Sven the Emu Farmer

My first night in New Zealand, I slept like a rock for a solid 12 hours. When I got up, I paid the 4 dollars for the backpackers breakfast in the lounge, had my first encounter with wheat-bix (terrible wheat biscuits that make a kind of soupy porridge when liquid is added, terribly cheap. I thought it was actually cardboard when I had a taste before I found out you needed to add sugar) and sat down to plot my escape from Auckland. My first wwoof host was picking me up at 5:00 in front of the art museum so I had plenty of time to apply for a tax number in the Inland Revenue Department so I can get a job later. Most of the afternoon was spent at the park, lying in the grass.

Right on time, Sven picked me up and we finally headed out of the city and into the country, just 25 minutes and a world away. I had to admit, I was a little disorganized when I first got to New Zealand. I had contacted some wwoof hosts that sounded really interesting just outside the city but had a hard time finding an opening. I was under the impression it would be easier to find a host on shorter notice but at the time it was mid November and wwoofers were pouring into Auckland so a lot of hosts already had wwoofers. Going to Svens wasn’t my first choice but i figured I could take the first week there and get more organized to and find better things in the future.

From what I knew, he had about a dozen Emu, chickens, and a horse that needed to be looked after during the day while he worked as an engineer for Auckland working on their fresh water supply. Basically, I was there to feed the animals while he went to work. So as the days went on, things were pretty quiet. Filled with plenty of downtime, researching New Zealand on the internet, eating delicious food, and just hanging out with Sven after he got home from work filled my days.  A german of the highest caliper, Sven liked to eat delicious meats and drink good beer every night. With an endless supply of fresh eggs that I collected every morning, I made some pretty mean omlete’s and the coffee machine that grinds the beans and then pours you a fresh cup of coffee after you press a button made me feel thousands of times more comfortable than the travelling that I had been doing in the U.S.

my second day at Sven’s Emu Farm, Sven had the day off work so we took the dogs to the beach. After walking at least an hour down a deserted stretch of sand with the Tasman Sea to one side and beautiful stone cliffs with green and red bands of rock running across it, we didn’t see a single other person. Sven that was just the way it was in New Zealand. After being there a few days, this was the closest I had been to what I imagined the scenery to be and this was just an average beach. Spirits were very high.

An Emu. Smaller than an ostrich, Emus make you feel like your in the cretaceous period. And they're really hard to photograph up close.

As the week wore on though, I knew it was about time to move on. I spent most of my days alone, not really doing what I came to New Zealand to do. It was much easier this time. Folks at Soggy Bottom rare breeds pig farm said they’d be happy to have me. Not yet comfortable with hitchhiking, I got a bus ticket to Ngurawahia and got excited to get on the move again.