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.