HOIMED --- A Place to Call Home

We have now been travelling for nearly 5 months and aside from teaching two days in a Cambodian school, we haven’t worked at all throughout our travels. We don’t want this to sound like we are complaining (“oh, wah, wah…we feel so sorry for you Tom and Jill --- travelling sounds so tough…blah, blah, blah!!!”), but open-ended travelling can be tough at times and we have really been longing for some work and a chance to settle in for a week or two in one place. That chance finally became a reality when we lined up our first WWOOF farm two days after we toured the Catlins. WWOOF – for those of you that aren’t sure – stands for World Wide Organization of Organic Farms and is a network of farms promoting and practising organic farming principles. These farms welcome interested volunteers looking to learning organic growing practices and overall farm self-sufficiency, as well as participate in cultural exchange with the hosts. In exchange for hard work and good attitudes, WWOOFers receive free accommodation and meals and a chance to temporarily live in a wonderful setting. New Zealand has a wide network of participating farms and becoming members of this organization was always a focus of our Kiwi adventure.

The first farm we lined ourselves up with was a place called Hoimed. This is a German term standing loosely for something to the affect of “our home” or “our place.” Either way, we were drawn to Hoimed with its description of “after working hard, relax in our wood-fired hot tub, sip on home-brewed cider and try your hand at cooking on our coal range.” These enticements seemed like the perfect balance to sink our minds and physical efforts into farm work while still enjoying the comforts of life’s pleasures. The location of the farm is in a desert climate of New Zealand in what is known as Central Otago. To the west are the Southern Alps and it makes for an interesting climate of extremes. Once leaving the lushness of the Catlins we were greeted by the vast, brown mountain ranges of Otago. We are in the heart of fall now and the heat and dryness of summer made for a unique landscape. Otago is gold country and made famous from the glory days of the gold rush in the late 19th century and into the 20th. The dramatic difference from its surrounding areas made for a fascinating visual scope. Now, back to Hoimed. Richard, a 40-something man from Germany and his wife Kate, a native Kiwi, have two children: an adorable 7 year old girl named Antonia and Max, a hilariously savvy 5 year old boy with rosy red cheeks. Upon arriving at the farm we were met by the two kids coming out from the chicken run, exclaiming in their cute New Zealand accent, “You must be WWOOFers!!!” Laughing out loud, we met the soon-to-be extra body limbs and headed inside to meet Richard. Busy making the German specialty of Spetzle noodles, he greeted us with a quick smile and a seemingly rough presence. It was a Sunday afternoon and with Mum away on a weekend trip to Queenstown, Richard was busy trying to feed the kids and get them washed and into bed before Kate returned home. A quick tour of the land and of our self-contained sleeping quarters, he left us to the rest of the evening to get our belongings settled. After a full view of the land, it was hard for us to not rush to a quick judgment about the family and the experience we might have that week. The farm seemed to be in disarray and rather cluttered in appearance. We avoided making any rash opinions and stayed open-minded about our upcoming week. Once the kids went to bed, we had a chance to finally sit down with Richard and talk about generalities and what was in store work-wise. Right off the bat we gathered that Richard despised anything American and didn’t try to hide his opinions to his new Yankee visitors. It was also easy to see that Richard was well educated and a man that, intellectually, could hang with anyone in conversation. Kate finally arrived and we immediately noticed how she was the balancing figure that keeps Richard’s hard-edged persona in check. Matching his intellect and knowledge base, Kate brought a sweet presence to the table and made us feel instantly warm and at home. Despite the many anti-American comments throughout the evening, we made our way to the sub-artic sleeping quarters with a smile and energetic vibe to our step. Freezing cold and unsure about Hoimed’s first impression, we prepared for the next day’s “funeral pile.”

The work started at 8:30 and our first task was to clear out what seemed like ten winters worth of sticks and branches out of one area and pile it up on one plot of land, creating what Richard termed a “funeral pile”. This coming winter he will light the pile and not create a fire in the trees that overhung the original 10 “heaps.” Six hours later and several gashes and cuts all over our bodies we created a pile that pushed 25 feet in height. Not quite picking grapes on a vineyard or planting flowers in a garden, but it was the first day and work isn’t always enjoyable, right??? Throughout the day Richard continued to give us a hard-nosed edge about him and every topic had a hint of American disgust. By the end of the first evening, we were not only annoyed by the constant badgering but the lack of warm greeting. Never mind the fact that many of his points were hard to argue, the part that got us most was just the overall generalization he used when judging the United States. After another long day of stick gathering and bagging organic ground cover, we were starting to question whether or not this experience was the cultural exchange that we had hoped for.

That afternoon once the work was finished, Richard met us with a much different attitude. He started off the chat by thanking us for two hard days of work and how impressed he was that we hadn’t complained about the backbreaking duties. He acknowledged the work as boring, tough and gruelling. But he was visibly impressed and said we could take the next day off to do as we wish. Somewhat surprised by the good gesture, we took it in stride and realized we must have passed a test of some sort. That evening we found ourselves with several glasses of home-brewed cider and deep into conversation with Richard and Kate. (one of the pictures above is of the contraption in which you need to manoeuvre to open up their wine cellar…the same one that holds barrels of the fine apple cider wine we drank on a nightly basis). Come to find out, Richard is a well-known geologist that has recovered fossils of a prehistoric turtle (one in which he won geological awards and spent time at the Smithsonian) and a prehistoric fish that he was allowed to name in scientific terms. Couple that with his European training in seemingly every form of industrial work and it makes for a well-versed guy. That evening we saw the side of Richard that helped us understand his opinions and views towards foreign policy and America’s involvement in it. Richard grew up in Germany in the 60's and his only interaction with "America" was through our troops occupying Western Germany at the time. Well, as you can all imagine, these guys in all probability weren't representing the United States - at large - very well. Richard told us stories of how he would try - as a young kid out playing - to interact with the US soldiers and how horribly the troops treated his country. Most educated Germans, as he says, were very weary of the US troops as they were sloppy, environmentally appalling, outwardly uneducated and largely unpleasant. So his first impressions weren't too good back in those days. But he later said during his few visits to the States he was completely wrong with his first impressions and met equally savvy Yanks during his stateside experiences. He concedes that most of our country is filled with great people. He still thinks our current administration is out of their minds at times (which we had a hard time arguing his points) but his overall tough stance loosened as the days went on. Kate continued to balance it all out with never-ending smiles and continual pleasantries.Our off day was filled with a trip to the nearest big city of Alexandra and celebrating sweet Antonia’s 7th birthday. They had a few kids over to commemorate the event and we enjoyed helping out with the treasure hunt and eating of the “lollies.” The rest was needed because the following day we were due to begin breaking in a new section of the veggie/herb garden and lying of the ground cover we gathered the first few days.

The next day’s garden work was utterly and physically the hardest work we’ve ever done. The particular section we were engrossed in was full of a 6-inch deep “carpet” (as we called it when rolling it back with all our might) of weeds, grass and native thistle bushes! (ouch!) Quickly into the morning, we knew we were going at it all wrong! Richard quickly came to our rescue and knew something had to change. Giving us a break from the never-ending grind of the garden, we spent the rest of the afternoon working on other projects. Tom helped Richard work on a 1960-something truck (the picture above) while Jill built an enormous fire under the giant bath that we would later soak in that evening (ignore the fact that she burnt off all her arm hair in the process!!!). Before we jumped in the bath, Tom and Richard went on a walk up the hill in which Richard decided to bring his gun along. Climbing into the jagged rock-lined hills, Richard educated Tom on the local fauna and flora of the Central Otago Desert. Then at one point he kneeled down and lined up his scope with a hill nearby. Next thing Tom knew, Richard pulled the trigger and a hare froze in horror. A few more blasts and that baby went down. Trekking up to get it, Richard pulled out the largest hare Tom had ever seen. He handed Tom, the non-hunter type, the hare and before he knew it...he was holding this bloody sucker, amazed at how heavy it was. Holding its muscular leg, Tom was shocked by its size. They are way larger than the average rabbit we see back home and its ears are almost twice as long as the domesticated rabbit. They are a major pest for farmers and New Zealand landscape (as well as deer) so Richard shoots them any chance he can. We didn't get a chance to eat the meat (Jill was so bummed!!! *wink*) but Tom watched as he cut out the sections he wanted. Hey, if you're gonna eat meat...might as well see a killing and the coming butchering once in your life. Nothing that makes Tom want to become a hunter - that's for sure - but an interesting experience. That evening we finally sat in a 40-degree plus (we are in Celsius here!!! That’s just over one hundred Fahrenheit) hot tub and took in stars that are utterly indescribable. Moving satellites, shooting stars, stars we just don’t see in the haze of city lights back home…the night was brilliant! One of the pictures above is of Richard cleaning out the tub. Now that is a rustic version of today’s modern, jet-filled spa!!!The last few days of work Richard worked with us on the garden and although the work was extremely taxing physically, the satisfaction of getting it done was exceptional. We worked muscles that have been hanging out getting lazy since we left back in November. Aside from a few swims and "band workouts" we've lost a lot of muscular shape. (yeah, yeah..."not that there was much to begin with"...ha, ha, ha). But the work was very rewarding and we learned a lot about organic gardening and overall self-sufficiency in which this family lives. Here you have two extremely gifted individuals that, if motivated to do so, could be successfully working high-powered, well-paid jobs in Auckland or anywhere in the world but have alternatively led a path of pleasant simplicity in the hills of Central Otago. Nothing is spared, nothing goes unused. These environmentalists are the epitome of Earth-conscious folk and taught us a lot about recycled, organic principles that are often overlooked in today’s modern, fast society. We really respect their family and value the way in which they live. We exchanged embraces at the end of a hard week and we could see in their eyes that they really valued our presence and the interaction. The cultural exchange was just what we needed and we can only hope all our WWOOFing experiences are this good.

We are now in sunny Wanaka, a very cool community about two hours from the farm. We travelled there slowly, stopping for a brief hour hike and many "lookout" points that New Zealand is famous for. Every corner you travel you run into yet another picturesque setting that requires more and more photos. You all will get very bored when we come home and show them all to you! Wanaka is one of the places we stopped at with John and Judy and we all really enjoyed its hip, yet not overly pretentious (like Queenstown), vibe we have been looking forward to returning ever since. The second day here, we ran into Shania Twain at the local organic market. She has recently purchased a huge chunk of land outside of town and she was having a cup of coffee with a friend in the tiny market. Eye contact was made, but sorry guys, no pictures were taken. So add a celebrity sighting to the list of Global Prancer memories.