Hi there, My name is Mathieu. I’m a traveller from faraway Switzerland, discovering beautiful New Zealand and its people. I’ve been staying at Ruamāhanga Farm for the last six weeks, volunteering on their charity projects and in Jane and Rod’s garden in exchange for cosy accommodation and very nice meals. I lived on the farm, in my own little hut: a restored farm cottage that the family calls “Jack’s Hut” in reference to a certain Jack that used to live there. Small, really cosy and handy, with sheep keeping me company in the paddock. Now that my stay is coming to an end, I fully realise what an amazing experience it has been.
The first weeks were quite eventful. Indeed, from the moment I took my first steps in the farm’s beautiful meadows, I was attacked by New Zealand’s alien pollens and had strong allergies. I must say it was quite terrible, and I was a bit ashamed to appear so weak in front of Jane, Rod and Jane’s 100 year old mother Yvonne at the very beginning of my stay. Hopefully, my body finally ended up getting used to it (also thanks to a vast collection of pills and drops) and I could then put all my energy to good use: a farm, a vegetable and native tree garden, a wetland restoration project, an environmental education project and a community agriculture project. The least we can say is that my hosts have a lot of work to do. But they are also really keen on sharing every part of it. When I could have been used as a weeding and planting machine, I was rather considered part of the team and truly included in all facets of their projects.
In a bit more than a month, I planted strange native grasses and trees, went to local schools to help record children’s poems about the forest and the universe, attended lessons in the bush and themed walks with storytelling and qigong, wrote piano pieces to accompany the children’s poetry, took care of the tomatoes, salads, potatoes and pumpkins in the garden, and released baby plants from the power of vegetation that grows incessantly (yes, I still did quite a bit of weeding).
It feels so great to have the impression of having contributed to something and to have learned so many new things. I was truly inspired by Jane and Rod’s work and their lifestyle. I wish more people were like this in this sometimes stupid world. But it also gives me hope and makes me want, as it is done here, to keep sharing and spreading this work, these values and this energy.
I will now continue my journey through New Zealand with these new ideas in mind, and who knows what I will find after that? What is certain is that it is for meaningful and deep experiences like this that I’m travelling.
A huge thank you to Jane, Rod and Yvonne for sharing all this with me!