WWOOF #7 (Part 2): A very Kiwi Christmas

Merry Xmas from NZ!

 **Warning** There is Rated R material in this post - if you are not of age to see a rated R movie or are an easily offended Christian, this post is not for you.

Two weeks before Christmas, Malcolm's younger sister Diane and her daughter & boyfriend came to Malcolm and Deb's for an early Christmas since they all had different plans later in the month. Diane is a therapist who uses natural therapies. She does cranial massage to learn about her clients and said herself that she can't always read minds but she can read bodies. She raised her son, Ryan and daughter, Fleur, in Auckland, making them JAFAs (Just Another Fuckin' Aucklander, a nickname a local told us, explaining that Aucklanders act like the South Island doesn't even exist). Fleur has been an actress since she was about 13, when she starred in a show called “Being Eve” about a young girl and her inner monologue through her high school years. Recently she just finished a 4+ year stint on a medical-themed NZ soap called Shortland Street. She is currently in the US for a few months, auditioning for some American shows and films. She also loves doing theater and through some different parts, she has created a character inspired by Malcolm who she simply calls “Malc,” explaining that “Everyone has a dirty little man inside them who just wants to say whatever they want.”

With Fleur after her performance in "Christ Almighty!"

We got to see Malc in action a few days after her visit at a show she was doing in Wellington as a fundraiser. Christ Almighty was a play basically defacing the Nativity Story in the most incredibly entertaining way. Each actor did their own monologue, Fleur as the shepherd. She was AMAZING. She played a dirty little creepy guy (Malc) who talked about Gabrielle the angel in the most biblical of ways, acting out their sexual interactions on stage. One joke she told during the show was “what's the difference between jam and marmalade?...I can't marmalade my cock in my girlfriend's ass!” That gives you just a tiny idea of the feel of the show overall. Afterwards we went out for drinks with Fleur and her friend at a really cool place called the Library. With books lining the walls and lots of small intimate rooms, the seating consisted of lots of cool couches and old vintage chairs that I could only see in a room called a “den.” Behind the big round table and squishy leather stools where we sat was a claw foot tub and an old lamp with a fringe shade. It was fabulous and the drinks were great.

Levin teachers' uke jam.

A few days later we helped prepare for, serve, and bus at the winery for a Christmas party for the teachers of Levin . Serving an event such as this reminded us of our days serving banquets at The Blackwell!  The teachers were a fun group who came prepared for a ukulele jam after dinner, each carrying a big packet of songs with their chords included. My favorite was “Ten Guitars” which Malcolm and Deborah said was a traditional NZ tune. Everyone got really into it and they said it's the first song any NZlander learns on guitar or uke, especially popular with Maoris. It was a really fun event and Steve joined in on guitar and Malcolm on drums. Deborah and I got a song packet and sang along which was easy since they mostly did American rock and roll songs.

A few days later we went to a show with Malcolm and Deborah at a really cute cafe called The Winemaker's Daughter just past Otaki on Highway 1. I wanted to see the band Hot Club Sandwich since the father of one of the girls in Deborah's class played in the band and I heard he was quite good. Instead, we got to see her father, Andrew London, and two other NZ legends. The three of them switched off playing their own songs and they were all fantastic. We watched the show with Malcolm and Deborah and their friends Dean and his wife. Dean is in a band called Henpicked with Andrew London's wife. He is the singer and apparently didn't gain confidence in his voice until lots of time busking on the streets. He invited us to see the free show they played at the Levin Rose Garden on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) and we checked them out after lots of calls home to our families on their Christmas Day.  They were super cool and very country/bluegrass influenced with a touch of reggae. The lyrics were simple and didn't answer life's toughest questions, but it didn't matter because the music was good and they had a nice sized audience.

Xmas Eve feast!

For Christmas Eve, we went to Amanda and Dylan's hotel room in Wellington and cooked up a delicious holiday feast.  Before cooking we walked around Cuba St. attempting to do some shopping, but most things were closing up shop for the afternoon, so after a few beers at JJ Murphys on the patio on Cuba Mall, we headed back to the room for dinner. We had ham baked with a maple orange sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. It was delicious! We shared some wine and champagne and watched Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation. In the morning Steve and I made french toast with homemade cinnamon raisin bread topped with maple syrup, strawberries, kiwi, banana and powdered sugar. Scrumptious!  It didn't really feel like Christmas, but it was really nice to spend the day with friends.  Before heading back to Otaki

Our Kiwi Xmas family

For Christmas we bought Deborah some specialty Turkish Delights (she loves them and mentioned how much several times during our stay) and we made Malcolm a children's book inspired by the Amelia Bedelia books where she takes everything literally, except using his sayings like "good as gold," "all the drama," "for Africa," and then a few others like "easy peasy." We titled it "Malcolm Gets His Head Around It" and I illustrated it by copying clip art from the computer. We had it laminated and I bound it with some yellow ribbon. We were both super-excited to give them their presents and I even made copies of the book for Amanda and Dylan and one for us. The address Malcolm gave us wasn't quite right for Deborah's sister's house where Christmas lunch was, but luckily they parked outside and it was just a few doors down.  We met the whole family, forgetting everyone's names as we went, but everyone was super nice and welcoming and the food was fantastic.  There was ham, chicken, lamb, some roasties (roasted veggies) with cashews, lots of potato salads, coleslaw, a tomato/mozz/basil dish, bread rolls and more.  After the meal we all went to the front lawn to play some lawn games.  We were going to play petanque (basically boche), but everyone was raving about some Scandinavian game called Kubb.  A really simple game with wooden blocks that you knocked down with cylindrical sticks, you played with partners and so Steve and I tried our hand at it.  And we were awesome!  (Pretty surprising considering that we suck at most things that require coordination.)  We won 3 games in a row, lots of times not even letting the other team get one of their blocks down!  It was great.  On our 4th game we played against Malcolm and his daughter Zoe's boyfriend, Rowen.  We were pretty even most of the game and Malcolm had 3 left to knock down with his 3 sticks to win the game.  It was amazing - he did it!  It was a lot of fun and Malcolm joked that for our last week WWOOFing we would be making hundreds of the game to sell, also joking that they all let us win the first 3 to make us feel at home. 

Playing Kubb on Xmas day.

Before we left for a X-mas walk on the beach, we got a big family photo and had Malcolm and Deborah open their gifts.  Deborah was really excited about her Turkish Delights and Malcolm's book was a huge hit!  Deborah read each page aloud (in a perfect teacher voice) as he and his daughters crowded around to see the pictures.  After she finished reading it, he gave us a huge hug and I swear there were tears in his eyes!  It got passed around the whole family and everyone complimented us about it.  I was so happy to have given them really special gifts since they had done so much for us.  The walk on the beach was short but lovely and we even got to check out the surf club.  At the end of the evening, we returned to Malcolm and Deborah's house with full bellies and Steve and I settled in for a movie - Invictus (great movie and we even got to see the All Blacks perform a Haka!).  Halfway through, Malcolm, Deborah and Emily came in and paused the film with gifts for us!!  It was the first moment that really felt like Christmas - sitting cross-legged on the floor with the Christmas tree in front of us and our surrogate parents/family watching us with anticipation as we opened our gifts.  They gave Steve a t-shirt with a kind of Maori-style design, they gave me a kiwi bird Christmas ornament (which I had mentioned several times that I was on the look-out for), and then the both of us a set of Tiki salad servers.  It was so nice of them and really topped off a great kiwi Christmas.  The next day we had lots of calls scheduled on skype to our families for their Christmas (weird celebrating for 2 days!).  Even though it was a warm and sunny day and we were sitting in the winery, calling home and seeing all of our family together celebrating Christmas made it really feel like the holidays.  For our Christmas gifts to ourselves, Steve got a 2 liter bottle of Emerson's beer and I picked up some cute clothes at a second hand store.

Stirring up the ingredients for green ginger wine.

During our last few days at the Hadlum's, we dumped out a bunch of barrels of wine that just didn't quite work out and started fresh, helping Malcolm make a batch of his famous Green Ginger wine.  It was really fun to brew it up and be a part of the beginning of the process since we got ours hands on so many other steps during our stay.  We picked up a cool piece of artwork of Kapiti Island printed on a piece of corrugated iron from a local woman.  And on one of our last days, after watching Jamie Oliver's incessant use of basil on his new show, Food Escapes (which Steve and I are mildly obsessed with), Malcolm told us there is a pesto factory right up the road from their house!  We decided to check it out but when we got there, it was closed.  We tried the side delivery door just in case and after a not-so-thrilled greeting by the receptionist, a man came out, greeted us, showed us to their huge cooler, and after a short chat about their products, packed a box full of every variety for us to take home - for FREE!!  Needless to say, we are now loyal Genoese customers!  We couldn't believe what a nice gesture it was and almost felt guilty driving away with our box of goodies!  When we got back, I rushed to show Malcolm our treasure but he just listened with a knowing smile.  We asked him if he had anything to do with it and he repeatedly refused but his suspicious smile still makes us wonder...

Some of the best fish and chips in NZ!

On our last day at Malcolm and Deborah's, we went to visit her sister's garden in Te Horo, but not before stopping for one last helping of Koru Ice ice cream!  It was the first time Malcolm and Deborah had ever been there and they loved it!  Then we all headed to Janet's house for a look around her garden - it was beautiful!  Hundreds of hydrangeas everywhere, beautifully manicured bushes and flowers, big groves of trees and stone walls...definitely an inspiration for our future yard!  On our way home we stopped for Malcolm's all-time favorite fish in chips in Waiterere, and ate them on the beach with a bottle of orange Fanta (Malcolm said that was the best drink with them).  The fish was so good you didn't even need dipping sauces and they were definitely the best "chips" I've had in New Zealand.  It was a lovely way to spend our last evening with our surrogate family.  When we got back home we watched Toy Story 3, talked to Malcolm for a long time about when we would meet up in January (he'll be sailing around Nelson and Abel Tasman while we're WWOOFing nearby), and planned to have breakfast the next morning before setting off.  Malcolm made New Zealand pancakes (more like thick crepes that you just fill, roll, and eat with your hands) which we ate with Deborah's freshly made raspberry jam, lemon, peaches, golden syrup, and more.  Yum.  It took a long time to say our goodbyes even though we planned to meet up in January and return to WWOOF on our way back through the North Island.  Malcolm even let us borrow a cell phone so we could keep in touch.

After breakfast, we headed to Wellington for a quick shop but left empty handed as we boarded the Blue Bridge ferry to the South Island on New Year's Eve.  The weather was beautiful (yet WINDY) and the scenery gorgeous - Steve even saw dolphins (I was sleeping, what a surprise). 

Goodbye North Island & 2010!

Top 5 things learned at Malcolm and Deborah's...

1. Make opportunities out of disappointments -  When Malcolm's orchard got black spot disease, he could have just wallowed in his misfortune, but instead he saw an opportunity - fruit wine!  I hope that I can have the same attitude and initiative in the face of disappointment.
2. Trust your instincts - Kiwis do a lot of things that most people would think are crazy but it always works out (want to lease a berry farm with me, anyone?).
3. Good things come to those who wait - If you are patient and live life as it is handed to you, it will all come together - the career, kids, a home...
4. Families are the same everywhere - Maybe we don't eat lamb on Christmas or play yard games in December, but my NZ surrogate father still helped put band-aids on my knee when I fell and they still eat peanut butter and jelly (even if it's separately).
5. Drink lots of wine - Is it too alcoholic of me to say that I want to try a new bottle of wine every week?

WWOOF #7 (Part 1): Be here now

Wellington, NZ

Before heading to our 7th WWOOF host in Levin, we took the train into NZ's capital-city, Wellington. We were overdue for a little taste of city life and Wellington delivered! We fell in love with it instantly and it has not only become our favorite NZ city so far, but likely one of our favorite cities in the world. It has a young, artistic, creative vibe with great cafes, bars, street music and shopping. Our last host's teenage daughter drew us a fantastic map of all the hotspots to check out, all color coded for our exploration. We had some hot drinks at a hip cafe called Espressoholic and checked out lots of different boutiques and music shops. Our train ride home was a little more of an adventure than the way there. We boarded our train with lots of time to spare (you all know how I like to be on time!) and sat wondering if it would ever leave. After about 45 minutes past it's departure time, they announced that the station had lost power and they were making alternate arrangements with the city busses. Needless to say, there was an overwhelming sigh of frustration from the locals as we all climbed off the train. It was absolute madness as a station full of people, at rush hour, who should have left an hour ago, poured onto every platform in sight in anticipation of their alternate transport. When they announced that a train was ready to go in our direction, people rushed across the station, piling on like sardines, many not making it in time to squeeze their way on. Steve and I ended up on opposite sides of a train car holding on to anything stationary in sight! Eventually we made it back to our car and headed to our WWOOF host several hours later than planned. Normally we attempt to arrive around dinner time so we can (a) score a free meal, and (b) have a chance to have some quality conversation over the dinner table – the perfect way to feel out what our stay will be like.

Our home for a few days.

We arrived in Levin at Malcolm and Deborah's house just as it was getting dark outside.  When Malcolm answered the door, he was more than a little surprised to see us.  Having just welcomed another American couple to his property just hours before, he thought he had everyone in place but the confusion really set in as we explained our e-mail correspondence with him and where we're from.  Eventually he gave up trying to figure it all out, set us up in the little caravan outside the house, and told us dinner would be ready in a bit (the plan worked after all). At dinner we met Amanda and Dylan, a couple from Colorado who are a few years older than us, and later Masa, a Japanese guy WWOOFing to gain experience for his own family's farm when he returned home. Masa had just visited the South Island, hitchhiking his way there and back and was an incredibly upbeat guy who Steve and I wished we could have gotten to know better. Dylan and Amanda arrived in New Zealand days after we had and were planning to tour New Zealand for 6 months before heading on a worldwide exploration of Australia, Southeast Asia and possibly Europe if the time and budget allowed. Also WWOOFing throughout New Zealand, their trip was similar to ours in many ways, staying with hosts for 1-2 weeks and taking breaks to camp in between, but their budget was quite a bit different. They had been saving for several years while living in San Diego, Dylan working in construction and Amanda doing real estate. When we all went out together, we had to be a little more budget-conscious but it did allow us to let go a bit and indulge in a few meals and drinks we might not otherwise.

Although we had heard from our friends Paul and Joe in Napier that Levin wasn't the loveliest place to spend your time, it was confirmed when Malcolm's niece told us it's nickname: “ the asshole of New Zealand.” Maybe it was because we didn't know any better, but we still liked it. Right by the beach and with a busy little town center, Malcolm and Deborah admitted that it was a good place overall, close to major cities and central in New Zealand for travelling, with easy access to fishing and beautiful Lake Horowhenua nearby, but they also had their issues with it. Malcolm said that the city council were all very old, right-wing and set in their ways, always seeing everything through rose-colored glasses. Malcolm and Deborah were very keen supporters of the Green Party and believed that the council could do quite a bit more to improve environmental issues in the area.

Malcolm and Deborah's business, Celtic Organic Winery, was started more or less by accident. Malcolm and Deborah had owned a different property in Levin in the 90's and ran an apple orchard. In 1998, the apples got black spot disease, making them unsellable to market (they taste perfectly fine, just dont look appetizing). Coincidentally, a water tanker that had an accident on a friend's property was left behind and a winery was born. They took all their apples to the juicer, filled the tanker and brought it back to their property full of juice. Malcolm had made wine as a hobby and took a few wine courses and decided to go the organic route. Even now, more than ten years later, everything is done by hand. Malcolm juices the plums and other fruits he uses, he makes the wine, bottles, labels, and corks it, then boxes it up for sale (all with the help of WWOOFers like us, of course). He makes all “fruit” wines, with the exception of his Green Ginger wine which is his top seller (and our favorite). He likes to keep it a small boutique winery, only selling from his cellar door or at markets and street fairs when he has the time. A big portion of his sales occur at the Organic River Festival that he has put on for the last ten years at Kimberly Reserve in Levin (usually held in January every year). This year, because the Rugby World Cup is coming to New Zealand, Malcolm decided to take advantage of the excitement and move the festival to October. It also received a name change (Organic Music Festival) and a venue change for better security (Otaki race course). Malcolm says that organic means “the natural process and evolution of things” to him.  His motto is "Be here now," and he says that if you focus on the present moment than you are really living life.

Malcolm, captain of our fishing adventure.

Malcolm loves anything to do with water. Starting on row boats and canoes as a young boy with friends, he soon learned to sail, and at the age of 12 with the help of his parents, he bought his first yacht. He has always followed yachting closely and loves watching the races. Today he loves to to surf, kayak, fish on his boat, and sail his yacht. We even got to go on a fishing adventure with him where I provided the burly (something like bait that attracts fish to the area around the boat – or in my case, vomit). Malcolm made a rule at an early age that if it's a beautiful day and the water's right and he wants to go fishing, but can't – something's wrong and it needs to change. He has always made his living with that rule in mind. He has never worked for someone in his life. Growing up, his parents owned a supermarket which he ran for a short time when they were away, but mostly he did odd jobs, moving throughout New Zealand – Christchurch, Nelson, Dunedin, Auckland, even spending some time in Australia. He even told us a story about how he put an ad in the paper advertising “Garden Spring Cleaning,” receiving several call backs from wealthy clients who were more than willing to pay him top dollar to use their own tools to tidy up their gardens after returning from month-long holidays.

Malcolm bought their current property about 25 years ago for just $7,000 and bought a little shed of a house which was moved onto it for $10. No that's not a typo, ten dollars. Deborah stipulated that she wanted running water and a flush toilet before she moved in and Malcolm easily made the adjustments. Originally planning to take out a $14,000 loan to buy the cheapest put-it-together-yourself house they could find, when the loan went through they both decided they didn't actually want it after all. Instead they chose to keep the mortgage payments low and add on and improve what they had a little bit at a time. They now have a beautiful split level home with a huge lounge with one wall blank for the movie projector, a beautiful upstairs loft with an incredible view of the lake, two full baths, and Deborah even has her own huge walk-in closet! Malcolm plans to always keep the property in the family and never sell it.

Lake Horowhenua from Malc and Deb's back porch.

Malcolm is very interested in the weather and follows it very closely (as are most New Zealanders because of their island living), but he takes a special interest in how the moon affects it – a very accurate way to predict weather patterns that has long been ignored because of it's pagan history. He also loves to download movies, a hobby that benefited Steve and I quite a bit. We watched the whole “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy in just over a week's time when the last two were still in theaters in New Zealand!

The Hadlums

Malcolm and Deborah met randomly at a party but it wasn't until eight weeks later that they saw each other again. At that point, Deborah was just passing through – she had someone waiting for her – but Malcolm was the one. They fell in love and three months later, they were married. Deborah grew up in Paekakariki (Malcolm's family moved from England to New Zealand when he was a young boy) and has always lived in the same region. She has done a ton of traveling through her twenties and in more recent years; campervanning through Europe and the US, biking through Ireland with a friend, etc. She said her 20's were spent travelling, her 30's having babies, and at 40 she went to school to be a teacher. She felt that going to school later in life and having her daughters at an impressionable age where they witnessed her working hard in school was really great for them and she was glad that she went back to school when she did.

With some of the girls in Deb's class.

Now Deborah teaches years 7&8 and she even let us to come to school with her one day to see what a New Zealand school is like. The kids have a ton of freedom – although Deborah feels like they don't get enough – and it often feels like total chaos. They are given a lot of room to figure out things on their own and don't need constant supervision. The kids were very interested in meeting us, asking us questions about whether the kids in the US eat badly or behave badly and asking to see what our money looks like. Deborah is a really great teacher who loves her job and is always working to do better. She is very honest with her students and finds ways to level with them and by doing so, she shows them that she cares about them. She tells them every year “I will not treat you all as equals because you are not all equals,” explaining that they have to earn her trust and if they break it, it's a lot of work to earn back. She also tells them that she is “the best friend that they could ever have,” making it known that she would like to develop a relationship of mutual respect and understanding with them. She has noticed a change in kids over time, the traditional belief that “children should be seen and not heard” going by the wayside, noting that one of her kids once said “Yeah, I'm really good at that!” She also noted that New Zealanders don't like “tall poppies” (people who show off/have big egos), which is certainly different from the US. The new wave of using CV's (our resumes) particularly bothered her for the way it organizes all your qualities and experience into a document to sell yourself. She missed the days when you got a job because you went into a business, sat down and had a good conversation with someone in charge and then they decided to hire you.

Although their lifestyle has been by no means traditional, especially in comparison to American standards, Deborah has never worried about their financial situation. She said they've always lived on a budget similar to what they would have on the unemployment benefit, and are great about recycling and re-purposing. Malcolm is a self-proclaimed “minimalist,” though the number of sheds he owned full of stuff he might use or fix one day made me wonder... They both said that they have never been materialistic and it never bothered her that they were living on the cheap until their kids were teenagers and she wanted them to have things. But she and Malcolm decided that they would never skimp on making sure their girls could experience everything they wanted, but clothes were often second-hand from their cousin and any special designer things they wanted had to come from their own pockets. Deborah always trusted Malcolm and knew things would work out no matter what crazy ideas he came up with. Once he came home and told Deb that they had leased a nearby berry farm for one year. The girls were babies and Malcolm imagined that Deborah's father must have thought he was nuts. But it worked out – they nearly tripled their costs in profits at the end of the year.

(To be continued)