World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF Australia)

1 - 16 May 2015

WWOOF is an exchange - In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles. Initially my friend, FV and I planned to spend two weeks with two different hosts (one week each) but due to unforeseen circumstances we ended up spending the two weeks with Rob and Margaret with their son, Norm at Kangaroo Valley. Kangaroo Valley has nothing to do with kangaroos. It is a beautiful place with rich green pastures, sparkling creeks and rivers and the lush rainforest.

Rob is a very kind, friendly and knowledgeable old man who runs the farm and maintains his property for years. He welcomed us at the train station and explained to us about the place on the way to his farm house. We saw a beautiful house on a huge land and we were so excited. But a moment later, we realized that it was their neighbors. 

This was where we stayed for two weeks. To be honest, I felt uncomfortable when I first saw all these as well. Everything just looked so messy. But we were here to explore and learn, so we decided to take up the challenge. Rob and his family later apologized for the mess and mentioned there were wwoofers who left after seeing the farm.

This is Honey, a nine-month old puppy belongs to Rob and his family. This was a big surprise to me as I only got to know about her when we arrived. I am not a dog lover, in fact I am fear of dogs. Honey is a very active and energetic puppy who loves to run and jump on the guests. I tried to calm myself and not to show my fear in order to pay respect to the family.

It was late afternoon when we reached. We were starving as we did not manage to eat our lunch on train just now. Rob introduced us to Margaret who could hardly walk unless with the help of walker. She asked about our dietary preference and then asked us to prepare our own lunch. After lunch we started cleaning the bathroom especially on the spider webs and molds. And yes, we survived our first day!!!

The weather was terrible as it had been raining for days. The land was wet and we could not start our gardening work. We spent the first few days doing cleaning for the house like kitchen, cooking utensils, and spa tub. As a reward, we were first to enjoy the spa. The spa was specially enjoyable at a cool and quiet night.

The host owns three cows, they are grandma, mother and son. Despite same family, they all have different colors. At least once a week, one of the neighbors who sells organic food will share some food scraps from the market for us, and for the cows. If the food scraps were too bad for us and the cows, we used them as fertilizer.

The weather started to turn better. The host brought us to Bunnings warehouse and got us some equipment for work like glove. Bunnings is Australia's largest household hardware chain where you can find a complete range of home improvement and outdoor living products.

We started with surfacing the sunken and muddy roadway behind the house with gravels. This was definitely the most tedious work as we had to bend our back and it required strength to lift the shovel full of gravels. 

Before

After

We cleaned the muddy floor with high pressure water jet so that it would be less slippery especially for Margaret. Seriously if I were to do this at my home, I would have preferred to use brush instead.

Before

After

Around the house there was a mini garden with celery, tomatoes, and herbs. To be honest, celery was the only one growing well among all. Our next task was to trim the huge branches with secatuers behind the garden which were blocking the sunlight into the garden. 

We asked the reason for trimming out those "Little Yellow Flowers" and the answer was because they were priceless and they were blocking the sunlight into the garden. On the other hand, they were precious in our home town and used commonly in making flower bouquet.

Work in progress

After

The next phase of the work was to replace the muddy pathway with gravels around the mini garden. First, we removed the grass, place the newspaper to stop the grass from regrowing, and lastly covered the pathway with gravels.

Let's compare the "before" and "after"

We did not work on Sunday. We spent our day with the host and his family in town having barbecue, shopping, and playing poker games in the club at night. 

The night before, our hosts showed us about the poker game and we had a "rehearsal" so that we could play in the club. The entry to the game requires 2 dollars per person. If we were successful in making to the top 10, we were entitled for cash voucher and if top 4, there would be cash prize. The game started with about 30 peoples and to my surprise I managed to get into top 10 as a first timer. 

Once, the hosts brought us for Asian lunch buffet in another club. The price was considerably cheap as it was less than AUD 15 for adult. We had our best meal of the two weeks here.

A refuge island, also known as a pedestrian refuge or pedestrian island, is a small section of pavement or sidewalk, completely surrounded by asphalt or other road materials, where pedestrians can stop before finishing crossing a road. It is typically used when a street is very wide, as the pedestrian crossing can be too long for some individuals to cross in one traffic light cycle.

We spent Mothers' Day in their daughter's house in town. To my surprise, it was a clean and neat gypsy decorated house. Their daughter, Caroline is gay who stays with her partners and two children. Despite looking manly and tough, she loves cooking and can cook well. 

 

Our kind hosts offered us to go to the turf club with the neighbor. At first we hesitated because we were supposed to work on the day but they insisted us to go explore.  

We were also brought to Cambawerra Lookout. We had a breathtaking panaramic view at the summit without requiring us to hike.

This was a public swimming pool with sea water, which was temporarily closed. I could not imagine how people can swim in such salty water.

Shark egg capsules are usually lightweight, they are commonly washed up by the sea, often found at the strandline, the farthest point of the high tide. The egg cases that wash up on beaches are usually empty, the young fish having already hatched out.

We also went for a 4.5km decent hike to the stunning Drawing Room Rocks with its natural tables and chairs made of rock, the result of natural weathering of the Hawkesbury Sandstone. We took up the challenge to sit on the chair around to the cliff with our legs hanging in the air.

 

Behind the house, there is a river which is also owned by the house. Before we left, we had a stroll along the river with Norm. He knowledgeably explained the flora, fauna and different kinds of stones. The fossilized stones left the strongest impression.

In order to express our gratitude to the hosts, we decided to cook them an Asian dinner. We did stir fried Wong Bak, chicken and stew potatoes. 

We had simple meals most of the time. Breads or oats for breakfast, breads or instant noodles for lunch and boiled potatoes with vegetables and little piece of meat for dinner. One of the most sumptuous and impressive meals was nachos served with kidney beans and minced beef, which was prepared by Norm.