For the past ten days, Andrew and I have been doing some WWOOFing at a nice place in Matakana. It has been quite different from our previous experiences. We work 4 hours per day, on average, with our hours being flexible (so if we work 8 hours one day, we can take the next day off). We prepare our own meals and our hosts either provide the food or pay us back for our groceries. It's been quite a pleasant experience!
Gardens on the property
We also have our own 'house' basically. Our own bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and living space that is completely separate from their space. At first it seemed a bit odd, but it has been quite pleasant to have our own space that is a bit larger than the campervan. I was so excited to sleep in a real bed the first night here!
Pretty Flowers
The work has been mainly gardening, gardening, and more gardening. Pulling weeds, laying down mulch, pruning trees, and tending to the nearly 10 acres of gardens and orchards. The first day I spent crawling around on my knees spreading mulch and fertilizer underneath plants for 4 hours in the rain I wasn't too fond of the work, but it hasn't been too difficult. I've been quite enjoying spending the days enjoying the sun, listening to audio books, and doing some gardening.
Front Door Garden
It wasn't feeling much like Christmas and I was upset and missing home the other day. Andrew wanted to cheer me up, so he went and grabbed the solar Christmas lights from our campervan and put them up for me. We then proceeded to spend the rest of the night watching Christmas specials. I have such a sweet husband!
Christmas Lights
Living Room
Our hosts have 4 kayaks: 2 long ocean kayaks and two three meter play kayaks. One of the mornings was perfect for a kayak so they invited us to join them. They made sure that we had the lay of the water and knew where to go, then left us to enjoy our morning paddle while they, with their longer boats, explored further. It was a very pleasant day and we had fun paddling along the shore. I had forgotten how much more buoyant salt water is and how stable it makes kayaking! We paddled past a nice looking golf course, under a bridge where there are usually eagle rays, and along some beautiful properties. We saw a school of fish jumping, which looked really odd at first. It took me a few moments to figure out what the silver flashes at the surface of the water were.
A Real Bed
We've really enjoyed our time here in Matakana, exploring the markets, vineyards, cinema, gardens, and shoreline of the area. Andrew and I are looking forward to our next adventures and finally heading south of Auckland!
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