The Simple Life

Today I did some 'farm work' and I have to say it was pretty awesome

We started the day

by driving down the the beach in an old beat up ute.

Our first task was to fill up the back of the ute (which is New Zealand for pickup truck) with seaweed. It was slimy and heavy, but it will make a great mulch and fertilizer for my friends organic farm. Seaweed is quite strong, and it holds together in big clumps, so some amount of 'wrestling' with it is required to get it up and into the back of the car.

We took a walk out to a cliff view of the beautiful Otago coastline, and looked out at the Pacific Ocean - spanning outward forever and ever. It felt good. What felt even better was riding on the back of the truck, boots wedged into the seaweed and gripping the top of the cab. As we drove back to the farm the wind rushed past us, and the smell of gorse flowers was powerful strong.

I felt like a bird rushing forward. Wide and open, no where to be, no schedule to keep - just doing things on the farm in as much time as they take.

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Second Task - Alpaca Mayhem

To keep the grass down and provide valuable manure, our friends on the farm have three alpacas. Now I don't know a lot about Camellids, which is the family of animals that contains camels, llamas and alpacas - in fact this is probably my first time directly working with the creatures.

Our task was simple - get the Alpacas from one side of the farm to the other (it's a very small farm divided by a creek). The alpacas don't like water so we cant just heard them directly over the creek. They will need to be led over.

It took us quite a few attempts to capture them, including using a rope and receiving rope burn. We finally cornered them and managed to grab on to the three alpacas. They weren't happy about it at all. Our host thought that one their neck was under control with a leash that they would be easily led - this wasn't the case.

Two of the Llamas were able to be half led half dragged to the stream, then they were lifted the rest of the way. The third alpaca had to be carried the whole way. It was a physical job and the beasts were quite stinky and musky. They have a thick fur coat which is oily and dirty. On top of that they regurgitate the grass they are eating and spray it out - you don't want to be caught inside that breath weapon!

A Well Earned Rest

So I am sitting inside my friends tiny home now, typing this out on a borrowed laptop, and I feel great. I don't know if this life is what I want permanently, but I do love the opportunity to come out and do this every now and then.

The wildlife around here is really amazing. Being New Zealand it is pretty much just birds. Today I have seen native wood pigeons (kereru) with beautiful red beaks and green feathers, they swooped right past us and perched on low branches. We have also seen Kotare (native kingfisher), southern parakeets, many geese and ducks, Tui's and bellbirds.

With the bird song and the sound of the stream, overall it is a very healing and relaxing place to be. Sorry no pics yet, perhaps when I get back home and unload my camera.

Much Love
PhillyC