Our 3rd Wwoof at Birgit, Paul & Lennart in Napier (11.11. - 21.11.16)

After leaving Taupo with mixed feelings, we made our way to Napier where we wanted to start our next Wwoof from the eleventh. But since we left Gilly and Brian on the tenth, we stayed in a hostel for one night.

The next day we drove off motivated, further into the hilly landscape, until we reached the gate described by our hosts. Jana had already suspected it and was right, Birgit followed us the last meters and welcomed us warmly. After driving up the steep, gravelly hill to the house, our own little accommodation with a bathroom and a double bed was shown to us and we met Birgit's son Lennart.

Then we had lunch with homemade rolls and learned that today was supposed to be our first day of work, so we were equipped with rakes, rubber boots, hats, and huge bags. Our task was to rake up the mowed grass from the slope behind the house and put it into the bags.
At first glance, this sounds like a very simple and not too strenuous task, but the steep slope and the oversized rubber boots made safe movement a matter of pure luck.

After four hours and a half-raked slope, we were allowed to step on level ground again and were served a delicious dinner, where we also got to know the last roommate of this house: Birgit's husband Paul.

Before we started working the next day, we had a cozy breakfast with freshly baked rolls and duck eggs, then we finished the work on the slope and hacked thistles, we did this for eight hours in order to earn a day off. In the evening, we fell into bed accordingly exhausted.

We spent the morning of the 13th working, in the afternoon we were allowed to come along to the neighbors' barbecue, where we got to know typical New Zealand food from the grill and could have small talk with some neighbors.

The next morning, we looked at our cell phones as a matter of routine and were shocked to find that our families and friends had bombarded us with worried messages. We quickly found out that there had been an earthquake during the night and a tsunami warning was still in effect. Although we had woken up at the same time during the night, we thought it was stormy outside and went back to sleep.
After sending a sign of life to everyone and being able to reassure them a little bit, we went over to the house for breakfast and talked to our host family about the events of the previous night. We learned that the epicenter was in the town of Kaikoura on the South Island and that it was completely destroyed. Napier and therefore our current home, however, were not damaged. The tsunami warning was soon lifted, which is why Jana and I decided to drive to the nearby Te Ana Falls after work. There we could relax a little from the shock of the morning and enjoy the view.

The next two days we worked in the garden in the morning and spent the afternoons with Lennart, playing 'Ligretto', 'My New Life', and 'Monopoly' together and getting to know each other a little better.

The next morning we started raking the chicken run, but were surprised by the rain, so we stopped our work here and started cleaning the kitchen. Then we drove to the city and played a round of 'Phase 10' with Lennart in the evening.

We spent the morning of the 18th cleaning the kitchen, then we drove to the National Aquarium of New Zealand and saw Kiwi birds and penguins for the first time, along with numerous species of fish and an exhibition about earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes.

The next day we worked in the morning in scorching heat, at some point Birgit came down and we had lunch in the chicken run. In the afternoon, we were offered to come to a birthday party, but instead we planned our trip further and cooked pasta for the two of us in the evening. When Birgit and Paul came home, they joined us, revealed their personal insights into New Zealand and talked about their first meeting while we enjoyed some delicious wine.

Our last day in Napier was our day off, where we had planned to go out to sea with the whole family, but it was too windy. Instead, Birgit and Paul took us to hot pools in the middle of the mountains and to a river, on the way back we had the opportunity to watch the original Kiwi sheep shearing. In the evening, we had self-made flammkuchen together and played 'Scotland Yard' with Lennart for the last time.

On the day of departure, we packed our things in the morning, had breakfast, cleaned the hut and said goodbye to Birgit and Lennart (Paul was already at work) before we left Napier. The time with Birgit and Paul was one of the best Wwoof experiences so far. And even though we had to work really hard, we were a bit sad to leave this wonderful family, but at the same time we were already looking forward to the next days off.

Jasmin