My seven week stay at Rongotea has come to an end. Everything went really well and the owners have already booked me in for two more sits next year so I’m looking forward to going back there, it’s a nice area. Anyway, I’ve gone from there straight onto a new house and farm sit. This one finds me in Ohiwa in the Bay of Plenty. I’m here for just under five weeks while the homeowners head off to Aussie to visit family. The property overlooks the Ohiwa Harbour and it has a really nice view of the water and the Pataua Island Scientific Reserve.
I’m about 20 minutes from Opotiki and 30 minutes from Whakatane. It’s a nice and comfortable modern home that is completely off-grid with solar panels and generator back-up etc. The farm is 40 hectares and the contour varies from flat to quite steep. The owners run several mobs of sheep and drystock cattle, and my job while I’m here is basically shift the stock to fresh paddocks when needed, check their water troughs, check for water leaks, and keep an eye on the power on their fences etc.
There are also some chooks who live in the orchard, and one very spoiled Huntaway who is about five years old and goes by the name of Flo. She’s a rescue dog from a pretty rough place. She’s super friendly and gets to live inside the house, so yes – quite spoiled. 🙂
Out at the back of the farm there is also supposed to be feral goats, deer, peacocks, and turkey – definitely peacocks as I’ve heard them – and there are a few weka who like to stroll around the lawn non-chalant.
Flo
