What happened to Wwoofing? Have you forgotten this way of spending time in a pleasant environment, food cooked for you, in return for exertions that would seem mild indeed after ‘Orange Wood’?
Do you have access to the list? Taking a quick look, there seem to be loads of places around Kerikeri, some with good sounding accomodation, separate from the family, etc. This one’s actively seeking people now, apparently:
Bob and Helen are looking for wwoofer in their farm in kerikeri on the Bay of Island!!
It’s 500m from Kerikeri, has a swimming pool, and separate accomodation. Call them on (09) 4079388

Although it’s further away, this place looks good. It’s from the home helpers website, so you don’t have to be a member of Wwoof. It’s at Matapouri, near Whangarei.
www.paradisecoast.co.nz/WWOOF.htm
And let’s not forget the Zen man! Only 5k from where you are. Here’s someone’s account of staying there:
www.travelinsights.org/writing/travelogues/dan/kerikeri_34.html

Someone else says:
“We learned of a great opportunity to keep finances afloat using a scheme called WWOOFING. This scheme, which translates as Willing Workers on Organic Farms, is set up to benefit both
the Farms and the WWoofers. We work about 3 to 4 hours a day and get accomodation and fed and watered by the hosts. It costs us nothing. The work is by no means strenuous and sometimes there are other Backpackers on the farms who have interesting stories to tell. So far
we’ve been to two different hosts. One was an 87 year old Dutch Architect who moved out here 7 years ago and is still busy as hell with different projects. Bruno Mertens is his name and he was apparently the ‘Most famous Meditation teacher in Holland’. He was a very peaceful soul and had many words of wisdom. He now lives in KeriKeri.

I think I might do this Wwoofing with Mama next year on our bikes!

Is that the distorted, yellowing copy you took from here? James had that with him when he went to Spain about twenty five years ago! The trouble with James Clavell is, once you’ve read him other ‘adventure’ writers seem dull and pedestrian.

Baedeker says:
“From Cape Reinga there are very rewarding trails eastwards to Spirits Bay (about 10 hours) and southward by way of Cape Maria van Dieman to ninety Mile Beach and then inland to Te Paki (about 7 hours).
There is no overnight accomodation at Cape Reinga. Information about walks and and accomodation in the area can be obtained from the information centre in Kaitaia.”

Baedeker also says, under “Dress”:
“New Zealanders prefer light casual clothing; typical dress for a man is shorts and knee-length white stockings.”

I don’t recall how many sets of knee-length white stockings you packed, Jul, but it would probably be a good idea to get some more. You can always pass them on to Geoff, who may not have enough of his own.

Check your insurance policy, Tan, to see if, like Jul’s, it only covers white water rafting up to grade 4!

Liv – where is this tennis being played? When things get tough, I recommend Mark William’s strategy when he was fighting the snooker final and found his nerves getting so bad “it was like playing with a different arm” so he repeatedly sang (to himself) Tom Jones songs (they’re both Welsh) to drown out the negative thoughts swirling round in his head. I’m going to try this myself, someday.

Jul – a word of warning concerning ninety mile beach, should you be there in a car. From the Baederker travel guide: “This gleaming white sand tempts motorists to drive alone the beach itself; but this can be highly dangerous.” So, there you have it! Actually, we all went to ninety mile beach in our car; and I remember driving onto it a little way, and coming across a car full of Maoris stuck in the sand. We helped them out, then turned around and went back. I believe there’s some quicksand around, too, which is fairly unpleasant stuff to get stuck in.

Tan – Mama took “Enchanted April” up North and it seems Granny, who slept through most of it but woke up near the end, remembered having seen it at a theatre, sometime. Both videos are now with Alan and Maria. Enjoy your elephant ride.