Settling into farmlife...
Trip Start
Feb 17, 2005
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Trip End
Feb 27, 2006
Kaitaia,
New Zealand
Saturday, January 7, 2006
After a half hour break in Paihia, we drove for a further 2 hours before reaching Kaitaia at 3.15pm. I was the last one off the bus, and was greeted by Ann who seemed normal and friendly on first inspection...a good start!
We went to the supermarket and my first job was to push the trolley around...I could handle that! Ann asked if I was a fussy eater, to which I replied no...a blatant lie
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! But I couldn't be bothered with the hassle, and I was determined to eat whatever was put in front of me. I need to broaden my horizons if I'm to survive in Japan! It seemed like they ate very healthily if the amount of vegetables in the trolley was anything to go by, though I was a little concerned that some mussels and garlic had managed to get in on the act...not my usual diet by any means. Where were the beans?We met Graeme in the carpark afterwards as he'd been to the opticians - his glasses had smashed whilst collecting shellfish in the sea. He seemed like a real character, but very friendly, asking me about my travels as we drove along in the van. When we pulled into the petrol station, I jumped out and cleaned the front windscreen to make myself useful...it was important to form a good impression!
They treated me to an ice-cream, followed by a burger and chips that we ate at Ninety Mile Beach. Everything was going great as we made our way back to their farm, which turned out to be in the middle of nowhere, overlooking the sea on top of a hill. It covered a large area of land, and most importantly...they had a dog!
I just presumed that I'd be in the spare room, but after showing me around the main house, they drove me down to "Pancho Villa"...I was to have my own place
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! If I'm being totally honest though, I was a little bit concerned to begin with regarding the number of spiders' webs, the lack of electricity, and the warning I was given about mosquitoes.In fairness though, it did have a sink outside and a flush toilet, so it wasn't too bad. In fact, after a shakey first night, I grew to love the old cattle shed as it was all mine. Ok there were no lights, but I had a lamp, it was nice and warm, and the only sounds you could hear were the birds and the cows...and the occasional possum on the roof in the middle of the night!
I later found out that Graeme once spent 3 full years in the bush, hunting deer. I suspected he was a bush man because he wore a knife belt, and I'd spotted a rifle in their 4x4. Speaking of which, Graeme flipped out when he spotted a few cows near his land way out in the distance, and I was about to get an early demonstration of the gun in action. We raced down the bumpy road in the 4x4 in pitch black conditions, with Graeme uttering expletives left, right and centre, and I was a little scared at this point!
The offending cows belonged to his troublesome neighbour who should have had them under control. Instead, they were roaming free and eating Graeme's grass and breaking his fences. He was quite entitled to be annoyed...I was just a bit taken aback at first! By the time we'd arrived, the cows had began to scarper, but a couple of shots in the air helped them on their way. However, they'd soon return...
At about 10.30pm I called it a night, and armed with my torch, I stumbled down the steep hill to my 'villa.' I didn't sleep too well that night, partly because I was nervous about my first day at work, and partly because of the pitter patter of tiny feet on my roof. I tackled the problem in the same way that I tackle snoring - playing my music at full blast!
My alarm sounded at 7.15am, and I climbed the hill and had breakfast with Ann and Graeme. They grow quite a lot of their own fruit and veg, so I helped myself to a couple of bananas, had plenty of Weetbix and generally enjoyed a good feed - a big improvement on my usual brekkie!
Graeme and me took the van down to an area of old trees that needed cutting down, so I helped out and he showed me how to use the axe effectively. Fern, the dog, also came along to try and sniff out a wild cat we'd seen earlier. Sure enough, she started barking before long, indicating that she'd found the cat in question, or a possum. Either way, Graeme had plans to shoot it, so I ran back to the van to get the gun, only for Fern to have lost sight of the thing by the time I returned...much to Graeme's annoyance (at the dog, not me!).
We were going to use the tree 'steaks' to create a stronger fence at the shade house, as the recent winds had damaged the avocado trees that were growing inside. So, after the excitement of the cat chase, we went and started on that job. All I had to do was hand tools to Graeme, and pull the netting tight to make it nice and secure...easy as!
Lunch involved plenty of salad...and mussels! Ann was surprised to hear that I'd worked in a mussel factory without ever actually trying one. I suppose that is a bit strange, so I put it right by chewing on one...but I nearly gipped as it was awful! I tried my best to maintain an expression of indifference, commenting that they "weren't bad," but in reality they were disgusting!
We spent the whole afternoon completing the fence, and by the time we'd finished it looked ten times more secure. We celebrated by having a couple of cold beers whilst watching 24, a programme I've got hooked on recently. I definitely want to watch the other series when I get home...
The next day, in preparation for a planned fishing trip, our task was to make a boardwalk from the field to the boat. The area in between was very swampy, so it was a really dirty job, and often you'd be knee deep in sludge! We walked backwards and forwards, carrying planks of wood through the swamp and securing them by nailing them to shorter logs. Once I was dirty, I lost my inhibitions and splashed through the mud at will, and we completed it in double quick time. it looked great, and I wondered why Graeme hadn't made it earlier...they'd lived there for 4 years afterall. Maybe he needed someone with my expertise to make a good job of it. Maybe.
High tide was at 3pm that day, so we needed to be on the boat by 2.30pm so that we could get out on the water - we were going fishing...overnight!
