Wwoofing at Ohiwa Macadamias

My how the time has flown. I’ve been wwoofing here at Ohiwa Macadamias in Ohope Beach for ten days and I barely saw the time go by.

My energetic hosts Paul and Anne have been fantastic; They’ve made me, and the other wwoofers here, feel right at home.

Anne, Paul and I at the Jazz in the Park concert in Whakatane (pronounced Fah-kah-tah-nay).

And what a home it is.

This 30 acre lot nestled in some hills some 20 minutes outside of Whakatane and edged by a salt marsh is home to not only this lovely couple, but also to a menagerie of animals. Their two adorable dogs Smudgy and Lenny share the space with three cows, 17 sheep, some 30 odd chooks (chickens to us non-Kiwis), and – much to the chagrin of the human inhabitants – countless rabbits and possums.


One of the roosters.



Smudgey and Lenny.
(Sorry for the sideways photo. I hate blogger's photo settings)

The farm also boasts an impressive number and variety of fruit and nut trees. The place is literally dripping pears and plums at the moment, and at various times of the year lemons, limes, grapefruits, quinces, nashis, bananas, and chestnuts can be gathered on the property.

Lemon!

Pears!

Quinces! (whatever they are -- they weren't ripe, so I didn't try any.

Of course, the main event here at Ohiwa Macadamias are the macadamias themselves. These delicious morsels won’t be harvested for some months yet, so I didn’t get to participate in the picking side of the process. Instead, I spent a few mornings of my time here processing them.



The nuts on the tree.  These puppies should be ready for harvestig in a few months' time.



Jean-Marie and Agnes, the other Wwoofers, sort the nuts coming out of the mechanical cracker.

A few of the nuts post-cracking and sorting.

Basically, we took some nuts harvested last year, set them up in the drying room for about a week, then cracked and sorted them. The cracking is mostly done by a machine with some of the stragglers who somehow slipped through intact tackled into submission by the WonderCracker – a heavy-duty nut cracker of Paul’s own design which makes quick work of any nut you place in its mighty jaws.

The WonderCracker artfully displayed in front of some macadamia trees. Order yours today!

The sorting, however is all done by hand. It’s time consuming and meticulous work, but it was gratifying to see the pile of “premium” nuts grow and know that I was helping a small business in some small way.

Alas, my time at Ohiwa is done. I take with me fond memories, a recipe for a scrumptious banana cake, some delicious fruit, and a mild addiction to macadamia nuts. 

Thanks so much Anne and Paul. Your kindness and generosity will not soon be forgotten.