Kindness...

There is certainly no shortage of learning about ourselves and others as we venture across the world. Today I was reminded that people are extremely kind.

Let me explain.

To set the scene, twenty-four years ago I started my teaching career at Colegio Los Nogales, a private school in Bogota Colombia. (Yes, I was around 5 years old ;) It was here that I became friends with Connie, and her husband, Fernando. Since then, we've stayed in touch, and from time to time connected over the years in Canada or the U.S. 

Connie planted the seed of visiting New Zealand years ago when they relocated from Colombia, and it has always been in our minds. But traveling halfway around the world for two weeks at Christmas just never made sense, nor did a trip to NZ in July. No one needs 2 winters in one year, now do they!

As our semester off started to become a reality, I contacted Connie. She and Fernando were SUPER EXCITED to host us. At least that's how I interpreted her email. I mean, that's what an emoji smiley face means, right? 

Fast forward several months, a few itinerary exchanges, a couple of messages about historic flooding and a cyclone hit 3 days prior to our arrival, and we were greeted by Connie's huge smile at the airport.

For the next 3 days Connie and Fernando welcomed us into their home, and went out of their way to give us a truly great Auckland and New Zealand experience. Highlights of our first weekend together included dining on Fernando's famous fish tacos, trekking around the Auckland Botanical Gardens, checking out city views from every angle, including from Mt Victoria on the north shore, and great conversation over delicious, home cooked meals - and of course, remembering Bogata. We couldn't have asked for a better time before heading south for our first wwoofing adventure. Kindness with a capital K.

Upon our return from Debbie's farm, it soon became apparent that Connie and Fernando had upped their game. They had booked an entire weekend for us around Paihia and the Bay of Islands, a popular tourist destination in Northern New Zealand. In fact, Connie drove through torrential rains, road closures and flash flooding (and I'm not exaggerating) to make this trip north happen.

Our weekend trip didn't exactly go according to plan. You see, while Paul and I were out on a 5 hour boat tour of the islands, Connie and Fernando had made plans to go and visit with their friends, but enroute catastrophe struck - the dreaded check engine light and loss of power! Oh boy. This was very high on the "not cool" list. Some serious problem solving ensued, and Connie and Fernando sorted out an overnight at friend's Fernando and Sonia and bus tickets back to Auckland on Sunday. With 2 weeks of travel under our belts, we think of ourselves as flexible and adaptable. Bring on the unknown; we can handle anything!

Let me tell you we arrived to a scene that was quite unexpected. We really couldn't have anticipated it, or dreamt it for that matter. Connie did her best to prepare us during the car ride, but when we arrived at Fernando and Sonia's, we stepped foot into a palatial estate. More important than the home or property, was the warm welcome.  We were made to feel at home immediately.

We are truly grateful for all the kindness shown to us so far. These examples of kindness have definitely set a higher example for both of us.

Snorkeling So Far (A video Story)

We love to snorkel. We have been very excited to be able to snorkel on this trip and have even lugged along our own equipment. It’s nothing fancy, but it does make a difference when things fit! And to top it off, we were generously gifted a GoPro that really needed to be put to good use.

We had extremely optimist plans to snorkel almost every day in Hawaii. However, high winds washed out those plans (and our accommodation plans as well).

After we’d attempted all of the east and south coast options, on the advice of a colleague of Gayles we set out for Electric Beach. It has been given this name because it is literally in the shadow of a power plant.

Access to the tiny beach was crowded so we became excited quickly. Gayle found this sea turtle and there were lots of little colourful fish too!

A short drive later we found ourselves at Pūpūkea Beach Park. This is a North Shore beach that is protected from the wind and waves by a natural barrier that is a good place to find fish. 

It’s not very deep and there are lots of people, however, the views are plentiful.

Since arriving in New Zealand, we had noticed that, although there are beaches, there seemed to be very few swimmers. It’s what we call “little kid warm” - you know, only warm enough for little kids to swim in.

We had an opportunity to go north to Piahai this weekend and we jumped at the change to take a tour boat in the Bay of Islands that included a chance to snorkel.

There was no reef, only rocks, however we saw and Eagle Ray and some very impressive larger fish. This was so much better than we expected.

We are looking forward to future snorkeling in Thailand and Madagascar. 

The Importance of Routines

We been traveling for 2 weeks and have slept in 7 different “beds”. We are writing this blog at 8am on Thursday.  Breakfast is a 10 am. None of our routines are even close to our “normal” these days.

We are just realizing how much we normally rely on our daily and weekly routines to keep ourselves organized and both physically and mentally fit.

When we arrived at Debbie’s farm, she let us know that we’d be working every day from 4 pm - 8 pm to “beat the heat”. We don’t really know our jobs until 4pm. Breakfast would be at 10, lunch at 2 and dinner at 9 pm.  Whoa!  This timing is very different from our 5 something daily start and 10 pm bedtime. 

We really like the start of the school year, because the routines quickly align - skating Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday for Paul, Soccer Thursday and Sunday for Gayle and Ultimate on Tuesday for both of us. It’s unlikely that anything like that will unfold for us over the next few months.

It’s our last day at Debbie’s. We’ve just figured out the routine - we think. Debbie is always looking for different experiences for us, so you never know. As well organized and planned people, this is a stretch for us.

We’ve gone for a walk before breakfast everyday since Sunday. Guess we’d better get going if we’re going to keep this routine.

The Layers of an Onion

Imagine an onion. You know what they're like. Dirt covers the outside thin layer, then as you peel it back, you find many layers, some sweeter, some stronger, some juicier, some thicker, and then eventually you get to the heart of it. Our first wwoofing experience has been much like an onion. And with onions being harvested all around us in the Pukekohe region, this seems very fitting.

Let's begin by saying we arrived to our "back up" wwoof host Debbie's, grateful for the opportunity to learn what small scale farming looks like in New Zealand. Recall Carla had bailed on us in a previous blog post and we scrambled a bit to sort out another wwoof site. Debbie's post on the wwoof site was, in retrospect, a wee bit vague. But she was quick to reply to our request, so we relaxed, and let fate take over; as one of my Catholic friends says, “let Jesus take the wheel.”

Layer one of our experience began upon our arrival to Debbie's in recognizing that our onion was very dirty, and this was not metaphorical dirt, but instead, quite literal. We found dirty floors, dirty dishes, dirty furniture. Our instinct was to sweep, wash and wipe our onion to cleanliness, or at least livability. So, in true Gayle and Paul - get ‘R done fashion, we grabbed the broken broom, broken vacuum, and broken dust pan and went to work. Somewhere in this initial reaction, we became slightly more accustomed to the dirt (which translates as “I am not taking my shoes off ever inside the house"). An entire PhD study can probably be done on this brain psychology - we simply believe that many who show up do not stay. Despite all of this, we started looking beyond the thin outside layer, to the meatier, juicer layers inside.

In the next layer of our wwoofing “onion” experience we peeled back and discovered the work tasks. Debbie quickly discovered Paul's knack for building, and put him onto a redesign of the chicken tractor (a chicken coop on wheels), a reconstruct of the hen house door, and a shelter build for the lawn mower. Gayle spent time painting various half finished projects, and did quite a bit to clean up endless gardens on the 10 acres. You see, ten acres might not seem like a lot, but when you have a warm and rainy climate that promotes year round growth, ten acres of gardens and hedges seems more like one hundred acres when you are a single owner with many other things on the go.

That brings us to our next layer: the buildings. One house would be plenty to manage, so imagine four! Debbie has a proper house, which she is currently trying to split into a duplex so it can be rented as homes for migrant workers. She also has a tiny home, a small house where she and her daughter live, and a recently purchased building intended for housing but in need of major renovations. Oh, and I almost forgot a bunkie and a other bedroom off the carport. As you can see, this layer is thick and juicy, but not without a few blemishes. Debbie works her magic to renovate these buildings on a shoe string budget. She finds treasures on line, reinvents them, and resells them for a profit, all to be able to purchase other items for the housing units. Blemishes start to grow when time is too short for cleaning and maintenance.

Animals make up the spicy layer of our onion. Debbie has two dogs and two cats that are, quite honestly, old, decrepit and smelly. There’s no nice way to say it.

They are well loved and well taken care of. She also has a few sheep that seem to take care of themselves for the present time. What adds the spice to this layer are Debbie's free-range chickens. Most have names, Lacey often finds herself looking for cuddles inside the house, and chicken tractors and coops seem to be an ongoing concern. All of this being said, it is very exciting to open a coop and find the odd fresh egg! The chickens seem to like the new door on the coop and are spending more time in there too!

At the heart of our onion is the sweet layer and the reason for being at Debbie's -  wwoofing. In case you forget wwoofing stands for 'willing workers on organic farms'. Perhaps this isn't really an organic farm, but Debbie genuinely wants to give her wwoofers a great experience. She goes out of her way to cook delicious meals using creative food ideas, show her woofers interesting local sights, and provide support where she can. For example, Debbie has taken Vlada and Lucas, a young couple from France, to get bank accounts and see about buying a camper van today. She is kind, helpful, and goes out of her way to provide a great New Zealand experience for everyone who comes.

When it’s all said and done, we can safely say that this experience was way outside of our bell curve of expectations. We have tested our limits and have learned many things about people, the way they live and what’s important to them. We have also clearly seen what can happen when the best of  “intentions” are not backed with enough enduring resources.

The stories of this blog and our trip are about adventure. Our time at Debbie's farm has certainly not fallen short of that standard and has given us subject material for many stories we'll be sure to share in person!

Franklin Food Forest

We’ve been very busy at Debbie’s for the past few days building, gardening and doing some general clean up. We’ll give you more details about all of that later.

We decided to give Abigail and Jesse a call on Tuesday morning (Family Day for them) in the hopes of hearing and seeing the latest Eleanor updates. Our call was interrupted by a call from Debbie inviting us to  a meeting at the Franklin Food Forest. We, of course said yes. We ate a quick breakfast (oatmeal, fruit and yoghurt) and hit the road.

The details of the FFF were scant, but Debbie really wanted to give us an outing. She knew that the FFF was associated with the local high school, so it was right up our alley. We arrived at about 9:30 and no one was there. Debbie’s attempts to contact the organizers through email had been ineffective, so there were a few awkward minutes roaming in the forest.

Not long after, Graham arrived. He explained that the “meeting” was really a 2 hour work bee. Despite this he was a gracious host who gave us a tour or the forest and to talk about its history.

The school owned the plot, which is located just outside the rugby field, and over the years it had fallen out of use in the curriculum and had become over grown. Several years ago, volunteers began to reclaim and rejuvenate the space as a food forest. (There are notable similarities with some of our high school green houses).

The group has made a real effort to make this project a success and now there is just about every type of fruit tree you can think of: apples, plums, citrus, avacado, kiwi, figs, passion fruit to name a few. There are also “dye’ plans which can be used to extract pigments.

After touring with Graham, other volunteers arrived and we learned even more. They have been able to rekindle the interest in the forest at the school and on Thursday, a class will be coming to visit.

Some of the highlights for us included:

The banana flower:

The Swanweed which is planted to attract Monarchs. While it appears different that our Milkweed, the seeds are remarkably similar.

 

It’s Only A Plan - Not a Script

When we tell people about our Adventure, one of the most common questions we get is “How long did that take you you plan?” The truth is, we really have no idea. We do know that the most time consuming part was selecting our wwooffing opportunities in New Zealand. (Click here to learn more about wwoofing.)

You see, there are 100’s of opportunities in New Zealand. The map below gives you some idea of the scope on the North Island alone. We knew we had about 4 weeks for wwoofing, so we had some work to do.

In New Zealand, wwoofing is not just about farms. You can find places that are looking for gardening, tree planting, construction, renovation, child care and even pet care!  

Beginning in September, we (well, mostly Paul, who perceived this as a problem to solve) spent hours researching. We started to refine our search and our criteria … 5 dogs (too many), 5 kids (too many), power tools (excellent), shared accommodation with 4 other wwoofers (nope!!). There were just so many variables!

In November, we finally confirmed our last of 3 places where we’d work. Paul could finally get his life back. 😉 (or at least sleep a little more).

Insert plot twist here.

In late January we decided to start to confirm the many details of our trip. We discovered that Wwoofing stop # 2 had been inadvertently cancelled by Paul in January. This was a little (a lot) stressful and a couple of anxious days for us. Thankfully, we were able to quickly fix that and we were back on for the Cornerstone Cafe.

We followed the same plan for the other two places. The Food Farm was a go. They even asked us to come early for a Wine and Food festival. Unfortunately, we can’t go early but we are really looking forward to 2 weeks there.

We, however did not hear back from Carla at the Hurstmere Estate (our first stop). We tried again to contact her through the wwoofing site. The area where they live was hit hard by the cyclone, so we weren’t sure if they had a working connection. We believed there would be lots of extra hands needed. 

Wwoofing was booked to start there Monday, so on Friday, since we had no other way to contact Carla, we began searching the internet. We found two important things: 1. The phone number was not in service. 2. The place was listed on multiple Airbnb type services and all were showing fully booked.

This was not looking good. Using all of our resources, we were able to initiate a conversation through Airbnb. The response was quick and sharp: 1. “I have no recollection of booking you.” And 2. “Contact me through the wwoof site, only.” So harsh. This was the end of our “relationship” with Carla.

Desperation set in on Friday night. We were very tired from 18+ Km of walking around Auckland, but quickly and efficiently found some other farms to message. (Funny how we were not worried at all about the number of dogs or kids!). 

Within 30 minutes, Debbie accepted us to help at her beef and sheep farm just south of Auckland. Hurray for Debbie! Hopefully she has both kids and dogs!

We’ll leave at noon today and start our first shift a 4 pm. This is so exciting! We wouldn’t want our Adventure to be any other way.

Observations through our eyes

One thing we like to do while traveling is to note similarities and differences to home. I guess you could say it's a "compare" and "contrast" type question on a grade 9 Geography test. (Shout out to anyone who has taken, is taking, or is teaching Geography!)

So check out these similarities and differences between Belleville and Oahu.

SIMILARITIES

* cars are the backbone of transportation,  and if you read between the lines, this means there are a lot of them, and traffic was quite slow at times

* food trucks are popular and delicious

* recycling happens and is collected by trucks

DIFFERENCES

* place names are super hard to pronounce when every place starts with a k and has some crazy combo of a, u, e, i, with the odd m thrown in for good measure

* beaches are public, plentiful and pretty darn amazing 

* stray chickens seem to be everywhere (I'm standing outside McDonald's right now in Honolulu and have 4 within sight)

* some beaches are closed on Sunday.  Wait - what?

* churches are around every corner. There are a lot of corners, so there are a lot of churches

* public transit is amazing as it covers the entire island of Oahu

* budget hotels and motels do NOT exist, and if you know us, this was VERY disappointing 

* surfing, snorkling, and hiking are not just possible, but are expected

Places that start with ‘K’

 Seems like everywhere in Oahu has a “K” place name. Here are some of our highlights.

Kahuku This is a town located in the north east.  It’s know for food trucks, especially Giovanni’s Shrimp.
Kailua A beach town on east coast. We visited many beaches looking for opportunities to snorkel.
Ka'ane A spectacular place that forms the north western point of Oahu. It’s now a wild life preserve and nesting grounds for Alabtross and Monk Seals. We saw some Humpback whales as well.

Kaneohe
A city in the east where we rented a car through a car-sharing service. This lady sold us some Banana Lumpias on the way.

Bedless in Hawaii

We woke on day 1 in Hawaii with a beautiful view of the ocean through the cabin windows. After exploring our new surroundings and taking a leisurely ramble down the beach, we headed for the campground office to check things out. Much to our dismay we saw a post in the window stating that all north shore campgrounds would be closed for the weekend due to high winds. I guess we missed seeing that in the dark after 24 hours of traveling. Being eternal optimists, we still had hope that somehow we could finangle our accommodation and just hide out during this wind storm. So at 8:30 we trundled off to get the scoop from the office.

Perhaps by now you've figured out that no one was at the campground because it was closed  and therefore we stayed there that night somewhat illegally.  Now it gets fun. As we rounded the corner, we were greeted by 2 large,  very official police officers, wearing very official weapons.  Oh Dear!

Of course we played it cool, and let things unravel  (dumb as a fox). It turned out an alarm was going off, which notified the police. It had nothing to do with us. Whew.

Jump ahead to a very disappointing conversation with a campground staffer and I'll tell you this, we were officially homeless in Hawaii. No hale, no bed, and nothing but four backpacks between us.

Busses run on the 1/2 hour.  Time to find some wifi (and coffee)....

Travel is Like a Box of Chocolates…

We all know what "Momma always says" about life. Travel is not much different, it seems. 

 To get to the airport ahead of our 6am flight on Friday, we planned to take the Megabus on Thursday at 1:30. The weather warnings to our west had us a little worried. However, after being dropped at the bus station on at 1:15 by our friend Karen, the bus trip was uneventful. We took a shuttle to the hotel with 12 very happy travelers who had just returned from a week in Cuba. Our large back packs stood out in the luggage pile! 

 So far, just milk chocolate. 

 Our shuttle left the hotel at 3am and our driver, Samir, lead a full-on "Cash Cab" style quiz show. Totally unexpected and so much fun. Security and US customs were a breeze. Usually we get nailed for some camping gear violations, so that was a nice change. We boarded the plane for New York on time and were thilled when the captain informed us that the flight time was 1 hour. Our tickets clearly said 2 hours and we were excited that we'd get an extra hour between flights as the turn around time was just 55 mins. 

 Now that's little more like hazel nut mocha. 

 However, one hour soon became 2:15. Here's the math - delay the take off by 30 minutes due to a noise ordinance...really? Add 45 waiting for a gate in New York. Suddenly, we are nearly running between the A and B gates at JFK. Sweating, we board the plane without having to wait in line. At 9 am, our scheduled depart time, the captain informs us that we have a problem. 

 Orange cream. That's all I have to say about that. 

 Five hours and 2 planes later we finally left the tarmac. The crew were amazing and we loaded up on free snacks, but our 3 pm arrival time in Honolulu was no longer. That meant a night time, two-hour bus ride. On the way, met Anne, a retired teacher who told us about her recent work teaching in China and a young couple, Aurora and Braxton, whose car had just broken down. They gave us some good hiking (and pie) advice. We missed the stop for our camp ground and had to walk a bit. We crossed the highway to enter the campground and the place was empty. Complete ghost town. It was 10:47. Twenty-four hours and 7 minutes after our "Day" began and we had no place to stay. 

 Nothing but raisin-mint.