The Good Life

By Tom

Wanaka, New Zealand

For the past two weeks we've been enjoying the hospitality of Bernie and Anne and it's been an enjoyable stay to say the least.  Bernie and Anne are a retired Hawaiian and Kiwi couple living on the extensive property that Anne's parents bought for a sheep and goat farm in the 1950's.  The house is on top of a hill overlooking the entire Wanaka valley and the Southern Alps, with perfect views of the shimmering glaciers on New Zealand's second tallest peak, Mt. Aspiring.  The grounds are covered with beautiful flower gardens that Anne's mother started decades ago.

Looking off at the Southern Alps from the back lawn of the house

Bees investigate a red-hot poker, a NZ native flower, in Anne's gardens

Anne is a fantastic gardener and our botanical education has picked up right where Gail and Zim left off, from transplanting mature pepper plants to blanching beans for winter storage in the freezer.  For lunch and dinner, we've been eating food picked minutes before from the garden; fresh peas, corn on the cob, strawberries, squash, green beans, spinach.  We dine on the back deck overlooking the mountains, making sure every meal comes with some fresh New Zealand wines.  Bernie and Anne certainly know how to eat!

Strawberries in the garden almost ready for picking

A scarecrow keeps an eye on the garden  

Our afternoons have been spent hiking, mountain biking, or just sitting on the lawn enjoying the views.  Bernie even acted as our guide for a day, taking us over the mountains to New Zealand's rugged west coast.  We had a picnic on the beach and took some side hikes to waterfalls.  We've also spent a lot of time working on our resumes and job searching for when we return to Vermont at the end of next month.  

The gigantic peaks of the Southern Alps

Waterfalls cascade down the sides of the nearby mountain valleys

The green slopes of Lake Wanaka

Julia has even gotten control over the goats, mostly because I've started coming along on the morning walks herding them from the rear.  We've really enjoyed getting to know the unique personalities of all four of them.  Lawn seems to have his head stuck in something every time we check on him.  And Whip, despite being severely overweight, does his best to keep up with the group on the morning walks, shuffling along with his long ears flopping from side to side and his belly jiggling all over.

Following behind Whip, the morbidly obese goat

"Julia is my shepherd, I shall not want oats"

But the good life does not come free.  There is another side to the good wine and fresh food, the views of the mountains and the afternoons spent exploring.  Shoveling shit.  I think of all the jobs he's assigned us this week, Bernie's favorite by far has been for us to load up a half ton of horse manure into a trailer, drive it back home, and unload it onto the compost for the gardens.  His eyes filled with glee to watch us knee deep in poop.  I guess there really is no such thing as a free lunch.

Ankle deep in horse manure 

Bernie as happy as we've ever seen him