Well hello there friends…
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving (for you Americans) and for
everyone else, that you are excitedly prepping for your holidays! It’s been a wonderful six weeks back in the
States. I’ve spent most of my time
prepping for the next part of my trip, but I did get a few spare moments to
look around Wilmington and even get to the beach once or twice.
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| Sunset at Fort Fisher |
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| Preparing for Christmas Flotilla at Wrightsville Beach |
The Barrs had a terrific Thanksgiving at my Mom’s house. Of course Will, my Mom, and I were there, as
well as a few welcome additions – Tate, my cousin from Ft. Worth drove all the
way out to the coast, and Anjali and her boyfriend Andy drove south from
DC. We even had my Mom’s neighbor Liza
come over (her cat Calvin was disappointed he was not welcomed into the house,
for fear that he would attack Will’s cat Zelda). We had a great weekend hanging out, playing
Cards Against Humanity, watching the Michigan vs OSU game, attending a Haunted
Bar Crawl, and seeing the sunset at Fort Fisher. I was so thankful to have so many friends and
family to celebrate with!
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| Finishing up morning coffee before we begin to cook Thanksgiving Dinner |
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| Anjali helping me prep the brussel sprouts! |
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| Me, oh my, look at those pies! |
Tomorrow I head out to the airport, with a restocked backpack (still
purple as ever) and a new set of adventures in store. Now... what exactly does Phase 2 look like?
First, I’ll hop over to Los Angeles to visit with Cousin Kevin, Sarah,
and little Arlo for a few days. Next I
fly to Fiji, to the main island of Nadi.
From there I will make my way across the island and then by boat to my island for a week, returning the same
way. And finally I will hop over to
Auckland in time for Christmas (within the timeframe of my magically obtained visa).
While in New Zealand I will be sightseeing of course, but mainly WWOOFing. WWOOF stands for the
world-wide organization of organic farmers.
It is an international organization that pares organic farms with
interested participants. Each country
manages their own WWOOF organization, farms and participants, and website. I did peruse the US website a few years back
and ended up taking a goat husbandry class with my friend Janelle one Saturday
up in Lake Stevens, WA. I realized that
if I ever wanted the opportunity to actually stay on a farm and really get the
hang of it, I would need to be there at least two weeks (something that wasn't possible while still employed).
The general gist of the program is to find a farm that suits you (be it
bees, vegetables, cattle, horses, or something else), message them to set up a
suitable time to come stay with them (if they have space and are taking WWOOFers), and then receive free room and board for
4-6 hours of work per day. After
researching dozens of farms I was surprised at how different they all were. Some of these “farms” are actually hotels
that want people to help clean the guest rooms, some folks were looking for childcare assistance, and some places gave no details
whatsoever (so who knows what you’d be walking into?).
But the ones I chose, and the ones that worked out seem to be fully operational organic farms with passionate farmers who want to teach and share their
successes and failures in organic farming.
So far I have set up to work on two vegetable farms, one blueberry and
plum farm, a goat farm, and one other farm that is mainly vegetables but also
works with mentally disabled adults – so my job will be to help with the farm,
and also to interact with the people that work and live on the premise. I’m quite excited about all of them!
I plan to start north of Auckland and make my way down through the
North Island and then the South Island.
I have some plans made for sights to see, places to hike, and things to
do – but there are a lot of blank spaces to fill in once I get there and fall
into a rhythm.
From the pictures I’ve seen of New Zealand, it reminds me a lot of
Iceland, especially with such a variety of landscapes and beauty.
Everyone has told me the same thing I tell everyone – “I’ve heard
nothing but amazing things about New Zealand…” So now it’s time to go see what
all the fuss is about…
