Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Kayaking and Farm 3.1

Usually I only do a blog post when something new and exciting has happened but since I have continued to stay at the same farm, not much new has happened but I have had a good week.  I am still at Farm #3 in the Bay of Islands.  For one day this week Kristina loaned me out to her neighbors (I am calling them Farm 3.1) who have taken a really different approach to managing their property than Kristina has.  They have an extremely neat garden and grow mainly tropical plants.  They are on a north facing slope and planted wind blocks so they created a tropical climate in a sub-tropical zone.  They even grow about 100 pineapples at a time in little pots.  It is pretty cool.  I mainly just did some pruning for them.  Below is a photo of one of their banana plants (I have been told they are not trees).
Bunch of bananas growing at Farm 3.1
 I also had a day off where I got to go sea kayaking.  It was one of those kayaks where you sit on top, which to me isn't as comfortable as the kind that you sit in.  It was free so I can't complain too much.  I saw some fish and some birds, but mainly, the highlights were the scenery and the sun.  I got a blister on my hand and was pretty excited that my arms and core were sore the next day which meant I was using both to paddle.  Hopefully someday it will just be my core.  I made a little map of the area where I kayaked (see below) and took a risk by bringing my camera along - it survived.
The red line is where i went to - then went back.  Going back was much harder.
Lunch spot
The classic self portrait


I also had a little scare this week with my wwoofer host.  We had come in from the rain one day and were planning on cooking some kale chips and parsnip soup when all of a sudden she couldn't remember what we were doing and she was very confused.  I was really worried and thought she might be having a stroke but she felt fine but just would ask me what we were doing over and over and never remember what I was telling her.  Her husband took her to the doctor and it turns out nothing was wrong she just had an episode of TGA (transient global amnesia).  Which just goes away on its own and usually doesn't happen again.  I am glad she is ok and we are back to cooking and working in the garden.  Today I made parsnip soup and my first bechamel sauce.  Someday I will have a kitchen again and will be able to experiment with it.
I am going to Thailand in less than a week couldn't be more excited.  I got my typhoid shot and malaria pills.  I have gotten a lot of good advice from friends who have been there and starting to separate my stuff in to things I am bringing with me to Thailand and things I am stashing in my car.  Turns out I am bringing a lot less stuff to Thailand than I brought to New Zealand.  Anyways I my next post will be from there.  Enjoy the sunrise.

1 comment:

Laura said...

My older sister went to Thailand a few years back and I know that she found several cooking classes there that she really enjoyed. Sincer you seem to be really into cooking it might be a good idea for your trip!