When we bought our surfboard, we also picked up a great surf guide to New Zealand.  It’s got descriptions of surf beaches in all parts of the country, complete with info on the best tides to surf, ideal wind and swell direction, and, of course, the stoke factor meter.  We’ve been thumbing through the book looking for beaches that are good for beginners, don’t have rocks, or sharks, or waste pipes draining nearby.  When we got to Waiinu Beach we found it to be pretty ideal for us–the waves were perfect for beginners, the beach was beautiful, and there was a free campground right on the beach!  Well, not really free–there was a donation box to put in whatever you thought fair.

An older Kiwi that I was talking with one day in the campground asked me, “How much would it cost to camp in a place like this back home?”  I kind of laughed at first, because there isn’t really anything like this back home at all–at least not on the east coast.  And, there’s not a chance that it would be free.  Before coming here, folks told us that Kiwi’s are some of the friendliest folks you’ll meet.  We’ve found that to be true so far.  Everywhere that we camp we seem to meet incredibly friendly people who are willing to share their company, food, drinks, books, knowledge of the area, etc.

But, friendly people aren’t the only thing that we’ve come to appreciate about New Zealand.  There have been lots of little things that seem to make a lot of sense.  Like two buttons on toilets–one for a half flush and one for a full flush.  And hose fittings are really neat here too–so easy to swap in and out.  Buying, registering, and insuring a car was far easier for us to do here than it is back home.    Another thing here that we’ve really come to appreciate are the massive chocolate bars that can be had for just a buck or two.  And, it’s pretty sweet to open up a 2 liter bottle of beer for the evening.  We might as well add Beer Festivals to the list here too.  They seem to be a pretty regular occurrence and are loads of fun.  We’ll be helping out at another one in Wellington on the 28th–stay tuned for more on that!

Best of all, we’ve found that New Zealand has the greatest playgrounds.  It seems that playgrounds here are still built with fun in mind.  Playgrounds back home are getting worse and worse–all the risk (fun) has been removed from them.  So far, the town of Levin and their Adventure Park has been the best of the best.  We spent the better part of a morning swinging around on the playground while the local kids were in school.

Speaking of beer festivals. we had an incredible time at the beer and wine festival that we worked this past weekend.  It was held at Okurukuru Winery right on the coast south of New Plymouth.  The winery is set on a series of hills that overlook a beautiful stretch of coastline.  You can see Mt. Taranaki, New Plymouth, and miles upon miles (or kilometers upon kilometers) of beautiful blue ocean.  A number of other wineries and food vendors set up booths at the festival, and there was also a nice variety of delicious food (including one of my new favorites–biltong).  And, of course, we were there selling Mike’s Ale and Lager to the thirsty crowd.

It was the perfect day for a festival–sunny and warm, the live music was good, and folks seemed pretty eager to have a cold one, or two, or three as they danced around.  So, we spent the day pouring beers, drinking beers (what better way to advertise, right?), and watching people who drank beers.  This was big fun!  We saw, among other things, several very sunburned people, an unsunburned but very bare ass of a man whose mates pulled his pants down, and a few people who must have been very tired because they fell asleep lying halfway into the bushes.  What an interesting experience being on the other side of things for a change!  There was also a “fashion” show which consisted of folks from the crowd strutting their stuff on stage–I’m still not sure if this is something they signed up to do, or something their friends signed them up for.  Either way it was entertaining.

As good as all of the beer drinking and pouring was, our highlight of the festival had to be the “extreme” helicopter ride that we took.  For a small fee, we went for a 15-20 minute ride along the coast, over the hills and New Plymouth, and around the festival site.  This was not the average helicopter ride though.  We took off in a flash and went straight up and then turned hard and dove toward the sea.  The pilot did what was probably the closest thing you can do to a flip in a helicopter, and it felt sort of like being on a roller coaster.  Joanie lucked out and got to sit in the front seat next to the pilot.  She had a headset on, which came in handy when the pilot pointed out the naked guy sunbathing, who he then proceeded to buzz past closely.  Once we were back on the ground we went back to the beer booth, but watched many more flights zip overhead.  The festival seemed to be a big success–we sold all the beer we brought with us.  Hopefully we provided some help and didn’t drink all the profits.  We can’t wait to see what the Wellington festival brings!

Ahhh, there’s nothing like beer.  Even better, there’s nothing like good, organic beer.  Picture this:  A small organic brewery set on the west coast of New Zealand above the White Cliffs.  Two beers, ale and lager, masterfully brewed with the finest ingredients–barley, hops, yeast, and rainwater.  That’s right, four ingredients.  Nothing else.  Outside of the brewery is an avocado orchard full of fruits, and when things are quiet, the sound of the waves crashing on the cliffs.  At night, a brilliant starry sky with Orion and the Southern Cross shining bright illuminates the path to a small cottage among the avocados.  Can it get any better than this?

For the past four days we’ve been here at White Cliff Brewery enjoying our first week of WWOOFing.  The brewery was easy to find–it’s just off the main road that takes you down the west coast and a giant beer bottle greets you from the road–there’s no missing it.  We arrived here on Sunday and have spent the last four days working (there must be a better term for this) and having fun.  The brewery is a true family business–Mike, Rene, Ron, Jill, Dylan, and Christie run the brewery and adjacent White Cliffs Estate function center.  Our hosts are an incredibly generous family and it’s a real pleasure to get to share their company, work alongside them, and help out however we can.

Helping out has come in the form of weeding the grounds, transplanting comfrey, cutting firewood, tasting beer, bottling, and our favorite task–labeling!  Ever since we visited Maker’s Mark, Joanie has wanted to try her hand at labeling bottles.  Now she is a real pro at the job and hopefully Smuttynose will take notice!  The brewery just underwent a rebranding and the labels are just one of many improvements that have been made in the past two years.  Check out the brewery website here for a look at the new brand.  You might even want to order a shirt once they update the online shop–and at the same time see my first “modeling” gig.  I think I’ve found my true calling in life–beer shirt model.  There must be someone out there willing to pay me for that!

We work about 4 hours each day and then join everyone for a delicious lunch usually consisting of lots of fresh food–tomatoes, avocados, lettuce, plums, breads, cheeses, an African style beef jerky, etc.  There’s a bunch of chickens on the property here too, so we’ve got our pick of fresh eggs every day.  After lunch we’re usually finished with work, grab a pitcher of beer and are on our own for the rest of the day.

We’ve been taking advantage of that time off to walk along the beach below White Cliffs (only accessible at low tide), head into New Plymouth to see the Festival of Lights and listen to live music, or catch up on skype calls, reading, or finding the next WWOOF farm.  There’s a beer and wine festival on Saturday that we’ll be helping with and the next few days will likely be busy with preperations for the festival.  We’ll be sure to post some pictures–it’s being held at a winery a bit south of here with an absoultely incredible view of the ocean.