Vineyard Life in Another's Shoes
One part of this experience I love is meeting other WWOOFers from all sorts of places and hearing their stories, why they are traveling, what they have with them, and how their experiences have changed who they are. German au pairs with Jack Wolfskin attire, Italian ladies and their suitcases (my host calls them "flashpackers" -- flash = fancy -- and I am included in this description with my ridiculous purple luggage lot), a Japanese guy who knits hats, an older Swedish couple retracing their younger WWOOFing days , or a Frenchman with his squeezebox accordion playing Irish jigs and reciting French poetry, memorized from the one book he carries with him -- are all a sample of the vast group of travelers that fill the highways of NZ with unique perspectives. It seems fitting then, that instead of carrying on in my own words about another day here in NZ, that I share their thoughts. One of my English co-WWOOFers has given me permission to post her journal entry about her time on a vineyard in Cromwell where we worked together. Tussled blonde curly hair that makes messy look elegant, she is a tanned beauty of independence and girlish charm with a great enthusiasm for farming (learned how to butcher meat and went pig hunting with just a knife and dogs in the North Island). After arriving with little care for the details of wine, she wrote this on her final evening:
"I'm sat in our host's living room on a cushion with 'cake?' printed on it which for me summarises beautifully my stay here. The romantic idyll of a vineyard was definitely fulfilled with my stay at Aurum wines. A beautiful country house - wooden floorboards & vintage style décor, dinners outside in the garden with sails (handmade in Nepal) pinned up to block out the piercing evening sun & platters filled with excellent quality food -- so many fresh vegetables picked from the garden, drizzled with homemade olive oil to form the perfect salad to accompany the fresh fish or BBQ'd meat. And of course what stay on a vineyard would be complete without sampling the wine - a glass of dry Reisling bursting with zesty lemon flavours to accompany fish or a fruity & soft Pinot Gris with the BBQ'd chicken - divine! Our host is incredible, and in her words she 'loves it!' She enjoys seeing people appreciate her food & wants everyone to be happy & enjoy what they are sampling. She really is such a natural hostess. My stay has been a fantastic experience. I truly appreciate the work that goes in to a good quality wine - each vine handled by human hands where every process influences the taste of the final product. The tucking, thinning & picking the vines, all impacts the wine produced from the 2015 harvest. I felt like I have been in Tuscany for the past week… and I am so glad to have been a part of it."
All I can say is… me too Abi, me too.
