29. Traveling by Sleeper Van (Part 5) WWOOFING

After dropping off my friend, I headed straight to Palmerston North. I haven't mentioned yet why I'm heading to this city, have I? I had an appointment with a family I know from the WWOOF website. This website serves as a medium for homes that need labor assistance, or to put it bluntly, labor from tourists, in exchange for free accommodation and food during their stay. This arrangement benefits both parties: the host gets extra help without needing to use financial resources, instead using what they already have at home as an exchange. Meanwhile, the other party gets a chance to change their environment and save on travel costs. What both parties gain is new friends and the exchange of perspectives. I found the idea of this website very interesting. I'd been a member for a long time but had never used the service. This period seems like a perfect opportunity, so I decided to give it a try.

          On the way, as I was driving, I kept checking the email that the homeowner sent with the address. Since their house is in an area with no mobile signal, I followed the winding road until I reached the street where they lived. I started observing and counting the house numbers, which people here usually attach to their fences. I counted slowly, and when I realized that it was actually the house I had just passed, I knew it was time to turn around. Coincidentally, that road only had two lanes, and it had been raining continuously over the past week. The lush green grass by the roadside was actually covering a muddy slope underneath. Unexpectedly and due to my inexperience, as I was driving slightly onto the roadside to turn around, my car got stuck in the mud. The car didn't have enough power to get out; the wheels started spinning freely and wouldn't move forward. When I accelerated, it felt like it would only sink deeper into the mud. So, I got out of the car and waved down a passing vehicle for help.

Just then, a car drove by and the couple, an elderly man and woman, kindly stopped to ask if I needed help. I asked the elderly man to drive the car backward while I pushed from the front. However, this method didn't work, and the elderly man suggested we stop because he was worried the front wheels would sink even deeper. They had to leave because they were heading to a funeral, but they recommended I ask for help from the house where I was going to stay, as someone there might be able to assist.

So, I decided to walk back, which was about a hundred meters from where my car was stuck. The homeowner I met was a middle-aged woman who was busy with the small sheep she had taken in. She said she was very busy at the moment and her husband was not home. She didn't know how she could help, except to suggest that I go back and ask for help from passing drivers again. Although I felt a bit disappointed, I had no other choice but to follow her advice. But when I went back to flag down a car, it wasn't long before a big crane truck drove by. He stopped! And then he got out and talked to me.

This middle-aged man is a very kind Māori. He said he would drive ahead to find a place to turn around and then come back to help. When he returned, he used the winch from his car to attach it to mine and told me to watch for oncoming cars so they could slow down. Fortunately, a couple driving by saw the situation and understood what we were doing. They parked their car at a reasonable distance from us to act as a barrier for the following cars to stop. There weren't many cars since it was a rural road, but it was still an impressive display of kindness. They even got out of their car and waved to slow down the cars behind them.

As for the crane that was pulling my car up, it worked so well that it was almost unbelievable. It took less than ten seconds to pull my car up. If anything, the time spent tying and untangling the winch rope was longer. I watched the whole event with extreme joy. The man got out of the truck to pack up his equipment. I approached him and expressed my heartfelt gratitude, shaking his arm with both hands. I thanked the couple who had helped by stopping their car. Then, I returned to my car to drive forward and find a truly suitable place to turn around.

When I think back on this, I still regret not giving any money or anything to that man. At that time, I really didn't think about it. But if you ask about my feelings, I think he didn't expect that either. Seeing the kindness of the people here that day turned what could have been an annoying day into a good day with something memorable.

Many times, events where I received such help happened unexpectedly. They often make me reflect on the times when I had the opportunity to help others in a similar way. This leads me to recall someone’s words I once heard that the merit of good deeds is real and often comes to our aid when we find ourselves in difficult situations. Although I cannot find evidence to confirm this, I can feel that it is these very things that make the world a better place. 

When I found a suitable place to turn around, I drove back to the host's house. She was busy nursing a lamb in a pen near the gate. She told me to park in the parking lot on the right side near the house. So, I drove on until I passed the house and turned right alongside it. That area was an open space covered with green grass. And there it was, the second time that day I got my car stuck in a ditch. I couldn't reverse it out, so I walked to the host and explained what happened. She clarified that the parking area she had pointed out was actually before the house, which I had missed. I went to check later and realized it was a well-constructed gravel path for parking. But I hadn't paid attention (I thought to myself). Although she seemed a bit annoyed that it was the second time that day I had encountered the same problem, she said we could wait until her husband returned in the evening to figure out how to pull it out.

She invited me to see the lambs she rescued from the sheep farm. Because when the mother sheep are sold to the slaughterhouse, these lambs would also be killed. Once their mothers are gone, no one will feed them, and the farm doesn't plan to take care of them either. They were starving and exhausted when she brought them to her animal pen the other day. As far as I could see, there were about ten of them. She fed them with a baby bottle, one by one, four meals a day. At the same time, she was also promoting them online to find people who want to adopt sheep as pets. While I was there, I also fed them. It was quite fun to hold the bottle with both hands while they eagerly sucked it.

After her mother-in-law made her lunch, which was something like beans with a salty-sweet sauce, oh, I forgot to mention that this family eats vegan food. They don't eat meat or animal products at all. They believe that humans shouldn't have to harm other lives to survive. As for me, even though I eat regular food, I understand and respect their views. In fact, I even agree with them. It's just that I feel that eating regular food is easier to find.

The first task that afternoon was weeding, which is actually a very easy job, except for the fact that the feeling of just having eaten makes me feel a bit bloated. However, when her husband returned in the evening, he effortlessly pulled my car up with his. Then, I had a delicious dinner that they had carefully prepared, even though it didn't contain any meat. Personally, I don't think it matters whether it's meat or not; it's more about the taste and the way it's cooked that makes the food enjoyable.

This family consisted of five members: the parents, who were around forty years old, and their three children. The eldest son was about ten years old, the middle child was a six-year-old boy, and the youngest, a one-and-a-half-year-old girl, is the youngest daughter. They were indeed a lovely family. They were from Canada and had moved to New Zealand. They homeschool their children, meaning they learned at home. Their farm had various animals, including ducks, chickens, an alpaca (an animal resembling a camel but without a hump on its back, with a long neck about half a meter long and covered in fur), wild boars, kids, and over ten lambs that recently adopted.

I spent about four days with this family, intending to see what the experience of working in exchange for accommodation and food would be like. The agreement I had with the homeowners was to work for them, whether in the house or in the garden, for four hours a day in exchange for three meals and free accommodation. The meals were shared with the homeowners, the same ones they usually eat. As for accommodation, they provided me with a private room. During my stay, I did many things I had never done before, such as trying a walk-behind lawnmower, feeding lambs, eating vegetarian food, and of course, changing the atmosphere while getting to know new people.

Joint agreements for such exchanges are considered a very creative and beneficial idea for travelers seeking diverse experiences. I once met a couple who used this method to save costs by having one person work full-time for the homeowner in exchange for accommodation and meals for two, while the other person went out to work as usual to earn money for further travel. If anyone is interested in this style of travel, you might want to give it a try.