WWOOFing in Waiheke Island
We embarked to Waiheke Island full of excitement as we were looking forward to our first WWOOFing experience. After emailing for months with the managers of the farm, we knew that we will be expected to work 4 hours per day but we didn’t know much about Uma Rapiti Farm. We were scheduled to be on the farm from October 14 to October 22, 2012.
Since we arrived at Uma Rapiti, we were surprised by the beauty and location of this place. The modern architecture of the owner’s house and the outdoor style of all the farm structures are well distributed and connected in harmony. Uma Rapiti is a place where people are constantly in touch with nature and the outside elements. Sun, wind, or rain are always in contact with your skin as a life experience gift. Just a 10-minute walk from the beach, this Premaculture farm is composed by an outdoor kitchen, outdoor shower, wool shed (tool shed), sleep out, a tent for WWOOFers, compost toilet, green house, gardens, fruit trees, and a chicken coup. Solar energy is utilized to heat the water and all organic materials are reused into a compost system.
Uma Rapiti is a self-sustained farm and the produce is not for resell or profit. This is a family farm owned by Tana & Charles, a couple from the U.S. that immigrated to New Zealand 12 years ago. The farm is currently managed by Elizabeth & Chad, an enthusiastic couple from the U.S. with years of experience in agriculture. We shared our first WWOOFing experience with Charlotte, an 18-year-old German WWOOFer traveling alone for 6 months in New Zealand.
Our days at Uma Rapiti started at 7:30 am with the luxury of having breakfast together, a pleasure that our LA lifestyle and schedules didn’t allow. We worked from 8:30 am to 12:30pm, starting with a planning meeting to identify and distribute daily tasks. We were always encouraged by the farm managers to give ideas and input while planning our day. This encouraged a team effort and made us feel an important part of the process. We were exposed to diverse tasks in the farm: watering the green house plants twice a day, weeding, planting seeds and plants, cutting wood, pulling nails from wood, building bamboo fences, adding dirt to garden stairs, feeding chickens, picking up fresh eggs, chasing chickens out of the gardens, building a dog leash box, and playing with Betty Blue (the dog). Throughout the days we learned how to take care of garden and we were paid by the privilege of eating what we grow! What a better feeling than being hungry, walking into your garden to pick up vegetables, and letting them give you the inspiration of what to cook. When our hands weren’t full of dirt, they were playing with colors, textures, and flavors in the outdoor kitchen. š
Just like Elizabeth says “Uma Rapiti is all about planting and eating”. We had an unforgettable day of baking in the earth oven. We spend an entire Saturday together making pretzels, naan, pita, pizzas, and brownies. It was a wonderful experience to once again work as a team to follow recipes and allow our creativity to fly at the same time. Hours felt like minutes while we were cooking, talking, laughing, and eating. We also learned to make homemade cheese from milk.
WWOOFing in Uma Rapiti has been an opportunity to meet interesting people and get in touch with the art of growing what we eat and eating what we grow. This life experience, that has been taken away from us by the lifestyle of our modern and industrial society, is an invitation to think about the ways in which we could live a healthier life. Working together is a must and a need in the farm because the individualistic idea of surviving alone isn’t a real possibility out in the world. Weeding is a way of meditation, an excellent technique to take your wondering mind back into the moment. A farm is a cycle of life and an opportunity to find what is really essential to live. All that is needed is given by the basic elements of nature. We can’t wait for our next WWOOFing experience! We look forward to taking back all the ideas and lessons we have learned into our little garden in Los Angeles.
