Tip-Top of Down Under

Our goal was to head towards the south island, but after the Hawaii fiasco we had applied to quite a few farms, and most of them accepted our offer, leaving us with more options than we were counting on. So, instead of heading south, we went even farther north, to Honeymoon Valley, near the tip of the north island. With bus options few and far between, we decided to try our luck hitchhiking, our first attempt in New Zealand. We waited outside Eutopia on the highway (the nice thing about New Zealand is that there is only one highway, aptly named Highway 1), for about a half hour. Two young German tourists picked us up, and drove us up to Whangarei, where we were meeting our next host the following day. Holly stayed and watched our way-too-heavy packs while Randy went and sought out a place to camp for the night.

Beautiful New Zealand scenery

Since the local parks had no campsites, we decided to stealth camp on a nearby nature reserve. The terrain was steep and rough, but we had the privilege of hearing kiwi birds calling in the night. After a fitful night's sleep, we were glad to be moving on to the next farm. Unfortunately, we found out that our host wasn't able to pick us up until the next day, we would need to find shelter again. It seemed a good a time as any to try our hand at couchsurfing. In what would turn out to be the first of many excellent couchsurf experiences, a very kind woman named Kathy agreed to host us, and even came and picked us up. Way better than a couch, we got our own bedroom, which we reveled in after our previous night's discomfort. The next morning Kathy dropped us off so we could finally rendezvous with our next host.

Sandra, Julian, Holly                         

 Sandra met us about an hour later on her way home from Auckland, and after another two and a half hour ride, we arrived at their farm in Honeymoon Valley. It was school holidays so everyone was home, her husband Julian, who is an art teacher, and their two kids, Erin and Fynn. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by two pet kunekune pigs, a native breed of pig who, much like the pug, has a face so squashed it's almost cute. They weren't greeting us so much as inspecting us for foodstuffs, and one of them ripped through our bag trying to get an apple it detected.

A face only a sow could love

Sandra and Julian had a large "lifestyle block" (the New Zealand phrase for a homestead or hobby farm). Although their hilly parcel was quite expansive, we were able to see all of it, mostly because our main task was fencing it all in. Julian and Sandra wanted to utilize more of their land for pasture for their sheep and horses, which involved lots of brush-clearing, hole-digging, and wire-stringing. Besides fencing, we also did some weeding and put their vegetable garden to bed, covering it with a layer of manure we gathered from the horse pasture.

Albino axolotl

Their animal menagerie also included chickens, guineas, ducks, and axolotls. Though not a traditional farm animal, the axolotls, along with other amphibians, were a side cash crop of Julian's. Although Sandra and Julian's pigs were friendly and cute in an ugly sort of way, a neighbor's kunekune was not as charismatic. The neighborhood was plagued by his obnoxious antics; he would wait outside the gate, trying to get in to mate with their female pig, and if you were in his way, he would attack. Fortunately, he was easily placated with a carrot offering.
The resident male kunekune was starting to get a bit aggressive as well, so the decision was made to remedy the situation by relieving him of his testicles. The local vet was summoned and arrived with his tools of the trade. Although he was a seasoned professional and had performed many castrations, the veterinarian admitted that he had never been asked to clip an adult pig before. He didn't let this lack of precedent hinder his confidence and proceeded to stick the pig with a few shots of sedative. Then we all sat back and watched the doped up hog stagger around the yard until finally passing out. Having a familial connection with the patient, everyone else retired into the house for tea while we followed the vet, grabbing front row seats to the operation.

Preparing for the operation

Rest in peace, kunekune cojones

Grisly details aside (see the video for those), the event came to a close with the pair of us bidding farewell to the vet, and the pair of pig nuts laying on the ground. For the briefest of moments we considered cooking them up in some tasty teste delicacy but, out of respect for the family and our less than enthusiastic anticipation of the dish, we refrained. The gonads did have to be dealt with though, because either pig could happen across them, and the resulting unintentional cannibalism would seem intrinsically wrong. We decided a shallow grave in the backyard was a respectful enough send-off.

Still getting tomatoes from 

the glasshouse

Since Julian, Sandra, and the kids were all enjoying being on vacation from school and classes, no one was in any particular rush to get going early in the morning. We would start tackling chores around 10 o'clock and wrap up by mid-afternoon. Even with this light schedule, we were still fed like royal lumberjacks. Holly even received the pleasant surprise of burrito night, a dish she had been craving but unable to find in New Zealand. We were able to try some fresh choko. The vegetable, left to its own devices, was rather bland but Sandra was able to admirably spice it up in a stir fry.

Planting fall starts

We had a wonderful time with Julian and Sandra and their terrific kids but with so many farms agreeing to host us, and the south island beckoning, we had to be on our way. Sandra dropped us off at a decent hitchhiking spot before heading to class. The four rides over the next eight hours were like a personal tour of all our New Zealand haunts thus far, as we rode past the Eutopia Cafe and Ian and Marcia's, on our way to Auckland.