2015 Re-visit to New Zealand: Akaroa - Onuku Farm Hostel

10 - 12 April 2015

Here I was back to my home sweet home - Onuku Farm Hostel where I had previously spent three months working for accommodation. It is a cosy farmhouse, on the tranquil camping ground with stargazers, huts and tent sites, on the separate, purpose-built van park for smaller backpacker vans. Onuku Farm Hostel is located uphill owned by Jeff and is 20 minutes driving distance from Akaroa town.

Year 2011 me with the only human friendly sheep. He is an old and furry sheep which tail is not docked. This time I didn't see him but a young pet sheep

 2015 me with young pet sheep owned by the hostel manager

Spending your nights in one of the stargazers at Onuku Farm Hostel would definitely be an interesting and unique experience. The Stargazers are like a wooden hut which is just large enough for two persons, with mattress on the floor and pillows. There are two glass panel on the roof so that when you lie on your bed at night, you can watch the spectacular night sky while you are listening to the night sounds.

This was the woofer hut where I used to stay when I was working here in 2011. It looked simple and ugly but cozy. I remember how I reluctantly to move in here on the first day as it was full of dust and leaves. But it was actually not too bad when I started to stay in here. In the morning you could hear birds, at the middle of the night you can just pee outside of the hut :)

My little hut in 2015, now was occupied by the current woofer

Could see some dying grapes next to my little hut this time.

We actually booked stargazer but due to weather, the nice manager offered us to stay in the house, which was warmer, at the same price of stargazer. Since I came back here as a tourist, I could not find any reason for not pampering myself and so I accepted her offer without hesitation.

For dinner, I made some beef meatballs and cheesy pasta.

Having no entertainment like internet and television, we spent our first night playing board games together. It reminded me of my childhood memories, these were usually what we played when we were in our pre-connected generation. People nowadays are the real slaves to technology as they are too addictive to electronic devices. 

I didn't make a good bread last year in Australia, this time I took up the challenge to make a better one for my parents. Somehow it was still not up to my standard. I used to make much better ones. My father made mushroom soup, as in not from the cans, which was perfect match for the bread.

We planned for two walks today. Without wasting any time, we went for the reserve walk right after breakfast. It was a relatively gentle walk to the reserve where we got fantastic views of the rugged cliffs on the farm and the head lands in the distance.

We came back for lunch and a short rest before we made our steps to the swimming beach. It was a steep walk which brought us down to the beach where we could catch mussels for our dinner. It took about 30 to 40 minutes one way. 

Despite the cold weather, FV and I decided to stay in a caravan to experience the outdoor camping while my parents remained in the house. Before we slept, we took a short while gazing at the starry sky through the window near our bed. Undoubtedly it was very cold at the midnight as we did not realize one of the windows was not fully closed.

 

It was our last day in Onuku and finally we had clear sky. When we moved our luggage to the car, we found out that the car could not be started, thanks to the damaged battery which was freeze by the cold weather these two days. It took me some time calling the car rental company in a Sunday morning to arrange for a battery exchange back in Christchurch. Meanwhile, FV and my parents started their way to the Ridge Walk and I caught up with them later.

On this sunny day, it was best to go for ridge walk which took us to an altitude of 450m. We were at the highest point on the farm where we got great views of both-the farm and Akaroa Harbour. It was my favorite track among all and I had always come to this walk last time. The entire walk took about 1.5 hour return.

Year 2011

Year 2015

Year 2011
 Year 2015

Year 2011

Year 2015

I miss my buddies whom I used to party and work with together. All of us left Onuku Farm Hostel and took different life journey at different corners of the world. Only Gemma and Tom, they are staying in Akaroa with their boy and expecting daughter.

Year 2011, the day when I left Onuku

Year 2015, when we gathered again with new members. It was great catch up with them

I was surprised that Jeff still remembered me, this tiny quite little girl. The very first time when I came here 4 years ago, my car tyre was stuck in mud. 4 years later, Jeff helped to jump start my car. I gave him a big hug of gratitude in return. 

Yana was the manager of the hostel. She found me when she came across with my blog about Onuku Farm Hostel. We had been talking a little bit in facebook. She was very kind as she offered us to stay in the house despite our booking for stargazers.  

It was hard to say goodbye to them but we had to continue our journey. I sadly left the place and went to Christchurch to replace the car battery, before we drove to Westport via Arthur Pass.

Please read my the other post on working for accommodation on Onuku