What's Next?

WWOOF is Willing Workers On Organic Farms, and although I believe it has changed a lot since its inception, it is fundamentally a program devised to help teach people about organic farming and growing methods. It does so by bringing together people who have a desire to learn with farmers who have a desire to host them. The trade is the work, usually four to six hours a day, provided by the wwoofers, for meals and a place to stay, provided by the hosts. It doesn’t seem to be regulated, and consequently, anyone who employs “organic” methods, even if it is only on their private garden, is able to be listed as a host. But whether that actually is detrimental to the original aim of the group—I don’t know.

When Ashley and I arrive in Auckland, New Zealand around 7:30 am on the 28th of January-as a side note we leave Rarotonga on the 27th at 3:40 am and it is only a three and a half hour flight!-we will take some form of public transport to one of the ferry stations. There we can store our luggage for the day in a locker, and go out and explore the city. That evening, we will come back to the ferry station and try to meet up with our first wwoof host as she takes the five o’clock ferry home from work. Home is Waiheke Island, about a thirty-five minute ferry ride from the Central Business District of Auckland city. (Another side note: all these times and distances are based on what I have read about Auckland, so if I am wrong I apologize) We will have that evening and the following two days to get to know the family we will be staying with.

Our hosts are a husband and a wife and their two children. They need someone to help watch after their two children and transport them to and from school. The work is for six hours a day, Monday through Friday. They also will have some carpentry work for us. They mentioned something about some flower beds and a chicken coop in one of our emails. The weekends we have free, and it is until mid-March, six weeks total. Those are the details that we have so far.

The first weekend we are there, the 31st of January and the 1st of Feb, is the Baha’i Regional Conference for all of New Zealand. So we will be heading in to the city for that and making contacts with people and getting an idea of what the country needs in terms of service from us. It’s a great chance for us-wonderful timing-to be able to meet Baha’is all over the country and get their stories and advice on places that need help and what they like about their regions. We also will learn about the study circles/Ruhi courses that are happening around the country. All in all, our first week is going to be a whirlwind, and we are really looking forward to it.

For now, we are still relaxing on Rarotonga. Nine more days of life on a tropical island and we are trying not to rush ourselves. It’s great here. A little hot for both of us. And maybe a few more bugs than we are used to. Ashley found a giant spider behind the couch cushions today…but there are no poisonous bugs, animals or plants on Raro, so don’t worry about us...;)