WWOOF #4: What are you thankful for?

Before heading to our 4th WWOOF host, we spent the long holiday weekend couchsurfing with a guy named Paul and his 4 flatmates in Napier.  Napier is a charming little city with a lot of character.  Destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent fires in 1931, the city was rebuilt in the Art Deco style of the era.  Zigzags, ziggurats, sunbursts, pastel colors, images of women's liberation, and symbols of power and speed are common features of Art Deco architecture.  Napier even has an Art Deco weekend every year in February (which from what I hear, has turned into more of a week-long celebration), and everyone puts on their Deco duds, dances in the street to big band music and enjoys Gatsby picnics and Depression dinners.  The place is overrun by vintage cars and looks like a real ball.

We spent several days exploring Napier and all of it's Art Deco architecture and 3 nights couchsurfing with Paul, who lived on Hospital Hill just outside central Napier.  At only 22 years old, Paul has hosted dozens of couchsurfers and loves the idea that he has some small part in helping someone along their journey, giving them a safe place to stay and a look around if he has time.  He has 4 flatmates - his partner Joseph, his sister Amy, a friend from Joseph's work, Alana, and an old friend from school, Rachel.  Each one has a very unique personality and it was nice to be around a younger crowd even if only for a weekend.  On our last night at Paul's, he invited us on a road trip to Waipukurau (about an hour from Napier) for his parent's labour day BBQ.  His family was wonderful, his mother incredibly welcoming, his father and grandmother super funny, his sister Kate (11) more than keen to show us around and talk our ear off, and his brother Michael (13) was shy at first, but warmed up after some fun playing around with the camera.  We played poker well into the night after a delicious meal finished by L&P (a delicious NZ soda!) and trifle (dessert made from sponge cake & custard, jelly or fruit).  It was a really great time overall as it is always lovely to feel right at home and part of the family as soon as you walk in the door.  

We spent our last day in Napier enjoying our second custard square (a flaky pastry with custard in the middle - like Schmidt's cream puffs, but better! yeah, I said it) from the cafe Joseph and Alana work at and one more wine tasting and then headed to our 4th WWOOF hosts home late that afternoon.  Kerry and Bronwyn live about an hour from Napier in Waipawa (coincidentally just a town over from Paul's family in Waipukurau).  We found their street no problem but felt relieved a bit too soon when we realized their house was missing.  Their address - 2 Bibby Street - didn't seem to be anywhere.  There was 1, 1A, 1B, a plethora of even numbered addresses, but nowhere did 2 fit.  After quite a bit of frustration, Steve stopped and asked a woman walking on the street who pointed at a house beyond several paddocks which we believed most certainly belonged on the intersecting road and not Bibby.  But she seemed relatively confident when she said she thought a Bronwyn lived there, so we pulled up and walked down a beautiful plant-lined driveway to a lovely little home which had every door and window open, drinking in the last of the day's sunshine.  We knocked (on every door), we shouted "Hello??!?", we walked around every corner of the house, carefully peering in the windows for some sign of life, looking at pictures to see if we recognized them from what we remembered on their WWOOF profile.  Then we began collecting visual data to decide if we were in the right place.  They had a stroller just outside the back door which means it was probably used recently...but we don't remember them having any kids?  There's 2 sleep-outs just outside their side patio, perfect for wwoofers.  There's a cake on the counter with the numbers 1 & 2 - either a 12th or 21st birthday?  We even checked the mailbox for a name on a piece of mail.  Finally we gave up and decided to wait by our car and soon after there they were, turning down the dead end intersecting road that sure as hell wasn't Bibby.  We were certainly relieved to be creeping around the right house, at least.

From left: Judy, Bron, Kerry & Lexi, me & Steve

Kerry and Bron are very laid back people and love the small town life.  They never lock up anything, usually leaving the keys in the ignitions of their cars.  Kerry says he loves the fact that when he goes to town to pick up milk it can take him an hour because he always runs into someone he knows.  Bron has lived in the area for quite some time and knows everyone in town.  Working at the local BP service station keeps her caught up with everyone and gives her a chance to meet a lot of people just passing through.  Kerry is a social worker who works with clients of all ages who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.  They bought their property 10-15 years ago and originally moved into the large shed that was already on their property after transforming it into not only a livable space, but a pretty cozy home.  While there, they worked on the small house that they moved onto the property: fixing & painting it, adding additions, & making it the proper (and beautiful) home that it is today.

Kerry and Bron have 3 children.  Michael (22) lives in Hastings with his girlfriend, Sian & their daughter, Lexi.  Kerry and Bron are crazy about Lexi and see her as often as possible.  Michael does roofing and has a lot of carpentry skills.  Their middle son, Alex (21 - this explains the candles) is working on his apprenticeship as a butcher and has been dating his girlfriend, Roe for about 5 years.  They also live in Hastings and are a very friendly, fun-loving couple with a great sense of humor.  Their youngest son, Ethan (19) lives 4 houses down with 2 young flatmates and works at BP with Bron.  Ethan loves to drink and party with friends, heading to Napier's clubs several nights of the week (needless to say he made us feel very OLD).  Most of Kerry & Bron's family live very closeby.  Kerry's mom lives just a few houses past Ethan's.  Gran, as they call her, reminds me very much of my own Grandma and is very sweet and talkative.  She still works part-time and loves it (even the night shift) and is very positive about most things in her life.  Bron's mom passed away this past year and her father lives just up the hill.  "Pop" is a jolly guy who wants to buy a campervan and travel their country (a dream that he and his wife shared).  

Kerry & Bron's friends Judy & Ralph also live just up the hill and stop by at least once a day (usually more).  They have been friends with them for 25+ years and are their partners in their fledgling business venture, B&J Organics.  Bronwyn always wanted to grow flowers for market while Judy was interested in heirloom garlic as well as other unique veggie varieties.  After many early morning meetings over coffee and smokes and a deal on a huge shadehouse falling into their laps, B&J Organics was born.  Now in the planning and planting stages, Bron & Judy talk about what needs to be done and when and Kerry organizes the WWOOFers needed for each job.  The ladies do most of the day-to-day seedling planting and work on the compost while Ralph takes on the bigger projects with help from Kerry and the WWOOFers.  Eventually they will have spuds, tomatoes, pumpkins, peppers, melons, garlic, flowers & more (usually several varieties of each plant, many of which are heirloom).  Their goal is to make their little block of land a viable organic farm that will not only feed their family but finance itself through sales at the local market.  While WWOOFing at Kerry & Bron's, Steve and I have helped move a glasshouse from a friend's property to theirs, chipped hundreds of bricks that we used to lay a floor in the glasshouse, planted spuds, sowed tomato & pumpkin seeds, Steve used a rotary hoe to dig up new veggie rows, and he caught and helped move 3 guinea fowl to their new home at Kerry & Bron's.  They named the male Steve after his courageous catching act (we later found out that a friend of Kerry's has a big scar across his face from a guinea fowl talon who wasn't interested in being caught), and the females Carly & Elizabeth.  

On Thursday Oct. 28th, we were invited to be a part of Kerry's 46th birthday dinner.  Gran treated the 4 of us, Pop, Ethan, Alex & Roe to a meal at Breaker's, a NZ chain that serves burgers, sandwiches, steaks, fries and shakes (like a slightly less cheesy Red Robin).  Kerry treated us all to one drink at the bar as well.  It was a great meal and very appreciated by both Steve and I because it was our first dinner out in New Zealand!  Afterwards we went to a lovely house where Gran was house-sitting for tea and chocolate cake & apple bars.  It was really nice to be part of the family event.

Kerry was also very interested in our Thanksgiving tradition, so we planned to make the meal with all the trimmings on Saturday and invite everyone to share it.  We set a big long table in the dining room where the 13 of us (Steve, me, Kerry, Bron, Gran, Pop, Michael, Sian, Lexi, Ethan, Judy, Bron's sister Kristen & her husband Julian) squeezed around it (just barely).  Bron and Steve took the reins in the kitchen with a big turkey, mashed spuds, green bean casserole, honey glazed carrots, stuffing with pecans & cherries, cranberry sauce, buttermilk biscuits, gravy, NZ kumara, pumpkin pie with honey ginger whipped cream & apple pie all on the menu.  It may have been the best Thanksgiving meal I've ever had.  And it felt like a real Thanksgiving, too!  The weather was unseasonably chilly that day, so everyone was wearing cozy sweaters and we picked a big harvest-colored bouquet for the centerpiece.  We even made little placeholders with turkeys & cornucopias on them and later went around the table and said what we were each thankful for.  Everyone really appreciated the meal and our tradition.  The buttermilk biscuits were new to everyone and were much enjoyed, as opposed to the pumpkin pie.  Many of our kiwi guests commented on how nice it was to spend a day thinking about what you're thankful for and enjoying such a delicious meal with family and friends.  

The Friday before we left, Kerry invited us to come to his work with him.  We arrived at the Stewart Centre bright and early before anyone else and Kerry showed us around.  Housed on the local college campus, the Stewart Centre is a bright and colorful space surrounded by school buildings and young people.  Soon the clients started arriving and we were introduced to a diverse group of people who have suffered brain injuries at some point in their lives.  Their injuries could be as diverse as the people themselves - from auto accidents to shaken-baby syndrome to brain hemorrhages.  Each one of the people at the center lead a normal life like you or I until their brain injury occurred.  It is definitely a humbling experience seeing them overcome their daily frustrations and enjoy life to the fullest.  By mid-morning, most of the clients had arrived and it was a busy, lively atmosphere with many people playing music on computers, checking out the newspaper, or playing with games the center provided.   We were asked to talk to the women's group and tell them about our WWOOFing experience.  Steve did most of the talking much to the relief of myself and we answered many of their questions before they left to learn some things about horticulture at a nearby college building.  Steve and I set off to explore the nearby town of Taradale before heading back for lunch, provided daily by Kim from the Stewart Center to the whole staff and all of the clients.  After lunch, it was time for sport.  The whole gang (including Steve & I) piled into a big van and headed to the Hastings Sports Center for an afternoon of badminton and basketball.  For the basketball game, the Stewart Centre clients (about 9 or 10 of us) were up against 4 young high school boys who were part of a program to keep troubled kids off the street and involved in something instead of letting them drop out of school.  It was a really fun game and everyone involved seemed to really enjoy it.  

Top 5 things learned at Kerry & Bron's...

1. Have LOTS of windows - Kerry & Bron's whole dining room was surrounded by floor to ceiling windows and it was so nice to have the sunshine pouring in all day (and with a beautiful garden outside, you hardly have to decorate - nature's got it covered).

2. Stand united! - This was advice given to us by Kerry and Bron for our future as parents - because if your kids know they can get to one of you, it's all over.  It's you verses them.  Keep the united front and peace will remain a possibility.

3. There are 2 types of people - Too polite to be honest, and Too honest to be polite.  Well I can definitely think of people that fall into each of those categories.

4. Enjoy a freshly bathed dog while it lasts - because by day 2 it will have rolled in sheep shit.
5. Be thankful - We are so lucky to be enjoying this trip and like Kerry said, "it has been an awesome exchange of culture, friendship and learning."
Plus one from Steve...
6. Cook from scratch - If you take a good look at most recipes (such as the one's in our new Edmond's cooking book - thanks Kerry & Bron!!), you'll find that a lot of things require simple ingredients and aren't too difficult to whip up.