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| (photo from Internet) |
One delight that
we’ve had on tours all over the world has been getting an “insider’s view” of
the country by having a home-cooked meal in private homes. On the New Zealand
motorcycle tour we took in February of 2000, it went a step further. For two nights,
we stayed at a farm out of Te Anau in Fiordland. This would be our “home base”
for the next day’s excursion to Milford Sound.
Many farms in New Zealand produce
sheep, while others raise combinations of cattle, deer, horses, and sheep. Five of us, Judy and I, our friend Donna
from Michigan, and two men from Minnesota, were assigned to the 875-acre sheep farm of Don and Dorothy
Cromb. After a sumptuous lunch at Lammerview
Orchard, we found our destination with no trouble and entered the property via the long gravel driveway.
Our hosts, the
Crombs,
provided us with a warm and homey place to stay and interesting conversations. Fellow biker Donna was
especially interested in the workings of the sheep farm since she and her husband farmed in Michigan.
Dorothy Cromb was a real "farm wife.” She fed us breakfast, including her homemade
muesili , and prepared two delicious 3-course
dinners for us. She tended
to the details on-call to help with the bailing. My thought about Dorothy was “Whatta Woman!”
“We enjoy having groups come,” Don said. “We
can’t leave to go travel the world, so this way the world comes to us.”
The second
morning, before our departure, all of us bikers climbed into the back of Don’s pick-up. While
Dorothy stripped the beds, did the laundry, and made ready for the next group,
Don drove us around the farm for a tour. We all enjoyed
seeing the place, and Donna had a lot of questions and made observations that
enhanced the farm tour for the rest of us.
That day we
rode out with an appreciation of New Zealand farm life and something tourists
rarely experience: a chance to know how the real people in another country
live. And, tucked away, we had the recipe for Dorothy’s muesili, which Judy
made for us several times after we were back home.
~ xoA ~
It is fun to read your accounts of places visited and people met. I like the line “We enjoy having groups come,” Don said. “We can’t leave to go travel the world, so this way the world comes to us.” Terry Redman
ReplyDeleteThey were a lovely couple. And sure, they were stuck on the farm, responsible for untold numbers of of sheep. We had a great time with them. Thanks for reading and commenting, Terry. xoA
DeleteHow fun! Did you happen to find your hosts through couchsurfing.org?
ReplyDeleteThe motorcycle tour company set it all up for us. It was a great experience. Thanks for writing, Mandy. xoA
DeleteYes, I'm with Mandy...how did this get set up? What a special treat. Getting to know the people IS one of the special delights of traveling!
ReplyDeleteOur motorcycle tour company made all the arrangements for our accommodations. We just lucked out. Thanks for writing, Joan. xoA
DeleteIt sounds like such a lovely experience. On both sides. I can definitely see the interest in having new and different people coming to visit on a regular basis...what stories they must get to hear!
ReplyDeleteThey were so forthcoming with news about their lives as well as interested in hearing from all of us from different experiences and parts of the USA. Mealtime was quite a gabfest. Thanks for commenting, Anna. xoA
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