An old farmhouse and Saturday market in Nelson

Robin and I WWOOFed for a few days outside Nelson in an old farmhouse filled with old stuff. The kitchen was kind of like an antique store. Our host had lived there for 40 years, since her parents had moved to Nelson as artists (potters). Most of the stuff in the house was still from the 60's. such as old biscuit tins that they used for food storage (I assume that they had refilled them at some point..). Our hosts had a passion for tango and salsa (though you wouldn't guess it!). Our first night we went to a rueda class, which is like salsa meets square dancing. Everyone dances in pairs in a circle and switches partners. It was fun, and totally unexpected! That's whats so much fun about meeting a new host. Wondering what their house is like, what they eat, what they do and will do with us... We feel a bit like the kids in a Series of Unfortunate Events, but its more like a Series of Fortunate Events..



For work, We trekked around eradicating weeds, including periwinkle. I never thought that the beautiful Crayola color from my youth was named after such a pernicious weed! We also washed the deck and stacked firewood.




And we built these little nests around the fruit trees. The trees weren't producing too much edible fruit yet. As WWOOFers, we rarely see the (literal) fruits of our labor. There were some sour grapefruit that we tried baking with honey and cinnamon to make palatable. Result was edible but nothing to write home about.. (Of course, blogs are a different story..)



We had a lot of fun in the town of Nelson. It's definitely a great New Zealand town, not too big nor too small. There's a little of everything. But on Saturday... oh the Saturday market! I've been to markets of all types. Farmers markets, art fairs, craft markets in San Francisco, Minnesota, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico... But this market wins! The sun came out, the town buzzed! There was fruits and veges, homemade jams, honey and fudge, and all manner of breads, cookies, gluten-free pastries, vegan marshmallow bars.. There was local artists selling homemade clothes, pottery, soaps, and even origami. The origami man was great. He made little mobiles and told me that he can make over 100 animals. The best by far was the kiwi! I have since tried to figure out how to make a kiwi from online instructions and youtube videos and only made paper messes! Here he is with his Kiwi..



The kiwi mobile..


and other mobiles..



Other wares at the market include handmade underwear..



Savoury pies, which come in all kinds of flavors as you see here.. Lamb and minted pea, Thai satay vege, venison and red wine, and "brunch"..


Recycled can sculptures..


Reusable shopping bags with cute NZ screenprints (I like the wood pigeon. It's a huge, fat pigeon that is endemic to New Zealand. It eats the large berries that none of the other birds can eat, and is crucial to the survival of many of the native trees since it is the sole bird that eats and spreads their seeds. The Maori like to eat wood pigeon, especially after its stuffed itself with berries, but its a protected species.)


After spending the whole morning at the market, we boarded the bus back to Picton, the ferry back to Wellington, and retraced our steps moving backwards but forward to new experiences.. housesitting in Wellington, Christmas in Coromandel.. A series of fortunate events, I hope!