WWOOF

About WWOOFing

The concept of WWOOFing particularly suits our situation here. With a large property and abundant growing conditions, we are able grow plenty of fruits and veggies year round, so having people here to help us makes the work much easier. We particularly welcome people with enthusiasm for our vision and interests. We enjoy those who have gardening skills and are happy to learn from others. Equally those with less knowledge, but keen to learn fit in to our life on the hill are welcome. Living a on a steep slope means that you must have a reasonable level of fitness. Most of the jobs are physical: e.g. making compost, raking grass to mulch trees, working on steep slopes and cutting firewood.
We have a separate large warm cabin. It is in a spacious open plan style with a king size and single beds and can sleep up to 3. It has a log burner, with a “wet back” to provide hot water,, a basic kitchen, outdoor shower (solar hot water in the summer) and compost toilet nearby. Non smokers please.

Short term stays

If you stay with us up to 2 weeks you will be expected to work each day from 8:30am to 1:00pm (with a tea break!) Sundays is usually less and often involves a more fun
activity. You will also be expected to help with picking, preparing and cooking meals. We enjoy it when the wwoofers are able to cook a meal for us – especially on our working in town days (Tuesdays and Fridays). We have had wwoofers since we came here in 1999 and have had many great experiences sharing our time together on this amazing property. See some of the many comments.

Long term stays

Longer term wwoofers have regularly stayed with us from a few weeks to 11 months. You have a great opportunity to see the cycle of the seasons and learn more about organic growing. You will be self catering (except for lunch with us after the mornings that you have worked), but have access to fruits, nuts and veggies on a shared basis with us. The work schedule is 4 mornings a week and usually means Monday, Wednesday. Thursday and Saturday to fit around our work time in town. This can adapt to suit both parties. With free accommodation, electricity and firewood and only having to supply staple foods and gas for cooking, the costs of being here are low. We are active in the organic community here and can assist with finding you paid work around the area (no guarantees though!). We are 10kms from town – Takaka – and have a bicycle available. Hitching here is easy.

Get in touch

Contact us to enquire about the dates that we need people. We do respect your booking to come and stay here and expect the same from you – once you agree to come, we expect you to not change your minds nearer the time. We appreciate that travelling involves lots of possibilities along the way, but if you want to come here, a reasonable degree of commitment is needed to make a booking with us, as we need help at the times arranged with you and it is hard for us to fill that slot at short notice, as we have often turned others away by then. A reasonable level of English comprehension is helpful, as many of the jobs have precise instructions that you need to understand. Your hosts are German and English. We are vegetarians, keen travellers, Buddhist and use yoga. Silvia makes great organic bread and preserves and enjoys sharing cooking knowledge.

To contact us, go to our contact page…

For more about wwoofing in New Zealand, go to www.wwoof.co.nz