The Hanna farm is a lovely place for our first Workaway experience. On Monday, morning 1, we are shown the Boysenberry crop and the virus that aims to starve the fruit of sunlight. We, armed with buckets tied around our waist and gloves, are tasked to pick off the virus heads. We set about our task and are getting on well until around an hour in. Our host, Bruce, has told us that our buckets should be about half full by the end of the row. Our buckets are filling up fast. Faster than half a bucket a row fast. This, really assertively, gets into our heads and we start not picking things we should pick.
We work for two and a half hours and then have a tea break, that’s the agreed deal. Our first 2.5 hours complete, we set back to the house for a cup of tea, only the house was locked (we were told the house would never be locked) and so tealess, we continued on.
We were relieved for the day around 12sh, probably due to it being our first day. Cooked ourselves up some lunch and then relaxed. We’ve done a lot of relaxing whilst we’ve been here and, as mentioned on the video, its due to a change in pace on the trip. We don’t need to smash around the place absorbing culture in the same way we did in our two previous stays. We’re able to slow down a little, not do anything for an afternoon. Read, go running, and play darts. It’s a welcome change of pace and at the same time, it builds our excitement up for the weekend where we’ve got two free days to explore.
Our second morning we work together on the same rows and this time, after a 5 minute showing from Bruce, we’re working a lot more thoroughly and effectively. We listen to Lord of the Rings via audiobook and enjoy the work. On Tuesday afternoon we walk into Hastings to buy snacks, its an hour trip for a load of chocolate and biscuits but it is also definitely worthwhile. Another round of darts when we’re back, dinner, and we get into bed to watch television.
Wednesday morning. We’re joined by another workawayer, a French woman called Elodie, its raining so we work on cracking Walnuts. Beforehand, we’re clearing out cupboards in the second house on the property. We try and gleam as much information from Elodie as we can, she’s been in New Zealand for over a year working and travelling.
Yesterday, Thursday, we crack walnuts and are back in the crop again, a trio. Tilly and I go for a walk along the river and enjoy watching the sheep and ducks. There’s so much life and green. We eat our dinners. We go to bed.
It’s a bit like being at home, in the routine sense, but with all the pressure of life removed. We work, we have our lunch and we read or walk and let the time pass leisurely, sit outside in the evenings under the canopy and cook, listening to the birds whirring away. It’s truly peaceful. It would be perfect if it was warm and you could sit outside all evening but we do have to drag ourselves out of the cold at times. It is the start of Spring here though so it’s hardly unexpected.
Denny and Debbie's Little Big Adventure 