Linden and Richard
Album photo- Pschkr ... " Richard to Linden! I can see one more, two meters below where you are ... "
- Pschkr ... " Linden to Richard ! Got it, put the kettle to boil. We will be there for tea in ten minutes ... "
- Pschkr ... " Over ! "
Like policemen on duty, we go after the bad guys. We are looking for illegal weeds : pampa grass is one of it. Our uniform is ... blue of course, and we never go out without our weapons : a bottle of glyphosate, a shark and a talkie.
Pampa grass, wooly nightshade and honeysuckle are what we are targeting the most. It's a pest and you better get rid of it if you want to restore the native bush as our host. Invasive animals (stoats, weasel and ferrets) have no rest as well. Traps are all over the property : we help to trigger it and put a new bait. The bait is an egg sprayed with a perfume a human would qualify disgusting but a mustelid cannot resist to (everyone's tastes are different). Then you throw the old egg onto a predefined target (often a tree) with or without success. Since kiwis nest in the valley, it's crucial to catch those little carnivorous mammals.
Weeding the garden and making compost are still part of our more traditional wwoofing life. Both our host are retired teacher even if they still correct our pronunciation ('thistle' was/is quite hard). Richard was lecturer at Auckland University, specialised in aboriginal and Pacific's traditional music (Samoa, Tonga, Papua-New-Guinea and some even less-known islands). Linden was an orchestra conductor, a music and english teacher. She also taught refugees how to fit in kiwi way of life. Often we get through the evening playing speed Scrabble or Farkle (a dice game).
Once again we won't miss the opportunity to explore the area : Coromandel Peninsula. We come across the first kauris. Those giant trees can live for hundreds of years. Massive logging happened when the European arrived but now they are protected and the ones that remain are impressive.
