Our first WWOOF experience began at Ake Ake Vineyards (meaning forever and ever in Maori). Located about 3 hours drive North of Auckland near the Bay of Islands, it was great to take the "Red Ryder" out for its first long drive before settling in for a week.
A small, 8 acre family run vineyard/winery, John and Aynsley welcomed us into their family and gave us much insight for local hotspots. Since one of the main reasons for choosing NZ for this 4 month adventure was to get an idea of what it takes to be wine makers, we were very excited to get to work.
We started with the new plantings of Chambourcin, hoeing and fertlizing, and then moved to vine training and pruning for established vines of Chambourcin (the '07 vintage was fantastic, the '08 close behind) and Pinot Grigio. It was great to be in amongst the grapes; the scenery and feel of the vineyard was magical.
One of the most fun and extensive days came midweek when the rain forced us indoors. No worries, there was plenty of wine waiting for us at 9am. We were tasked with assisting John to sample the barrels from last year's harvest and determine whether they'd aged enough in the oak barrels. This was a far harder task than it seems. There were roughly 15 oak barrels and 2 additional steel barrels, with several varieties of wine. It took several (and a few more) samples before the decisions were made. Now, slightly tipsy and only 10am, we had a good 7 hours of work to do transferring all the wine to their desired locations! The trickiest part was refilling the oak barrels once the original wine was removed. It's hard to tell when you're close to the top, and with the pumps churning out a solid 1 Liter/second into a small opening, it didn't take long before we miscalculated the wine level and it topped off while we weren't ready. "Shut it off, STOP, STOP, STOP" I yelled as a 20 foot wine volcano erupted into the rafters of the barn and cascaded down upon just about everything in a 5 foot radius. We were a bit more cautious with the remaining barrels....But it wasn't all hard work and no play. Our gracious hosts helped us make the most of the area, including local farmers markets, backcountry hot pools, a beautiful trek to Rainbow Falls, and a scenic drive along the coast stopping at a number of gorgeous Bays. To top it all off, we were treated to fabulous vegetarian meals each night and a comfortable bed in our very own private BUS! The only downer was not having a bathroom for those 4am nature calls after consuming too much wine with dinner.
Hanging out at our bus eating the loquats we picked for a snack before dinner...
... and a look inside!
Rainbow Falls - what a great reward for our hour walk through the woods. A pic at a small hole in the rock at Tauranga Bay during our scenic tour.
Keris enjoying some of our "favourite" hot pools at Ngawha Springs. There were about 15 different pools to try, each with a different name, temperature, and cloudiness. Stuart's favorite was "Doctor," a nice tar-colored pool measuring in about 105 degrees, but they ranged from about 80 to 130 degrees. Our swimsuits still stink from the sulfur.
All in all, we had a fabulous time and learned a lot. Thanks so much to John, Aynsley, Jaluka, and India. The kids (ages 4 and 18 months) are sooo cute.
No comments:
Post a Comment