Hello !I'm writing to you from the Mangaroa Valley, same house as last time! It's been 4 weeks since I last wrote an update. Lots to catch up on. We've had a good span of clear weather, starting with frosty bike rides to the Market Garden, followed by T-Shirt weather as the sun warms the valley. I've lead a quiet life the last 4 weeks, baking plenty of bread, making yoghurt and kombucha in my spare time. Highlights include...
 Some trees we planted (in the foreground, the hills are not my work)  Large block of concrete left in a shed by a disgruntled contractor  The only bread picture I took  A frosty cycle to the market garden The work is better described as gardening than farming. It has mostly been weeding, cleaning, packing, sewing, transplanting, mulching and tree planting. I've learned a lot from talking to the people working on the farm too. Sadly, over my time here I've learned that the whole farm project exists as a bunker for two American ex-silicon valley multimillionaires. They have an unerground bunker, secret food supplies, their own bio-diesel facility and plans to isolate the whole valley in the apocalypse. They run it like a ruthless business, don't treat their staff particularly well and use cheap imported labour (i.e. me) to avoid hiring people from the local community. Talk about a "community" farm. It's really a community for rich white hippie folk who can afford land in one of the richest areas in wellington, which is a shame. With this said, the experience showed me the type of project I don't want to be involved in going forward, whilst also teaching me a lot about what I do want to do.  Old steam engines that used to run on the Remutaka Incline Railway, now the cycle path  The view from the swing bridge on the descent, I had to ride back up this way shortly after  Sunset on the ride back home  Homemade cinnamon rolls  My pet spider  My 5 legged rescue pet spider (different spider, I didn't torture the other one (nor this one)) I'm ready to move on now, which I do next Friday. In the mean time I'm going to enjoy a day off for the king's birthday on Monday. I'm hoping for an easy week after that where I dont have to babysit some rich person's kids (thats something I've had to do too) After I leave, Ill have a few weeks round the north island, then I fly home via Hong Kong, China & Doha, landing 9th July in London! Bye for now! P.S. P.P.S |
