathway, along a lovely stream...

...but none of the haiku has 17 syllables, with any accent...

a view of homes from the haiku path

more "haiku"

boys jumping of a bridge

walking the 3.19 km back up to 310 Busby Rd....the numbers are NOT a coincidence

At 2:30 was a 3 hour Reiki lesson for Molly and me. Then we cooked dinner--quinoa curry salad, maybe, and the sauerkraut appetizer, and another dish--what was it?

the sunset..

the night sky at a out 1:30 am...can you see anything on the photo? I can't tell because my screen is so dirty, but I could see THOUSANDS of stars...

Itadakimas

2012-01-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

18 Jan Wednesday: Itadakimas

Itadakimas is a Japanese word we have learned here. My understanding is that it means “thank you” in the most historically inclusive way. As a grace before meals, it means thank you for all the work and nutrients and energy that have been provided by the earth, the sun, the soil, the seed, the farmers, the water, the pickers, the handlers, the knives and knife-makers, the people providing the power if the food is cooked, the utensil makers, the chef, the table makers, the efforts of all to get to the place to enjoy the meal.

I would like to express itadakimas to all the forces that brought me to this WWOOFing spot…all the healing and meditation I have practiced before, the money I’ve earned to afford to come here, my daughter and her interests that made this possible, my husband’s support for this trip, my older daughter’s influence on my life and my soul that has made this trip so much richer, even though she is not with me. Rex and Jo and all of the steps along their paths that have led them to this place. Jacques and all of the wide-ranging healing study and learning he has done, and the patience and groundedness with which he infuses the space.

It is awesome in an almost undescribable way, and I am truly grateful.

17 Jan Tuesday: Clearing, Reiki, Sauerkraut, sharking, dinner, watering

2012-01-19T00:54:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning was spent clearing the area behind the Main Garden of wood and fence posts, and replacing the wind break on the south-ish windy side of the garden.

Wood was moved, and Rex happily invited Harold—his tractor—to help with the fence posts.

Before

before: mess of wood and posts

those posts have got to go...

Molly and a young feijoa (pineapple guava)

Men at work

Rotting wood pile...one must heave the wood 15-20 feet to hit the very large target

Coal found among the wood

Rex and Harold...having fun

Man at work...or is it at play???

the wood pile cleared, sorted, stacked for firewood etc

I am very much a “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” kind of traveler. Thus, since Rex, Jo and Jacques were all Reiki practitioners, I asked to do a Reiki session with someone. Molly wanted one, too. So we did a trade: A Reiki treatment after the morning work session in exchange for us cooking dinner this evening.

The Reiki was an hour of energy work that was an amazing palette of energy forces—heat, constriction, coolness, waves of energy, light sleep or loss of consciousness, a feeling of levitation, and a movie of changing colors behind closed eyelids.

Later that day, I noticed that I had not experienced the compelling energy (pain, actually) that has surround the exposed wires in my lower jaw. Coincidence or lifting of negative energy? Hmmmmm I will be doing some more of this Reiki stuff.

After lunch we all participated in a fermentation fest. We made the batch of sauerkraut for Kermit, the sauerkraut “mother,” and Molly made kim chee. Then Jo found two more recipes—one for fermented beets and another for cabbage Rejuvelac (which is “normally” made with wheat berries).

Living sauerkraut making involves sterilizing the containers, weighing out the cabbage and calculating the proper amount of brining salt to use, then shredding the cabbage, mashing it in layers with salt and peppercorns (or whatever), weighting down the mix, and putting on the lid. Then waiting a month.

Molly and Jo get to work on the kim chee

Jacques was the champion shredder...of cabbage that is...

shredding

12 kilos of cabbages --this is just part of the load for the monthly sauerkraut

Rex and Kermit, the sauerkraut mother. Rex is bashing the cabbage with the salt.

I'm bashing the cabbage in another container, to be added to Kermit

kim chee work continues

the glorious, full Kermit, ready to start fermentation

Jo decides to ferment some beets...or is she shredding a bloody heart?

Molly uses the VitaMix for kim chee ingredients

More mess...

Huge spider, which crawled out from the savoy cabbage from the garden, is captured in a plastic container for release in the garden. This specimen was plump and energetic! Rex finally got him...

beets ready for fermentation

beautiful froth on beet #2

Molly and I did about 45 minutes of sharking around the native trees…we’re not done yet. We found a very aggressive squash in the process.

the squash are getting a full grip on one of the native pittosporum trees.

very aggressive

On the way in to make dinner, a check on Winnie the Pisa, our compost pile....

Winnie the Pisa has shrink a lot in one day

Winnie was already up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Then we made dinner from Jo’s recipes—a quinoa curry salad with apples and raisins, the sauerkraut/avocado appetizer, and a cacao mousse cake. Molly did the heavy lifting with the cake and the blender/food processor combo…plus she decorated with a sliced strawberry fan.

Molly and Teri's dinner

Today’s lesson was about watering, and we spent about an hour after dinner watering—to the depth of the first digit on our index fingers…which took quite a bit more watering than I was accustomed to. Guessing did not work. Live and learn…

In the evening, Rex was at his Ukelele club, so Rex, Jacques, Molly and I watched Robert Smith videos on faster EFT (http://www.fastereft.com) and learned more techniques about letting go of areas of stuck-ness and personal beliefs about oneself, in order to heal emotional blockages that produce tension and dis-ease.

During the video, Jo shared that one of the teachers she had encountered said that one of the reasons people repeat the same mistake over and over and use the same beliefs to stay stuck (“I’m a perfectionist” or “I’m not attractive” or “people always treat me like that” or “I’m unlucky”) is that even if the behaviors or situations are traumatic, the individual has had success in surviving the situation. Each of us knows deep in our bones, that we can live through even the crummy things that have happened to us, so we frequently opt to do that rather than do the more pleasurable thing—that we do not know that we could live through. Hmmmm...

Back to the video. Root cause of all problems: Birth. One of the pieces of advice was to repeat the process taught until the blockage was gone or until you pass out. I secretly practiced these techniques until I fell asleep.

16 Jan Monday: Scything and hot compost

2012-01-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

We had a two hour work morning...first a visit to the tool shop.

Rex and his tools

We got lessons in using a scythe today. Rex said it was “a dance,” so I suspected I might be in trouble…or just need more than one lesson.  He showed us to shift our weight from one foot to another, side to side, the swing our arms from hip to hip.  Once we were holding the scythe, we were instructed to keep the scythe resting on the ground, and to pull it from right to left, ending with our right hand near our left hip.

As it turned out, I was more of a bunter than a home run hitter.  Unless I was both mindful and lucky, my follow-through lacked the might cutting power that the final portion of the scythe-stroke had, in Rex’s hands.

I trust I will get another chance to practice.  Molly already has it down.

Molly demonstrates fine scything technique

At the break, we had to go to the neighbors to feed the chooks (chickens) and sheep:

Me tossing bread treats to the sheep

one of New Zealand's finest, up close and personal

We had a 4 hour work session in the afternoon for hot compost building...We had to rake up grass that Rex was mowing with his beloved riding mower for one of the layers.

Jo was feeling a little better, having rested and having had a Reiki session with Jacques, but she mainly supervised—under strict orders from Rex.

This was a “hot compost” building process –in layers like lasagne. The main principles:

1. The pile must be a minimum of 1 meter x 1 meter x 1 meter, so we start it a little bigger.

2. The side must stay straight, so each layer must hide the layer underneath it—guard against sloping in as a pyramid shape.

3. Layers need to be moist. Carbon layers must be watered.

4. Carbon and nitrogen layers must alternate.

We layered hay, weeds with roots, grass, pig manure or horse manure or food compost, ash, and rye in as regular pattern as we could manage by consensus.

What fun! We were encouraged to name our pile…and having brainstormed through Winnie the Pooh (for obvious reasons)... we pretty much settled on Winnie the Pisa. “Winnie” is actually short for Winnipeg, from which Jacques hails. And it is more or less gender neutral. And "Pisa" because our beloved cube listed a bit in spite of our efforts to help it (or "zer") maintain good posture.

hay layer

grass layer

weed and root layer

manure and food waste layer

watering the dry layers

maure layer

could this be another pig poop and food waster layer? Don't stand downwind...

thistle layer: use gloves!

Winnie is getting bigger

me with Winnie

Jo bringing us more weeds

the pile getting bigger

...and bigger

Jacque, Molly, Teri and Winnie the Pisa...who Molly reminds us is gender neutral.

a blanket for Winnie

Building that pile was hard work—I was quite ditzy and thirsty and spent by 6:15 when we covered her up with an old carpet and weighted her down with some big hunks of wood.

I tried my hand at another haiku:

Building hot compost

Nutrient layers become:

Winnie the Pisa

For a real treat, check out Jacques’ Splice slideshow, which he made on his iPhone:

Jacques' time lapse of hot composting

Today’s lesson was about nutrient dense food, but our dinner was brilliantly dense with color and sweet taste:

my half-eaten bowl of beet soup--too delicious for words

Jo with salad

Oops, I did it again...uploaded a wonky photo of our daily lesson...

15 Jan: Sunday--Farming in Paradise

2012-01-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

Up at 7:00; breakfast of muesli and fruit for me and Jacques; “smoothie” in a bowl for Molly, Rex and Jo. We harvested huge weeds with dynamic nutrient roots (and chopped them up into compost salad). Separately, we pulled up rye and thistle for hot-compost building tomorrow. We cleared two beds for planting—one in the main garden, and one as a strawberry patch.

Weeds "stolen" from the neighbors property

hefty nutrient-filled weed roots.

chopping weeds for composting

cleared strawberry beds.

main garden

view from the house garden

house garden

tunnel garden and shade garden

tangelo

compost fixin's

Lunch was at 12:30…Yummy hummus and homemade wholegrain sourdough bread. We had some time off. First, I took a walk down with Jo to the neighbors whose property they were looking in on for about a week. There was a dog there—a very adorable brown Lab-like dog named Chloe, who was almost exactly the size of the pigs. She loves to be petted and groomed, and probably gets much of her girth from eating fallen avocados...

Jo with Chloe

We began work again at 3:30 to 6:30—this time… clearing space in the high grass for the windbreak of native trees to grow. Because Rex had told us of the Katikati “haiku walk” and Jo had joked that they should start their own haiku, I gave it a try (NOTE: I got the name wrong on the first go-around, and I have corrected it here):

Young native trees hide.

Niwashi sharking cuts grass.

Trees now breathe easy.

Niwashi is a company that makes special gardening knives. The knife called a "niwashi" is actually a smaller blade, sharp and perpendicular to the handle. This tool is actually called a "shark", and it, too, is a very nifty Japanese gardening tool, with a serrated edge on its inner curved blade. Handy.

I was confused because it is labeled "Niwashi" and it says it is made by Empress something or other...actually I was very confused because I originally called it a "nishiki." I should have zoomed in to my own picture. Live and learn.

the Niwashi

Mushrooms near the trees we were clearing a space around

We then planted brassicas (brocciflower, cabbage, bok choy) and leeks. Here was the method for the brassicas:

1. Wet down already turned and fortified good dirt…to a depth of 1 finger.

2. Cover with grassy mulch, to 4 inches.

3. Create nest-clearings about a foot and a quarter apart, to allow for a canopy of growth to form, stopping weeds, and creating a nutrient run-off when watered.

4. Soak the seedlings in a bucket—a “bubble bath”—keep them in until the bubbles stop and all air has been replaced by water.

5. Plant them up to the first set of double leaves, since brassicas root up to that point.

6. Cover with a huge netted wooden cage that you have already built (ha, ha…I guess Rex or Jo or some other wwoofers had that task). This prevents the white butterfly from laying eggs on them, and therefore prevents those big nasty wholes feeding the larvae.

Brassicas planted and caged

Seedlings were grown here

Molly and Rex at work

Rex and Jo making decisions.

Leek planting involved a prepared bed, a 3-4 inch hole pegged in with the semi-pointed end of a 1 inch in diameter long wooden dowel. The leek seedlings were then place in the holes, not filled in or tamped down, but rather filled with water.

Leek seedlings

Leek habitat holes

Molly at work

Distant trees, viewed while gardening, that looked fake, even though about 80 feet tall

Jacques makes a leek habitat...or is he hitting a home run?

Molly and Jacques

It was a lovely day’s work.

I was less tired at the end of the day than I had been at lunch. Hmmm… Maybe that old homeopathic thing: Better from movement.

Dinner was the inspired combination of sauerkraut and avocado as an appetizer, followed by bulghur and kumara (cooked) and a beet and parsley salad. Unfortunately, Jo, the cook, was not feeling well.

Nevertheless, this place is heaven. Jo is energetic and a good planner, with flexible organization and vision. There are a solid amount of tasks and a vast amount of knowledge about permaculture, local gardening practicalities, EFT (emotionally focused therapy), Reiki and who-knows what else… More is revealed every hour…

Jo bakes bread, makes hummus from scratch, and picks our salad from the garden just before every meal. Rex is also great, often playing string instruments and singing. They seem to be such an attuned couple.

The place is healing and full of wonderful surprises. Here are a few:

gooseberry in a surprise wrapper

the compost toilets

wwoofer made mural

Rex doing laundry

Jo petting her babies

the piggies--Ceres and Juno

Jo also provides daily lessons: here is today's:

In the evening, Molly was looking at other WWOOFing sites, to possibly stay on in NZ after I return home. ..

14 Jan: Saturday--from Auckland to Katikati

2012-01-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

I am drafting this post on the bus to Katikati. It has been a rainy/sunny/rainy/hot/cold/rainy day. We have put away and retrieved our rain jackets three times on our walk from the hotel to the Sky Tower, where there was an Intercity bus terminal—quite a large, central one. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself.

This morning I woke up at 6:00 and then again a little before 8:00. I showered and went downstairs for eggs and a coffee, then came back up to the room to wake Molly and pack up. We checked out, right when it was starting a major downpour. We were fully packed and carrying, with backpacks etc. Our goal was to go to Raw Power (we had already noted that Revive was closed on the weekend), but RP was closed, too. Molly remembered that there was a spot called “Habitual Fix” which had some great veggie options—we got wraps to go to eat on the bus.

I didn't look in a mirror after I strapped on my gear...

some people always look good

inside at Habitual Fix

We hung out there for a while, then got directions to the Sky Tower (DIRECT directions…let’s just say that being loaded up with the baggage was a little much for me). We checked in at the terminal, the went to the Sky Tower STARBUCKS and sat upstairs to chillax before it was time to board the bus at 12:45.

typical public toilet door enclosure--this one in the lobby of the Sky Tower building... BTW all public toilets have two buttons--one for very low flushing and another bigger flush

the bus terminal at the Sky Tower

Molly at the Sky Tower

Tourist attraction jumper outside the Sky Tower...we had enough of touristy things the previous night at the Ice House, so we passed on this.

Headed for Starbucks...at my request.

The upstairs sitting room at the Sky Tower Starbucks--better than anything I've seen in the States.

Oops...a spill. The lid wasn't quite on my Short Flat White (espresso and steamed milk)

Zoom in on this: we finally found a vegan restaurant...

I should have rotated this in iPhoto...but this is a picture of the weekend puzzle page--including a giant crossword...with some very challenging NZ clues.

On the bus, I am relieved. I feel as thought I can relax—someone else is making the decisions for a while. I can just sit back. There is always the very slight doubt in the meantime that I have made a mistake, or that the bus might be cancelled. But once I am on public transportation, I am so relaxed and relieved.

Tree Hugger veggie wrap on the bus

Molly on the bus

3 hours to Katikati (with several stops in between)where we were picked up by Rex and headed back to their homestead. It was an absolutely marvelous first day. Rex and Jo are warm, knowledgable, energetic. The place is comfortable, the food is top-notch, and there is a bonus wwoofer, Jacques, a 30 year old in career transition to healer.

A view from Rex and Jo's

My own bed! What a surprise!

the lovely kitchen

It's labelled "kitchen garden" but it is, in fact, a compost toilet.
Two, in fact... One that gets layered with sawdust, and another that is over a lidded bucket.

We had a fabulous vegan dinner of salad, "eggplant parmesan"--uncooked, but long marinated--and vegan cheesecake. So yummy.

To bed at 10:30. We slept really well.

Gratitude 14 Jan 2012

2012-01-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

I have been accumulating some pictures and some thoughts about what I have been grateful for on this trip.

the 1 liter to 8 liter waterproof bags for sorting stuff in my backpack and staying organized

the electric US to NZ converter set up with 3 plugs that my husband got for me before we left
It allows us to plug in all of our devices that need re-charging

my little sewing kit and mini Swiss Army knife with scissors

sugarless gum, which eased the problems I was having with my mouth wires

the ethernet cable at Alec's, because my wifi had gone wonky and he didn't have any wifi anyway...even though the set up was right in the middle of the kitchen where Alec could silently stand behind the user and read everything. OK that doesn't quite belong on a gratitude list.

The saucepans that were stashed away in these dusty boxes at Alec's...that allowed us to make soup and pasta

my wireless is working again...and I had a nice 90 minutes of writing downstairs at the quadrant with my trusty computer...and a what was a tall glass of very cold and very dark microbrewed beer

I am SO grateful for Molly as a traveling companion--her willingness to process and discuss things that come up, and her willingness to listen and set boundaries and just generally be a wonderful human being.

And, of course, I am grateful for my family and friends-- to come back home to....

xoxo

Love,

Teri

12: Friday the 13th: Dargaville to Auckland

2012-01-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

Goodbye to our lovely room in Dargaville, with a fabulous bathtub/shower. I took two baths; Molly took one. Ahhhhh....

our kitchenette, in use; the computer table with Ethernet was at the left. My wireless ceased to work. Just what everyone wants to do while on vacation...troubleshoot computer problems. Luckily one of the three fixes I wrote down while I had the ethernet connection worked...

Who needs a pedicure? It will have to wait two weeks....

Saving the day: do-it-yourself-dentistry--a mouth guard that I fitted to my lower jaw, to protect my tongue from the wire mesh protuding from my November bone graft surgery.

my hero...do you think I have a future in amateur dentistry?

OK: I was addicted to the Blah Blah Blah cafe. I took take out the previous day to have quiche this morning...with the most delicious stone-ground crust.

an odd sight en route from Dargaville to Auckland

Our plan was to make it to Auckland in time for lunch at the previously closed Blue Bird Vegetarian Cafe. And then drop off our backpacks and food at the Quadrant, then turn in our car by 14:00. I called Apex Car Rental from the Blue Bird to get permission to be up to an hour late, but we made it there by 2:15pm. After being ripped off by a gas station attendant who super topped off our tank. And, I couldn't pay my tolls there, so I will have to do it my phone or online, where I will be charged as much as the toll by Master Card or Visa.

BlueBird Calzone and salad (Teri).

What happened to Molly's Bali Hai Kumara bowl?

a view from upstairs

another view from upstairs....

When we got back to our hotel, Molly hung out in the room. I went downstairs to the tiny cafe/bar and did some writing and chatted with the "bartender" who was, at 22, living on his own for the first time and getting daily shocks about bills. "What? you pay for water from the tap?" I guess the folks in Auckland aren't getting their water from their own rooftops...the city must organize that for them.

At 6:00, we walked down to the harbor

Ahh...a cruise ship! What a great idea!!!

CPAs are busy here, too

PriceWaterhouseCoopers needs its own building, too...right by the wharf

Our destination on this walk was Freddy's Ice House, which was a bar made of solid ice. The drink glasses were also made of ice. Unfortunately, they did not allow us to take our own photos in the place. They did it for us, Universal Studios style. Molly had brought her license (the drinking age is 18), but they would only take a passport, so a drink out with mom is still in the future...

The Ice House provides the jackets, rubber glove liners, and gloves

Probably our only emu ride of the trip...

In the evening, we watched a NZ comedy show in the room, followed by Ellen Degeneres and hit the sack...

Day 11: Dargaville and Baylys Beach: the Tasman Sea

2012-01-12T19:31:00.000-08:00

In the morning, I let Molly sleep in, and walked to town for coffee and breakfast.

En route I saw someone delivering the mail:

bicycling female mail carrier

the bathroom from my home away from home, the Blah Blah Blah Cafe

one more thing I don't know about wine.

Molly walked into town and met up with me...

Huh?

We went to Countdown, the supermarket, looking for bug spray and itch cream, among other things. But, we FOUND other things...

mince pies...are these leftover from Christmas?

the ubiquitous beetroot

We then went looking for postcard stamps...and we looked here:

This, however was a fitness gym...which one didn't know until going inside. The real post office was in the Lotto store.

Then, a 10 minute car ride to Baylys Beach, where we got to put our toes into the Tasman Sea.

Molly runs on the beach; there were others fishing and surfing

Wading deep

the sand was black and grey, and packed very hard for extremely pleasant walking

looking back at the entry to the beach

the runner returns

Uh....what exactly are Toheroa??? No Google on the beach

Baylys Beach had its own observatory...but we passed on the recommended Funky Fish restaurant

Back at the Blah Blah Blah Cafe: Hamuka? on Kumara Mash;

Molly had a lentil burger...

We chilled out back in the hotel room in the afternoon, then had dinner in: almond butter sandwiches and salad. We watched Jack Black and Emily Blunt in Gulliver's Travels in the evening, and turned in. But we slept fitfully--the rains that occurred during the night were unbelievably hard.

All in all, a good stop. Thank goodness for the ethernet there. My wifi has gone bonkers.

Day 10: 11 Jan, Weds: Leaving the Mosquito Coast

2012-01-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

...I'm not just referring to Molly's 50 bug bites, I am alluding to the book by Paul Theroux, or the movie starring Harrison Ford. The plot involved a single-minded, know-it-all survivalist who moved his family to live in his own universe along the Mosquito Coast in Central America. It did not end well.

Let's just say that in hindsight, there were some similarities.

It was great to get out of there, and it took some adjustment time to get my center back.

In my excitement to leave the property at 9:45am to make the 10:00 ferry, it was good that Molly was at
my side. "Mom," she said..."you are driving on the wrong side of the road." The right turn into the right hand lane seemed all too "right." Luckily, it was a rarely-traveled country road and I was able to correct my mistake.

Generally, now that we are driving again...the left-side of the road business is becoming more natural. There is one thing that is still jarring. As I am driving along, when I see a car on the right hand side road try to make a left turn, toward me...I forget that he will be turning into the other lane, not my lane, and I momentarily am on all-alert, shocked that I am driving on the left.

A scenic stop along the bay en route to Waipua Forest

On our way back to Auckland en route to the Bay of Plenty, we took the western coastal travel opportunities available: the ferry, a visit to the most giant of the ancient Kauri trees, and a stop in Dargaville that ended up being a two-night stop--we were very much in need of some rest and recuperation.

On the ferry, leaving Kohukohu for Rahewe

This is a photo of me and Tane Mahuta

This is me and a Swiss boy who had been on the ferry with us with his two parents. We are in front of the Kauri with the greatest GIRTH: Tane Matua Ngahere

We find our hotel in Dargavillee, 2km beyond the center of town

I left Molly in the hotel room at her request, and I found the Blah Blah Blah Cafe. I had a great lunch, followed by a cappacino

some of the Blah Blah Blah art

my pasta and mushroom, pepper and bacon lunch

after lunch, I could not resist a visit to Molly's fashions, where two old ladies helped me find a nice pair of old lady short pants...

After an afternoon of talks, and a visit to the smallest laundromat ever--a one-car garage with 3 washers and 3 dryers, we went to dinner at Shiraz. There, the sweetest young man took total care to make sure that Molly's meal was vegan. It was an Indian restaurant that also did pizza.

We decided to stay another night right were we were, rather than going off to hot springs.

Day 9: Tues 10 Jan: Bumblebees and Kauri

2012-01-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

Before the Morning Dog Walk, I spied this plump orange and black bumblebee helping out the tomatoes:

The morning walk went in a new direction: toward the few Kauri trees on Alec's property. This tree was along the way:

above is a cedar, which make the right angle branches

Alec and Molly stand in front of the fairly young kauri tree

a view from the highest point on Alec's property

Molly en route to Kauri #2

Kauri #2

poison bait trap for the rabbits, set near the papaya.

The practical over the organic...

replanted store-bought lettuce does not look like it will make it.

Near the end of the morning walk, we went by the green-surfaced pond. Dog took a mucky swim.

Alec had some book recommendations for us:

I know someone who would like to see the Airstreams in this book.

Actually, all the caravans are from the mid-twentieth century.

In the evening, we packed up for an early morning departure...

Day 8: A Break in the Weather....

2012-01-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

There was a slight window between showers when we woke up. Molly made progress clearing a few vegetable gardens. I finally finished weeding around the tropical apricots.

the tree is somewhere in the middle, surrounded by kikuyu (which I can now spell)

After breakfast, Molly interviewed Alec about his economic system. I overhead bits and pieces while I wrote, but that is her business...

I got a Facebook message from a friend who now lives in Wellington. I’ll call once my phone works again—it seems not to be able to send or receive from this location. Molly has a co-op contact in Wellington as well. Maybe it is worth a bus trip from our next wwooff? More will be revealed.

Morning Dog Walk was late, but uneventful. I finally dressed for the weather—wearing my unitard mid-thigh swimwear under my rain jacket, with crocs. Meanwhile, some of clothes are finally dry.

jeans, socks, shoes drying

Molly made a good lunch:

The afternoon tasks included clearing a huge hexagonal garden bed for Molly. She also found some time to document stuff for her internship, and chill out a bit.

the beds before

in progress

after

Molly hauled the weeds to the compost pile

then took a break...

Evening walk was damp

inside work

protected from the rabbits organically

My tasks for the afternoon included repairing the umbrellas:

...and weeding out the tomatoes:

above: BEFORE

below: AFTER

Molly, beautiful Molly, in repose, caught unaware:

Dinner: Molly cooked soba and veggies. I cooked the Nadis-Schwartz soy sauce and honey chicken for Alec. With chard, onions and carrots.

In the evening, Molly and I worked on the Split Decisions puzzle that Dick had emailed and Alec printed out for us. Is “gallish” a word? The internet doesn't think so. It goes well with “Garnish” and “googol”. But there were several “proper nouns”—Google, Oslo, Corvette and Mach…maybe Games magazine owes me a t-shirt...

Day 7: Sun 08 Jan: Summer in NZ is like winter in San Francisco…

2012-01-09T22:53:00.000-08:00

In other words…more rain. Alternating from light showers to heavy, windy rain.

This morning’s breakfast had a slight variation: home canned peaches in the porridge. I also had some of the yogurt I bought—the best I’d ever tasted. Even though there is a monopoly milk producer on this island, and it is likely the milk from that commercial yogurt came from Fonterra. Without additives, it still tasted rich and creamy--just the right tartness. What are they doing differently? …

Another walk in the rain…This time I wore my fancy silk pants (washed from yesterday’s spill, and dried on the radiator last night). I safety pinned them up in short shorts under my rain jacket, so as not to get my jeans wet.

Yes, I have rolled up shorts on under this raingear.

I think I have the palest legs in NZ, btw...

this is a view from about 1/2 of the way up the hill.

You can see Wally's house down below.

I was able to snag some rainy day time to catch up on my writing…but then it was weeding time.

That respite from rain didn’t last long. Alec had cabin fever, so we drove into town in his 4WD Pathfinder aka Nissan Terrano.

Alec says the Japanese put that on a lot of the cars shipped to NZ.

NZ gets a lot of 5 year old used cars from Japan.

The trip into town just happened to be in one of the worst windy downpours at first. We bought some postcards at the art gallery:

this is Wally's entry into a ukelele artist design exhibit

another artist from the same exhibit

There were also several other interesting items in the art gallery:

these were by Wally

another artist designed this fake book;

Wally was commissioned to do the painting.

Along the town main street--the All Day Cafe:

this shop was guarded by a dog who tried to bite

those that came too close.

square things are old bank vaults.

out to the pier

Teri walking out to end of pier and jetty

Molly on the pier

looking back at the town.

the jetty...I thought this was going to be the vehicular ferry we have to take when we leave...OOPS.

back near the closed cafe.

mangroves

On the walk about, we saw a few people that Alec knew—Leeza, the owner of the shop that is temporarily the Hokianga Outpost (she had a sweet, Taffy-like dog named Geena), and she lived in what was the banker’s house.

note the "no spray" sign on one property

owned by a Colorado stockbroker who lives here 3 months/yr

and his Israeli artist wife. $NZ 1 million.

view from the house

another view from the house

not really for astronomy fans, but nice try

another teaching moment

explained below:

abandoned...

Library hours for Karen...

the whole town.

When we got back I had the job of cleaning the fridge and unblocking the drainage pipes in the back: success!

A little later Alec and Molly worked at respective computers:

Our town walk had taken 90 minutes, and another set of clothes were soaked, so Molly and I stayed back from the rainy Evening Dog Walk. Molly did find some Australian parrots to photograph:

Molly got an “early” dinner (7:15 …er…19:15). I got a head start on our 2^nd salmon dinner, with mashed potatoes and courgettes. When I went shopping early in our stay, I paid the equivalent of $10/lb for glorious fresh wild-caught salmon, so I bought 5 filets--enough for 2 dinners for Alec and me, and one filet for Alec’s freezer.

it has taken me a while to get the hang of this veggie peeler

OK, I confess: Molly did these.

Molly went to bed early. I stayed in the house to use the internet for the blog and to book hotel rooms in Auckland for our stop back to return the car and for the night before we leave.

Molly was up dealing with her mosquito bites when I went into the caravan for bed. I had a fitful nights’ sleep with 3 rainy trips to the bathroom. On the pre-dawn outing, I heard the tui bird’s complete song—or a fuller version—in two part harmony…two notes at once. Molly will leave out her recorder so I can capture the sound tomorrow.

Function over Form

2012-01-09T00:49:00.000-08:00

One part of being here that really appeals to my Earth Sign nature is that everything is Function over Form. Alec does not care what things look like, but he cares about how things work. And things work really well.
The bathroom is totally private and practical.
The kitchen allows for cooking and sprouting and recycling.
Everything is handy.
A bread knife on the porch is a human scale machete for dealing with weeds
Boots are at the door; slippers inside.

the kitchen sink with ripening fruit, and a window you can

use to toss out the spiders you find in the chard.

recycling, burnables...and potatoes

the essential foods, including breadmaker and muesli

the microwave with citrus

the stove, more supplies, the fridge, the freezer

Alec peels fruit on porch with handy knife

the compost bin for food compost...as opposed to the big compost piles

Alec's favorite chair, with afghan

the entry porch with big step up

I will add to this page before we leave...but I find it very comfortable to be here.