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Coromandel,march 12th
Our second work exchange was somewhat different to the first and quite an experience. We arrived in Kennedy Bay, located over a steep and windy 'gravel road' track over a vast hill, to the sound of air raid style sirens. Is was alarm calling all the volunteer fireman to the station (as its so remote its run by locals in the community), this meant a bush fire had started somewhere close. We eventually saw the thick plumes of smoke, and bright orange ripping through the bush on the hill we just precariously navigated. Scary stuff. The firemen or volunteer firemen I should say, were amazingly quick we pulled over just outside the station and saw various farmers speed into the station on quad bikes, covered in hay from their afternoon work on crops. This was a dramatic introduction to our new surroundings. We watched the firemen extinguish the fire, we subsequently learnt that the fire was caused by an elderly lady burning her rubbish in her back garden, which backed on to the hill. We met our new host- Teika a really friendly surfer chic with a plot of land that had oranges, lemons, figs,apples,grapes,potatoes, tangelos,pumpkins...will be tiresome to list everything, needless to say she was almost completely self sufficient, living off her land. She told us, the only things she spend money on was petrol and booze. The house was unique to say the least. It was wild with trees growing in and out, spiders had taken over and they didn't believe in pest control. Once we got used to the bugs we soon discovered what great people they were. We had various meals, all fantastic. We got to taste 'mutton bird' a traditional Maori dish. A fatty salty bird. Not much meat on it. It had been cooked all afternoon in salty water. Different. We had fresh fish and mussels caught that day by the gang and made puddings from all the fresh produce on the farm. We had the best fish and chips ever at Teika's too, all home made. We spent the next few days, working on the farm, preparing the land for veggies, learning loads about composting, a knowledge that im sure one day we're going to apply to a small patch of land in the UK. We also cleaned out a caravan, vacuuming up lots of massive spiders in the process. We had a great time hanging out with Teika's boyfriend Clint and his friend Ashford, spending a few night playing drinking games in a garage with pig skulls hanging from the wall. Just like england really minus the skulls. They were so generous and supplied us with huge quantities of booze. They even took us out for a test drive in their beat up 4x4 on the beach. One of the doors of the truck was held on by the seatbelt, so no strap for me :s! Crazy drivers though, Clint regaled us with stories of his tumbles down the mountain completely inebriated. Would be great to see them again one day, fingers crossed they visit the UK!
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