What is a WWOOF? – Part 2

Our next wwoof found us near Pataua Beach, on the quiet outskirts of Whangarei, lodging with a family of three: Tanja and her kids Marco and Sophie. Part of the road to Pataua from Whangarei makes up a section of Te Araroa; a hiking trail that spans north to south of the entire country. Every so often we’d pass a hiker next to the road carrying a backpack and poles, one of the thousands that take on the three-thousand kilometre trek every year. Along the way Viki and I started chatting about what hikes we might do. Looking at the map we found Peach Cove, a short hike with a hut next to a beach. We logged that as our next stop after this wwoof.

Between keeping my head away from kicking buffalos and my knuckles back from the meat bandsaw, the farm proved to be a little bit dangerous. Not in a way that made me feel like I was in danger, but if there was an accident the consequences could have been high. This new spot was considerably more relaxed but not without its own type of excitement. Marco was the source of that excitement. He’s 9 or 10 and he walks around the house with a bayonet in his hand. It’s a blunt bayonet but it’s still a bayonet. He shoots arrows across the yard and climbs every tree he can. One day while we were hanging out near the beach he picked up a crab from under a rock and cooked it for his brunch. When I first met him I thought I was supposed to be babysitting him- Marco doesn’t need to be babysat and neither does his younger sister Sophie. They aren’t left alone without a parent around or their grandmother, who lives across the driveway, but they have a wonderful amount of freedom on the commune.

We spent a week living at the commune, helping Tanja with different tasks and exploring the property and nearby beaches. The commune is about 150 acres shared between four families. It is made up of paddocks, a few houses, a community workshop and a forest. The forest is jurassic with tall silver ferns and old kauri trees. There are trails that run through it like a maze. Some of the tracks go to an estuary at the back of the property while others meander and connect to neighbouring estates. We gardened and cut firewood but I spent most of my working time demolishing an old deck to make room for a new one. The beach nearby has an impressive surf break, but we couldn’t quite time it right to go surfing.

It seemed like the weather would turn every twenty minutes while we there, from sunshine to rain and back and forth. We’d take breaks from the rain in the kitchen and work on a puzzle until the sun broke. When the sunshine finally came through the window we could see out across the yard and all the way to the beaches below. In the same line of sight were two resident sheep that spent their days mowing the lawn. It was an impressive view.

One night after dinner, and after the kids were in bed, Tanja, Viki and I were busy working on the puzzle and bantering about our favourite pastimes. We found common ground on hiking and drinking wine. Viki expressed our interest in staying at Peach Cove Hut and as it happened Tanja had already booked it for a few days later. She planned a family trip with the kids but generously invited us along.

Hiking with kids can be a bit humbling. For every kilometre I do I swear they do two because they run back and forth along the trail so many times. They go out of eye sight and then run right back in. I don’t remember having as much enthusiasm as they did when I was their age. When we arrived at the hut they still had fuel to burn so they started climbing trees. I shit you not – they started climbing trees. Viki and I joined them. One of the trees that lingers near the hut is rooted on a boulder that is five meters high. We climbed the rock and then stepped out on the branches of the tree – it was the kind of place you might think to find Tarzan swinging around.

After we came down we split a bottle of wine with Tanja and her partner Kim at the hut. Kim had joined us for the hike with his two kids. As the night was winding down Tanja gave us an education on all the birds we could hear. Part of what makes the bush such a wild place is how loud it can be at times. You’d think monkeys were howling in the trees but its just the kaka – a type of parrot. Wood pigeons are a chunkier pigeon and they were hanging out above us too. As the evening draws in another bird, a small owl, makes itself heard with its distinct call: “more pork!”. So the owl bird is appropriately called a morepork. After dark the nocturnal kiwi bird starts to sound off. When one kiwi starts chirping another one will inevitably join and they will go back and forth, getting louder and reaching higher pitches until they stop.

We went to bed that night with the forest still wide awake. Noises that are unfamiliar can leave your senses heightened. Viki and I still aren’t sure about everything we heard outside the hut that night. Some noises made us think we weren’t alone.

The next day Viki and I hiked out the long way by ourselves in order to get some extra views before going back to the commune. Once again the weather turned and at the highest point of the ridge we were in a cloud. It felt spooky to be in an unfamiliar landscape with bad weather and a slippery steep trail. We went in and out of the bush, pushing our way through vines and tall grasses. We pressed through and finished the hike at the top of a paddock that overlooks Smugglers Cove and the mouth of Whangarei Harbour. Cows crossed our track as we took our last steps before getting back to the car. Tanja and the kids were there waiting for us with fish and chips, it was a treat to finish the day with warm food.

Before we left Tanja’s we spent some time sorting our next moves. We still wanted to travel a bit further north but we were limited to the bus routes. The Bay of Islands seemed like a logical next stop, there was a historical town we could visit and a hostel blocks from the bus stop in Paihia. Tanja chimed in and mentioned Cape Brett Hut, another worthy hike. It was more remote though, it would prove to be a challenge to get there without a car, a theme that was starting to present itself to us. Since we had expressed interest in surfing she also recommended we go south to Raglan, a small surf community with a big reputation for good waves. With that we packed up our bags and got ready for our next little adventure.