5. Wwoofing with Rachel, Sean, Brodin and Daisy (December 4th - 14th, 2016)

After our time with Conrad and Becca in Lower Hutt, we headed to our next ten-day Wwoofing job in Greytown with Rachel, Sean, Brodin, and Daisy.

Upon arrival, we were shown our own little cottage with a kitchen, bathroom, and two double beds. We met the whole family and all the animals (four chickens, two sheep, two loud Alpacas, a rooster, four cows, and the two dogs Clover and Cupid) and settled in. In the evening, Sean showed us our work for the next few days: we were supposed to weed a long bed and surround the trees with wood chips.

The next morning, we started the task with great motivation but quickly realized how long it would take to prepare the entire bed the way our hosts wanted. After four hours of work and a quick lunch, we borrowed bicycles and rode into town to look for blank Christmas cards (unfortunately, without success) and then continued to a river where we sat for a long time, chatted, and enjoyed the view.

The next day, after work, we went back to town to finally buy the Christmas cards. We also treated ourselves to some chocolate because it was St. Nicholas Day, and we were disappointed to find out that this day is not celebrated in New Zealand (although we didn't expect anything in our shoes anyway). We sat down comfortably with the chocolate and tea and spent the entire afternoon enthusiastically working on the cards that should be sent to all our friends and family members in Germany.

And so it continued for the next few days. We worked in the bed, cleaned the house in the rain, and then continued to work on our cards.

On December 9th, 2016, we were supposed to cook dinner. We decided to make pumpkin-chickpea patties and a salad. When I wanted to puree the pumpkin with the remaining ingredients, something very foolish happened. Somehow, my left index finger got caught in the blender, and suddenly I saw a lot of blood around me. While Jana cleaned up, got help, and continued cooking, Rachel took care of me. Meanwhile, we decided not to go to the doctor for now and let the finger heal while wrapped up properly.

Because I was a bit limited due to this accident, the next day I was tasked with taking care of Daisy and making gingerbread dough with her, while Jana continued working outside in the bed.

On Sundays, we joyfully made cheese ourselves, and Rachel taught us how to make Rocky Road (a traditional Christmas chocolate). In the evening, we skyped with our friend Sophie from Germany and started crafting the Christmas cards for our mutual friends.

On Monday, after a shortened day of work in the bed, Jana and I went to the doctor. Then we picked up Daisy and Brodin from school and continued working on our cards.

On Tuesday, after the usual work in the garden and another afternoon of crafting, Sean cooked us dinner. We had chili con or sin carne with nachos and dessert. After that, we were "forced" to watch the typical New Zealand series Country Calendar before saying goodbye to Sean.

On our last day with the Fletchers, we cleaned our cabin in the morning, went to the doctor one last time, finally sent our finished cards, and said goodbye to the rest of the family before heading to our Christmas family in Levin.

Jasmin