wwoof

The first time I heard of wwoofing was in San Diego. I was talking to a girl who worked in the hostel I was staying in and she told me her dream was to go to Hawaii. She was trying to save money so she could go there, but kept spending her money on clothes and other stuff she bought impulsively. Her new plan was to save enough for a ticket and then wwoof there. She enthusiastically told me “you only have to work in the morning, you get the afternoon and weekends off so you can go surfing, and you get free accommodation and food”. I googled wwoof as soon as I got home and got very enthusiastic myself.

Wwoofing stands for either “Willing Workers on Organic Farms” or “World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms”. This holiday I’ve joined the organization, which costs 40 dollars. Unfortunately, you only join the wwoof organization of one country, in my case wwoof New Zealand. The way the program works is that you get access to different wwoof hosts as soon as you have become a member. You then e-mail a host that appeals to you and ask if you can work for him/here/them during a certain time. I was going to work for one week for an organic yoga retreat close to Taupo. I was really looking forward to work in their organic vegan/vegetarian kitchen and in the organic garden, but, alas, the day before I was to work there they told me that they didn’t need me anymore as a group cancelled.

The next morning during breakfast I was sulking when a Dutch girl came and sat opposite of me. We started talking and I apologized to her for not being in the best of moods. I explained to her that I had expected to start woofing that day and that I was bitterly disappointed that it had fallen through. Then something very Celestine Prophecy happened. She told me she was going wwoofing that day in Whangarei, and that the host had said that there was enough room for two people. She asked me if I wanted to join her and called the host. So, I ended up wwoofing in the garden of a Dutch/Kiwi girl called Anna, and I am glad I did! I had a really good time, and though the original plan was we would stay only three days, we stayed a full week. During that time we got rid of all the weed in the back garden, sorted out the compost, cleared the hallway of nails, ordered fresh earth and, on my last day, planted all kinds of vegetables. But apart from the work, I just had a great time staying at Anna’s lovely house, meeting some of her friends, playing with Anna’s cat, picnicking at the black beach, going canoeing with the other volunteers, and just in general enjoying the hospitality.














The weird thing is that even though I had never heard of wwoofing before last year, everybody I meet here seems to be doing it. I don’t know if it is just very popular in New Zealand, or if it is one of those cases where as soon as you heard of something new you come across it way more often.

I know for sure that it isn’t very popular in Morocco, where I am going in December and where I also wanted to wwoof. There are just two wwoof addresses! Which is a shame because I am really interested in working on a citrus fruit farm and they are bound to be in Morocco. But, I am not worrying about it, because I might just meet a girl there while I am having breakfast who will start wwoofing at a citrus fruit farm that day and will ask me to join her!

A grateful Jonna