WWOOF WWOOF!!

I’m currently writing from Welcome Bay near Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, NZ. I’ve been here for almost two weeks now (after returning to North Island post roadtrip, and after a brief pitstop in Auckland,) and while I’ve been here I’ve been mostly WWOOFing, and cycling.

WWOOF stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms, and it is a worldwide network of farms and smallholdings who need extra pairs of hands to help with organic farming (which is generally more labour intensive than if you use chemicals) and are willing to provide free accommodation and food to willing tourists like me in exchange for a few hours of work each day. I’ve used the network before in Spain and France and loved it. I really think it is a great way to see and get to know an area if you have the time available to spend in one place because it gives you an in into the daily life of the local community and people rather than just being a tourist. This current experience has only confirmed that opinion.

The farm where I am staying is run by Jane and Kevin who operate a business called Teacher in the Paddock – running day care, after school clubs and holiday schemes for children in which they learn about animals, plants and where our food comes from, and get to connect with nature. Their website and particularly their facebook page will give you a better idea of what they do (I even feature in some of the Facebook posts) but suffice to say that the children who come to Teacher in the Paddock have a wonderful time, and I generally have a lovely time helping out. On the days when there are no children in the morning I’ve been helping around the farm – feeding animals, chopping firewood, pruning trees and planting vegetables.

Aside from WWOOFing, the other thing that has been keeping me busy (you won’t be surprised to hear,) is cycling. After having about a month off after I finished my tour of Asia I am now firmly back in training for the Tour Aotearoa (3000km North to South tour of the whole length of New Zealand,) which I start on the 4th March. One of the reasons that I decided to come to this area is because I had been told by several people via the Facebook NZ cycle forum that it was a good area for cycling, with lots of active cycle groups, and it turns out they were right! Since being here I’ve been down on one occasion to a road racing club (who were way to fast for me and my heavy steel bike, but who were very friendly,) and out on a couple of rides with a gravel riding / cycling touring group who are more at my level. I also got invited along (through talking to people at the road racing meet,) to a meet up of people from the local cycle clubs who have either previously done the Tour Aotearoa or who are doing it this year – this was really great to talk about the route and the preparations that people are doing, and made me feel a lot more confident about the whole thing!

Club riding aside, I’ve generally been trying to do some sort of riding every day, though I vary the length depending on how much other stuff I have to get done. I’ve also been out on a few rides with Ray, a guy from the NZ cycle forum who used to be a very serious semi-professional mountain biker and triathlete but is now semi retired and recovering from a heart attack, and generally taking things a bit easier. However, he still knows all the routes and tracks in the area super well, so is an excellent guide! As well as a doing a few rides together around the Tauranga area, he took me last weekend driven to Rotorua to try out the mountain bike trails in the woods – this was my first time on mountain bike trails and it was heart in your mouth stuff, but very exhilarating! In fact, we are going tomorrow for another trip to Rotorua – this time I have chosen the trail: Te Ara Ahi, one of New Zealand’s 22 “great rides”. In theory this one shouldn’t be too technical but I’m still mentally preparing myself for anything it can throw at me. Wish me luck!