Written By Charlie
October 31, 2022. A Halloween like none other. I arrived at the Hart family farm exhausted but excited for a change of scenery. An intense couple of days had tired me out, but the beauty of the farm lifted my spirits. Opening the door to our new home, I was greeted by a scene that was best described as a painting. Rolling green hills, grazing sheep and best of of all, the spectacular lake welcomed us. I was taken aback by the view that I would consistently find myself gazing at for the next week. Dinner that night was special. We met some fellow guests and devoured what I can easily I say were the best burgers I have ever had. Some of you might not know, but the Hart family farm is a cattle farm. It felt really good knowing where our food came from and that we were eating as sustainably as possible.
The true highlight of the night goes to Ryan’s murder mystery party. Sticking with the Māori themes of the prior week, we acted out our the story of Maui – a mischievous Demi-god. We did the best we could with costumes and brought our best acting skills to the party. It was one of the most fun nights of the trip, even with the murderer getting away.
I woke up the next morning bright and early to milk cows. I haven’t spent much time around farm animals and I was genuinely intimidated by the size of them. Some of them had their own plans, but with a little bit of luck, we corralled them into position ready to be milked. Putting the suction cups on their utters may be one of the stranger things I did on the trip, but I can now say that is something I have done. We collected the milk and got to feed the pigs, which were my favorite animals. They were so excited to get food and just had funny personalities.
The rest of the week included tree trimming, bush walks, swimming, fishing, volleyball, dance parties and so much more. There were definitely ups and downs but I was impressed by our groups ability to preserve and have deep conversations. There is something grounding about living on a farm; Eating food grown there and building things from scratch. It is a lifestyle that I haven’t had much exposure too and I am very grateful for the opportunity to have experienced it. I really enjoyed listening to the Hart family’s outlook on life – the importance of sustainability and our interconnectedness. I will take those lessons with me and most importantly always, always remember to shut the sink off.
