Waipu Wonders Mark 2...
Feeling ever so slightly like Thelma without Louise, on July 11th, I temporarily left Awhitu. Tanya & Charmaine at Earthtalk had agreed to rent me their second little car... an elderly, battered but lively white mazda at a very reasonable 'wwoofer' rate so I had a 'set of wheels' to follow them the 250kms drie north to Rosemary Neave's women's Waihoihoi Lodge It's situated 8kms outside Waipu, a small, rural village on the north east coast of North Island. The 3 of us were headed north for the Waipu Winter Arts Festival & a Saturday evening performance about Hildegard of Bingen, a medival Nun & mystic, written & performed by Ceridwyn Parr & Danielle Melton, http://www.watershedcottage.co.nz/
Enroute, we stoped off at Judith's in Warkworth, a friend of T&C's, who had prepared a gorgeous birthday lunch for Charmaine. Annie, another friend of T&C joined us... & after a second, decadent sliver of chocolate tartin, some very lively conversation & an inspection of Judith's 'chucks'.... we continued on our way north... As a wwoofer, I find it incredible how generous T&C have been in making me feel welcome, introducing me to their many friends & including me in many of their social events....plays, meals, trips into the city... even introducing me to Moka, their favourite massage therapist, who works miracles with my mid-life wwoofer aches & pains from working on the land....
Eventually, after passing thru' the Brynderwyn Hills, we reached our destination... & received a very warm welcome from Rosemary, the owner of Waihoihoi Lodge. I have taken some photos of the Lodge, its breathtaking location, surrounded by native bush, overlooking Bream Bay & beyond that.... the South Pacific sea....
but... not being a blog nerd... I haven't always been able to match my text with the right photos so... please be patient & watch this space & I'll post the photos as soon as I can upload them....
My weekend was full of gorgeous memories... Ceri & Danielle's creative & fascinating exposition of Hildegard's life, Rosemary's gourmet meals - including a spectacular outdoor Sunday Brunch, rich conversations & as the daylight faded away, wonderful, therapeutic body massages in the 7 seater outdoor spa overlooking the bay, with the lights of Bream Head & the harbour sparkling in the distance....it was magical to gaze up at the dark, star-filled sky & see the southern cross, venus & the milky way so clearly.
And all good things have to come to an end.... or do they?
Not for wwoofers it seems! T&C had suggested to me that whilst I was up in northlands, I take some time to explore the area & they'd arranged with Rosemary that I'd stay on for an additional two weeks wwoofing... combined with some sightseeing.... inbetween times Rosemary had given my name to Kate & Lynn, owners of The Big Blue House B&B, Auckland, who were desperate for someone to run their B&B whilst they were away on a week's holiday.... so, I ended up spending a fun-filled week wwoofing for Rosemary, Ceri & Danielle.... helping clean & pack up Waihoihoi Lodge.... for more details of why see Rosemary's web site http://www.waihoihoi.co.nz/
My wwoofing duties included obligatory long walks on picturesque, empty beaches followed by visits to the local Deli/Cafe for exquisite coffee & homemade deserts e.g. prune & pineaple cake served with cream... interspersed with occasional packing, veggie garden weeding, feeding chucks, clearing attics, playing with Hildegard... the dog, near-death experiences straddling the quad bike up & down steep paddocks to find & then feed Rosemary's neighbour's grumpy ducks... trips to the rubbish tip...oh, I forgot....all in house activities were accompanied by obligatory sing-along operatic arias & other 'playlist' selections on Rosemary's ipod... playing loudly via the house sound system...
And there were contemplative moments too... mainly in the outdoor spa gazing at the stars.... zen moments on the beach & working outdoors...
but seriously, reading between the lines, I hope you're able to tell that it's such a hard life being a wwoofer! Honestly, I'm struggling to keep up!
Eventually, my week at Waihoihoi came to an end & it was time for me to move on to The Big Blue House B&B.... Rosemary, Ceri & Danielle advised me to drive the scenic 'Twin Coast' route back to Auckland.... stunning scenery, mountains, beaches & vineyards.... more about my experiences running a B&B will follow in another blog....
Oh, I just remembered, whilst at Waihoihoi, I did have an afternoon out at Whangarei... a city north of Waipu... besides joining the AA Breakdown, buying a warm fleece to combat the cold, wet weather & mouching around the shops for abit of retail therapy.... on Rosemary's reccomendation, I went in search of this unusual sculpture called 'Waka & Wave' in the Whangarei Town Basin, at Hihiaua Peninsula. It's located close to the site that the Maori would traditionally have launched their Waka (canoes) in years gone by. It was sculpted by Wallace Hetaraka & Chris Booth as a bicultural project betwen Maori & Pakeha artists.
This is the Waka and... SORRY... it's disappeared but this is the Wave......
And this is me at Waihoihoi Lodge, at the mandatory Sunday Brunch...I was forced to sit outside on the deck, overlooking the sea.... & enjoy myself... terrible!
Anyway, got to go now as wwoofing duties call.... Thanks too for all your emails... keep 'em coming... Love Suz x
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