WWOOF #11 - Queenstown

Feb. 10 – Feb. 20

You can probably tell by the long date range that we thoroughly enjoyed this WWOOF. Since this was a shot-in-the-dark phone call, we really didn’t have any expectations coming into it, we just hoped it would work for a couple days and then we could be on our way. After feeling guilty for leaving early at our previous WWOOF, we decided we could cope with anything, and prepared ourselves for the worst. We had no idea we were about to enter a luxurious, boutique getaway compound for the rich and famous. The long, winding drive up to the main house passed several ponds, meandering through natural forested grounds. It ended at the compound, several self-contained ensuites circling a central patio area. An enclosed pool/spa at one end, lookout tower at another, and covered patio kitchen area all lined the main grid. We were speechless, and alone. The hosts had run into town and we were left waiting in the carpark, just salivating over our good fortune. What started as a possible 4-5 day stay, soon turned into 10 nights.

Here are a few shots of the property...

Expansive patio kitchen area

Keris with "Kaz," their giant Indonesian Mountain dog. He was a loopy sweetheart despite his overpowering size.

The resident swan

Sue (the mother) and Ben (middle son – age 36) were great hosts. We had a bit of shock when Ben said he’d show us to our room – and we got in the car to drive up the hill. For a split second we thought we were in store for another horrible cabin experience away from the main house. Where we ended up was the “resident artist’s” quarters - a private, rustic wood cabin 200 meters up to the top of the hill, overlooking the property and surrounding valley. It is used to house local NZ artists who work/create and interact with guests on a more personal level. For the next 5 days, it would house 2 lucky WWOOFers from Texas.

Here are a few shots of the artist's residence.And a view from our porch overlooking the property

We did eventually get a tour of the whole complex, each ensuite ornately decorated in its own theme, complete with commissioned artists paintings, sculptures, and drawings. The property started as about 100 acres of scrub bushland 30 years prior, and was developed as a vision. It now hosts exclusive guests from all over the world during the summer season (Bill Clinton was going stay had there been a way for his security team to secure the property). Because there were no guests currently occupying the units, we had greater access to the property and treated to delicious homemade meals.

Check out these massive burgers... Ann and Jay on the left were the WWOOFers from Belgium. Ben, at the far end, was the master chef and cooked amazing homecut fries (even the Belgians approved).

The work ended up being less organic gardening than desired, and more property maintenance, but we didn’t mind. We scrubbed the algae from the metal framing around the pool, did some gardening, raking, car washing, gutter cleaning, dam building for the ponds, and our least favorite job yet (4 days of spraying Ragwort weeds in various paddocks with an herbicide). Organic approaches were tried and failed in dealing with ragwort, and it was taking over. Our hosts certainly didn’t want to use sprays if possible, and after so many months of working with organic principles, spraying the weeds was hard to bear for us.

Stuart the pool boy cleaning the algae off the metal rafters.

Getting ready for a 'little' ragwort spraying...

We mostly just relaxed on the property in our free time. The private peak that extended further up from our cabin made for spectacular sunsets overlooking Lake Wakatipu – a view extending from Queenstown halfway to Glenorchy (about 10 miles in each direction). The Remarkables mountain range made for an even more dramatic backdrop. We ran on the trails around the lake, took a dip in the frigid waters, drove out for a tour of Glenorchy, watched the bungy jumpers at the famous (world’s first) Kawerau Bridge, met up with our WWOOF friends George and Louisa (who we had met at a previous WWOOF in Amberley) for a few drinks in a Queenstown park, watched rugby matches, and played Scrabble with Ben. Ben was our main host, in charge of our work schedules, and saw to it that we were entertained and accommodated. He is an actor, and had so many hilarious stories to share with us. We’d often sit and talk for hours at dinner. After our first 5 nights, we were scheduled to leave because other WWOOFers were going to arrive. Because we were getting along so well with our hosts and had no need to vacate (at this point we failed to find a new WWOOF even after contacting many places), they let us move into the main compound – a loft room above the office in the main house. The new WWOOFers, a nice, young Belgian couple, moved into our cabin up the hill. It was nice to be in the main house, but we actually missed the isolation of the cabin, despite it being a 5 minute walk up the hill.

View of Lake Wakatipu from the private peak behind the property. We climbed this hill almost every day for a view. Enjoying our share of wine at the top during magnificent sunsets.

Kawarau Canyon, site of the world's first bungy.

Watching from above, the jumpers had the option of how "wet" they wanted to get at the bottom, some people plunging halfway into the water before springing back up.

Not even the pumping techno beats could get Keris or Stuart pumped for a jump. Just watching for us today.

Giant eel and brown trout we spied at the underwater observatory.

Part of the reason we stayed so long is that WWOOFs were getting harder to book. There are far too many workers and not enough hosts, so everyone we contacted was already full. So, we stayed put and reorganized our trip to incorporate a little more vacation time. On the 11th day, it was hard to leave. We certainly could have stayed much longer, but we decided there was still too much to see in NZ. Queenstown quickly became one of our favorite areas the longer we stayed, in stark contrast to our first opinion.

Thanks so much to Sue and Ben for a fantastic and memorable stay. We hope that our dreams will transpire into something as magical as Punatapu.