For the past week, I was WWOOFing (work in exchange for food and accommodation) at the Fern Lodge in The Coromandel. Unfortunately, I had to cut my time short in The Coromandel due to a sinus infection that left me with one terrible tooth infection, so I made my way back to Auckland to see a dentist. Although I had been cursing the pain in my mouth for days, it was the encouragement of my WWOOF hosts that finally convinced me to take an early departure. No less then 1 minute after I agreed, Gen was on the phone with her mom asking if I could stay with her for a couple nights in Auckland. I find myself encountering this sort of generosity and openness quite frequently….people are so darn friendly! I’ll be paying this generosity forward for a heck of a long time. Anyhow, back to my time WWOOFing in The Coromandel. Contrary to what the name suggests, I’m actually not doing any farm work here. The Fern Lodge is – you guessed it – a lodge, and wow, what a lodge it is! It’s gorgeous. I’ve included some pictures below of some of their units.
The Lodge is currently run by Gen and James, and they have a 19 month old named Ophelia. Ophelia primarily spends her time giggling, crying or playing with her dollhouse – oh, and she dropped my Kindle in the dog bowl. The Kindle survived! …And now I lock my suitcase when I leave the house. The Fern Lodge was originally built and managed by Gen’s dad, Ray – he’s 78 and actually still lives on the property, although he’s retired now. Let me tell you, Ray is a character! I have never met someone who knows so much about so many things; he’s a walking encyclopedia! Well, probably more like a walking Wikipedia, as I’m sure his ramblings are generally true with a few “hmmm…” spots around the edges. Ray uses phrases like “Oh, how wonderful!” or “It was magnificent!” and referred to the Gore family (Tipper Gore, her two children, and their handful of body guards visited once, which apparently was really strange before he understood who they were because every time Ms Gore and her kids would leave, 3 bulky quiet men would follow suit 2 minutes later) as “just delightful”. He’s lived in many places (including Minnesowtah) and has taught Native Americans, Native Canadians, and Maori, and he has a much knowledge of and respect for native populations. It was through him I learned that the Maori people (New Zealand’s indigenous people) were the first to settle in the Coromandel around 1250-1300, because this place was no doubt a gold mine [[foreshadowing]] for them – waterways in every direction and plenty of natural resources to sustain life.
On my second day here, I had the opportunity to do one of the coastal walks with Ray. My favorite anecdote goes as follows: About 30 minutes into our walk, there it stood – a kauri tree; one of the world’s mightiest and oldest tree species. What a sight! I was expecting something grand – after all, Ray had already prepped me quite a bit about it’s history and grandeur – and seeing the 800 year old tree before my eyes was even more spectacular than I imagined. Anyhow, as I began snapping pictures, he insisted upon taking a photo of me in front of the trees. “For your parents!” he said. This was Ray’s first time using an iPhone, and truly, my instruction to “click the round button a few times” he took more than just a little to heart:
“It doesn’t make the ‘click’ sound like my Nikon does when you snap a photo!” he explained after I showed him the 47 photos he took of me. Below is the top pic + some factoids from all three moments:
A kauri tree (800 years old, 1,000 more to go). For Maori people, the trees had high status because of their height. In the 1820s, European settlers began logging the trees for ships, houses, etc; when logging slowed in the early 1900s, only 10% of the original trees remained. Factoid for the Americans: after the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, kauri was shipped overseas for use in rebuilding. Today, logging the kauri is no longer allowed.
The Pohutukawa trees have started to bloom (see the red). These are known as the New Zealand’s Christmas tree.
The beach at Long Bay, which is the closest beach to where I’m staying in the town of Coromandel.
As I foreshadowed earlier, this place was a literal gold mine. In the 1820s, a couple folks were all, “Did you hear about all the gold in the Coromandel?!!?” And most people were all, “Pshh, I’m tired of rumors starting.” And then these folks in Auckland announced, “Reward if you find gold”. And then there were cricket chirps. And then they announced again: “REWARD – Bigger this time. Find gold!” So then Charles Ring found some gold and claimed the reward in 1852. STILL…This town was the anti-bustle until finally in 1867 there was a huge gold rush in Thames (super close to Coromandel), and now there are many museums and exhibitions dedicated to this history.
I did get a little lonely WWOOFing. It was hard because there weren’t really other young people working with me. Although, that experience had me tapping into traits that I didn’t find myself exercising all that often in DC – such as courageous extroversion (for example, walking through the door at the closest hostel, and with all the confidence I can muster, announcing, “Hello…I am a WWOOFer down the road…and I am looking for friends.”) Additionally, I’ve been trying my darndest to embrace, explore and excavate my immense amount of solitude. After an, “Oh no…I feel lonely.” text to a friend, she said, “Embrace the solitude. I think you are going to find, amidst all this free time, exactly what makes you perfectly, sublimely happy. Something creative, maybe, or another sort of project, and you will use your time and the blessing of solitude to make it happen.” I’ve been allowing that advice to guide me…can you tell my the length of this post? Lolzzz.
A few more photos from the Coromandel:
Ray and me at the Chai Tea House. “Can I put on my Clooney mask?”
Gen and James collect art. I really like this one.
So what’s in store next? Currently, I’m in New Plymouth visiting Clare with the funny goats; she lived in the house where I was being hosted by the friend of a friend. Except now Robbie is my friend. And Clare isn’t my friend of a friend of a friend because she’s just my friend now, too.
Look ma’, it’s picture proof that I have friends. This is Clare and me in front of Mt. Taranaki. You can see it from her backyard!
Gertie is sunbathing
Next, I’ll be heading to Rotorua for my first attempt at mountain biking. After that, I’m taking off at the first sign of all-day sunshine to hike the Tongariro Crossing. For the Lord of the Rings fans out there – this is Mordor!
Hillary is in new zealand 