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Published: January 23rd 2010
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For those of you who do not know what WWOOFing is, I'll explain. It is a program set up for travelers who are "Willing to Work On Organic Farms" in exchange for food and accommodation. This is a very popular program in New Zealand, as many family farms rely on the extra help from travelers to sustain their way of life. I met Marg and Paul thru the WWOOF program, and they agreed to host me. I had originally planned on staying with them for a week; however, do to a glitch in communication, I ended up only being able to stay for a few days as I had already committed to another host. So really, my first WWOOFing experience ended up involving no work at all. Instead, Marg just showed me around and took care of my meals, so it was rather more like staying at a bed'n'breakfast. Though I had really been looking forward to helping out around her son's winery, I am not complaining.
On my last full day in Nelson, Marg took me to the farmer's market and treated me to a whitebait sandwich. Whitebait is a very tiny fish that can only be caught in certain rivers for about 3 weeks out of the year. The couple at the sandwich stand had caught the bait themselves and told me of their catching adventures as they fried the fish in an omelet of sorts and layered it on buttered bread. The sandwich was delicious, just as Marg had promised. Anxious to head out to the nursery and scrub some walls (which she would not let me assist with, despite my protests), Marg left me at the market to explore further. I wandered around and took lots of pictures, listened in to the various street musicians, and bought myself a pair of Maori carved bone earrings.
I decided to push past the boundaries of Nelson, and take a 45 minute drive over to Kaiteriteri Beach. Marg had said the sands in this popular holiday spot were the color of gold, and I soon found this to be accurate. It was a bright sunny day and the shores and water were packed. I walked the beach, collecting shells that promised to make lovely earrings and such.
When I tired of the excitement, I reclaimed Sunny and we started on our way back to Nelson making a few stops on the way. The first of these being at a small roadside brewery, called Monkey Wizard. With a name like that, I couldn't help but find out what this place was about. I tasted thru the few beers they had on tap, most all were made with local hops. My favorite was the espresso brew, which was made from beans grown right down the street. My next stop was at the Jester Cafe, which turned out to be one of those super-quirky-in-the-middle-of-nowhere kinda places. The cafe was surrounded by gardens that had all kinds of fun stuff to play with and look at. Overall, it kinda took the approach of the St. Louis City Museum. A giant wooden toaster sculpture, a life-size chess set, mosaics, an odd playground, a wishing well that looked as if people were trying to climb out of it, forts, animal sculptures, etc. I wasn't hungry for lunch yet, so I indulged in a local beer instead. I chose the Mussel Inn's Captain Cooker Manuka Beer, a red brown beer flavoured with the freshly picked tips of the Manuka tree. The Manuka tree (also known as the Tea Tree) is native to New Zealand and has proven medicinal qualities. It is widely used by the kiwi's. The beer was like honey, so I asked the woman behind the counter about the brewery. Turns out, her brother actually owns it and it is located about 2 hours from Nelson in Golden Bay. Determined to visit, I got a good hostel recommendation from her and some suggestions on other stuff to do in the area. I will tag this on to my return to the north end of the south island.
The coolest thing about the Jester's Cafe was the eels. The stream running through the property was slithering with huge black eels that were very hungry. For some pocket change at the cafe, you could get a little cup of seafood pate and a popsicle stick to feed them. The eels would actually come out of the water to try to take the stick of food, like snakes being charmed.
That evening I watched the sun lower and the tide go out at Ruby Bay, and felt I didn't care if I ever made it back to the states.
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