GAME: 5 Do’s and Don’ts of WWOOFING/Helpx

1. Confirm your availability and keep in touch

Being witness to two people (morons) arriving not one but two days late of their said arrival date was a sure way of how not to begin your WWOOFING experience. The host was on overkill: a combination of fatigue and being messed about. This led the Russians (who turned out to be Canadian, weird!) to curl up like school kids as the voice of a very angry teacher reigned on them.

To avoid this tone of voice:

a) Email the host an agreed date and time of arrival

b) Call them to confirm this as well; it’s good to get a sense of each other before meeting in person.

c) Text/call on route. I messaged my host at the start and the last leg of the journey so they knew I was on my way and on time.

*Also, advertise to friends and family the address and numbers of where you are going. These places are very remote.

2. You get what you put in

You soon figure out how you can apply yourself to the farm and whether there’s a routine, which in farm life really depends on the weather. On hot days (45 degree heat waves) you start early, siesta in the afternoon, then work again in the cool evening. On cooler days (20 odd degrees)  you work long hours, just because you can.  

On the first farm I was ready to work by 8am and often found my own work to do or asked whoever was around if they needed assistance. Be mindful of your enthusiasm, tasks that are given to you don’t need to be done in 5 minutes as this may be the only task you have for the whole day! Take your time, the hosts have been there years and don’t find everything new and exciting like you do.

At the same time if you lack a genuine interest in their lifestyle you won’t reap the benefits of being shown some high vista’s or other wonders they have up their sleeve. You can get a lot back if you accustom to their way of doing things, and that’s the whole point of being there, after all.

3. Expect to live, work, socialise and eat with the family

It can be intense to say the least. Your room or a short walk should give you enough distance to clear your head and start again.

4. Maintain your enthusiasm by counting down: day 88 of 88 complete. Don’t count up: 1 of 88 specified days complete – it isn’t until you get to the 50’s that counting in this method becomes beneficial. Trust me.

Also, continue to ask questions and spark conversation, just because you’ve been there a month doesn’t mean it’s all been discovered – you’ve probably just got a bit drained of the whole thing or possibly comfortable. Be conscious that there is still plenty to learn and the hosts are keen to tell you all there is to know about their world.  If you show an interest you are often rewarded (see point. 2).

5. Ice-breaker: Beer Beer Beer Beer! Wine Wine Wine Wine!

You wouldn’t turn up at a friend’s party without a bottle; likewise it’s a lovely gesture to arrive at the hosts place with a stack of beer or a bottle of plonk. They are feeding you, putting a roof over your head and inviting you into their humble abode. Oh, and signing your visa for a second year!

For my first farm I completely overlooked this and regretted it immediately. Maybe that’s just the British nonsense of not being able to receive anything without giving but this was forgiven as I said farewell with a few boxes of Cowboy – a milky alcohol people put in coffee, think Baileys gone Country.

For the second farm I gave them a bottle of red, it created a great atmosphere and a nice little Happy New Year gift!

Good luck and be safe

Related articles

• The 25 Best American Canned Beers (coedmagazine.com)
• Host a Wine or Beer Tasting Party in Your Apartment (apartmentguide.com)
• Beer goggles: Seeing beer glasses in a whole new light (redenvelope.com)

 

GAME: The Final Countdown – 83 days of 88…

…remote corners where farmers and small local families huddle.

I’m just a few days away from completing the 88 days of regional work and it feels so good! But some how a little bitter-sweet. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this farm lark but I’ve got more from it than I first imagined. I now know what it means when a moo-moo starts mooing! (They’re calling their calves) and I’m very aware of the scope of insects and wild animals Australia has to offer, yesterday a guana casually strolled past the house, but it ran up the tree because it was scared– despite its sharp claws and ability to bite through bone…

 Here’s Zeus:

3 months has whizzed banged by and I’m glad Australia has this system to get you out of the coastal path into the remote corners where farmers and small local families huddle. Places I would otherwise have skipped merrily past and as my Grandpa wistfully pointed out “the cities are all by the coast because there’s nothing in the middle” too true Grandpa, but it turns out there is something on the fringe of the middle, crazy nuggets of people and ways of life.

I now know what it means when a moo-moo starts mooing!

The plan now is to party a little in Byron Bay before scooting South to Sydney to put some dollar in the bank and hopefully find a Spanish intercambio class – si, si! My first impressions of Byron were that it’s a bit of a generic beach side town, overcrowded with no actual Australians. Hmmf! But in saying that, everyone I’ve spoken to LOVES Byron and I feel there is more to discover (and more rum to drink), so I shall get on my bike and explore the place a little more before making such hasty assumptions.

To the notorious Byron Bay, see you soon!

Related articles

• Byron Bay Bridal Showcase (stylemepretty.com)
• Sleeping and that – Byron Bay, Australia (travelpod.com)
• Bucko in Byron Bay – Byron Bay, Australia (travelpod.com)

LIVE: You know when you’ve met the old time farmer

You know what he looks like without ever having met, but it still surprises you that the real life version is spot on:

High rise jeans; blue chequered shirt (tucked in); large boots; tall; lanky; rough weathered skin; no teeth to speak of; a straw hat and of course a cigarette puckered between his gums.

The old-time farmer spoke with our host as we witnessed him relieve a crisp tissue from his pocket that I believe has been with him since his first tooth fell. As he opened up the tissue in preparation to blow his nose I heard a loud crack as the tissue forced itself to reshape for duty. Only the other outsider noticed – the other helper with me – as she also wore the expression of “what the f*** is that?”

He soon returned the tissue and we got back to buying one of his more healthy looking calves, the ones you also stereotype with the farming world.

I was told later that it’s rather a sad thing when you meet an old time farmer because despite all the land and animals and machinery they seem to have, there is an undertone of someone that is poor from this lifestyle – more so than others in the area. Although I should have guessed this when I saw the skeleton of the cow being milked; they’re not getting enough water in Australia which is reducing the cattle’s feed.  This unravels a shocking site when you’re face to face with the consequences. Unlike the UK, a thunder storm is considered a very good day and you soon discover why; the rain doesn’t just rejuvenate the grass that the cows need to eat or the dams they drink out of, it affects the running water supply of the people living on the farm, too: showers, drinking supply, cooking amenities.

Life out here is very different.

Here is little Norman, the beautiful Jersey cow we collected: