Farm Stay

We've been looking forward to this experience WOOFING, the term used for this set-up, as it is a popular way for people to travel around New Zealand. While technically WOOFING stands for "Work On Organic Farm," the farm we were helping with was not organic, but was unique in that it had the ability to host our size family and they were open to having the children help. The typical WOOFING experience consists of free accommodation and a meal in exchange for 4-6 hours of work each day. We arrived to the Possum Cottage (what they call their stand alone house for workers) in the evening for our week long farm stay. Our hosts were not around, so we made ourselves at home and were thrilled to have a wood burning fireplace that we quickly got roaring and all sat around and read before retiring for the evening.

Monday morning we woke up and met our hosts who outfitted us in some chore clothing and work boots. The morning chores were quickly underway. We learned how to bottle feed the lamb that was orphaned and had become their outdoor pet. We excitedly learned about their 3500 acre farm that we would be working on for the upcoming week. It is considered a slightly above average sized farm for this area but our hosts are a bit more intense in their endeavors as they have sheep, cattle, deer (they fence them in New Zealand), a few hogs and hens, as well as crops.

Floss, our morning greeter!

Bottle feeding the lamb was so much fun!

Our first task was to take the tails off of the lambs. The kids were thrilled to finally have the opportunity to ride in the back of a pick-up truck - something they've been desiring to do since we started traveling!

Excited boys in the back of the pick up truck!

We arrived in the pasture and were amazed as we watched our hosts set up a fencing system, which mom related to our Lincoln Log play days, and the dogs were used to round up all of the sheep in an amazingly expedient procedure. The sheep shuffled through the fencing system and the mammas were set free while the lambs were directed to a fenced pen. At this point the boys were very grateful for their sheep education experiences at Galewoods Farm back home. Dad, our oldest and youngest sons each gathered up lambs and held them so that the farmer, his wife, and their son could first give them a shot in the groin for "scabies," a common mouth infection, then hole-punched one of their ears, and finally soldered off their tail! Sounds easy, but most of the little lambs had some spunk and required being held firmly. The reason for hole punching their ear was to mark if it was a male or female (left ear was male, right ear was female), and also to claim the lamb as the "hole" was actually a symbol that neighbors recognized as belonging to our farmer. The lambs did not enjoy the shot or hole punch, but didn't seem to mind the soldiering of their tails. After they lost their tails, they would spring across the pasture and reconnect with their mothers - the entire process was very interesting. When all of the lambs were tail-less, we then counted all of the tails on the ground and put them in a bag to be discarded. Over our week we de-tailed 214 lambs, witnessed mom hoot and holler as she aided the dogs in directing the sheep to towards the fence, heard dad scream when he was electrocuted by the fence unexpectedly (yes, everyone but him laughed - quite a bit actually), and saw our kids overcome their reservations and jump in to help doing some out-of-the-ordinary work!

Everyone doing their part in this process

G prepping the lamb for it's shot

Mom jumping in relief of being set free

Lamb leaping in confusion after what just happened!

SJ was extremely concerned about the condition of the lambs!

Tail counting totaled 214 for the week!

Farmer G is loving it!

This one has the blood & guts to show for his hard work!

A bit of humor as the dog stood supervising on top of the Polaris & the lamb leaped thru the pasture!

In addition to helping de-tail the lambs, we spent our week feeding hens, calves, cattle, hogs, lambs, and dogs, cleaning feeders, making bags of feed, gardening, collecting eggs, rebuilding a greenhouse, shoveling manure, washing vehicles, and chopping logs. We even managed to hold down the fort one night while our hosts spent the night away and attended a Fleetwood Mac concert of all things!

Cleaning the feeding bins

Mom feeding the cattle

Our cottage set up was very cozy and while our hosts encouraged us to drive to nearby towns which might have more to do, we enjoyed staying on the farm and exploring. There was a trampoline to jump on, a Polaris Quad and 4-wheeler to ride, as well as bikes for the boys who ventured out to a "nearby" river to fish, only to find out that it was not so nearby! We did school, read, played games, caught up on some photography, explored the farm, had a picnic in the pasture, enjoyed evenings by the fire, movie nights, and mom and our middle son even improvised and created some Russian Tea to enjoy during the cooler temps. The guys did their best to maintain their allergies as their eyes swelled and they sneezed a lot. At night the hen would scuffle by our bedroom windows and mice would scurry along the roof and in the walls while we slept. Every morning the pet lamb would be peering in our kitchen door baa-ing to remind us she was hungry for her breakfast!

There was always an excuse to drive the Polaris!

Picnic lunch surrounded by poo in the pasture - but an incredible view!

We were looking forward to spending time with our hosts as it had been awhile since we were with the same people on a consistent basis, but their schedules and responsibilities didn't really allow for much of this outside of working together. They were very pleasant and gracious hosts and we enjoyed the time that we did spend with them as we found it interesting to learn about the area, farm life and their family. The farmer's wife made us scrumptious banana muffins for tea time and we all enjoyed taking a break from our chores to visit with them. Over the weekend they took us to the city market and SJ had her face painted, the kids played at the park, we ate venison burgers, and had fun seeing the locals out enjoying themselves.

Dad joins the girls at the city market in his farm attire, straight from chores!

Good-bye to Ms. Sonja

Our first full day at the farm happened to be our oldest's 14th birthday! Being our nature and animal lover who, as a child, wanted to grow up and be a cow-feeder, celebrating on a farm was an ideal way to celebrate! We weren't sure what our options would be for celebrating at the farm, so we had a nice dinner at a restaurant of his choice while we were in Queenstown. However, because we needed to stock up on groceries that first day as we were providing our own meals, we ate at a restaurant in town and sang Happy Birthday to celebrate him. It's been a joy to watch him lead and be so disciplined with his time on this trip, and the reality of his age makes us cherish this time even more as we only have a few years left with him at home.

Blessed to be celebrating 14 years with this young man!

One night we drove 40 minutes away to Timaru, a port city on the east side of the South Island. We walked along the boardwalk and on the beach, skipped rocks, played at an awesome park, and had dinner before returning to the farm.

Beach at Tmaru - someone likes her workboots so much she opts to wear them everywhere!

Fun at the park!

Intrigued by the chocolate injector for the mini donuts!

What a unique experience this week has been! With both of our extended families having worked for tractor companies and Tricia's grandparents having owned a farm, we both have always respected farmers and felt it's important for our kids to understand this lifestyle. It was endearing to watch the boys wake up, do chores and follow the farmer around with usually-helpful attitudes. The work wasn't anything too hard but our bodies sure felt the ramifications as it was different than our normal routine. Needless to say we slept well at night. Overall, we enjoyed our time on the farm and will always fondly remember our stay here.

Taking a break from his chores!

Our last day in New Zealand, we were told to enjoy and not work, so we headed back towards Mt. Cook and ventured out on one final trek. It was about a 3 hour round trip hike over 3 swing bridges and up to a lake at the base of the mountains. This lake had actual ice bergs still in it (but not polar bears, much to the disappointment of our daughter)! When we finally got there we were greeted with strong winds and small hail. We weren't dressed to stay too long, but like all walks here, it was beautiful.

Following our hike we headed over to the Sir Edmund Hillary Exploratory Center. Sir Edmund Hillary is famous for being the first man to summit Mount Everest. He was as pure of an adventurer as they come and lived a life doing all sorts of amazing things that included treks across Antarctica and many summits. His face now exists on the 5 dollar bill in NZ and he was the first person to be on a bill before he actually died (which he did just a few years ago). The center exists in a hotel called the Hermitage which has a storied history of its own dating back to the mid 1800s.

As we prepared to leave this country which we have called home for the last 7 weeks, there is a bittersweet, yet euphoric feeling. It has been an incredibly easy place to be and we know some of our future destinations will require us to give up some of the comforts we've enjoyed here. We welcome the coming challenges but miss the pristine beauty which exists everywhere in New Zealand.