Sam comes for a visit

Kia Ora! From Wanaka, about a 2 hour drive away, backpacker Sam hitchhiked to Invercargill and came to visit on Saturday last. We thoroughly enjoyed this 21-year old grand nephew, son of Steve and Wendy Kvale and grandson of Bill and Carol Kvale. Sam is a man with a mission to learn organic methods to produce and consume healthy food and protect the environment. (Perhaps he inherited a "green thumb" from his paternal grandmother?) He is in New Zealand as a WWOOFER (World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms, http://www.google.com/search?q=wwoof&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7PCTA_en). WWOOF is an international movement connecting volunteers with small organic growers to promote sustainable ways of living. Wwoofers work on farms or small acreages many places in the world for room and board, often as a means of traveling on the cheap. In this case, Sam contracts himself as a laborer on Southland organic farms to learn the principles of composting and permaculture. He has come to the right place to do so. New Zealand seriously promotes ways to preserve this mostly pollution-free, incredibly beautiful country and its creatures, unique in evolutionary history. The weekend Sam spent with us, he was on holiday between locations. We started with a trip to the Sunday morning Farmer's Market, where we purchased fresh organic produce, cheeses (a favorite for Sam), fresh seafood, and lamb. I don't think it is my imagination that these products taste better than the usual run at the supermarkets. Later we drove to the seaport of Bluff to buy the first oysters of the season. Bluff oysters are famed over the entire country for their delicious flavour. But the oyster outlet was closed, and we learned that the oyster boats had not yet returned. No oysters until Monday. So we visited the local seafarer's museum, which included climbing on and into a retired oyster boat. In the galley, Sam found a girlfriend. Lacking oysters, we treated ourselves to Devonshire tea and scones at the LandsEnd restaurant. From our window table we watched the oyster boats returning to port, one after the other, all heavy with their harvest and low in the water. Such irony! We came to get oysters, but had to be satisfied watching oyster boats coming back to port. Bluff is named for the high bluff that rises behind the village. Despite the cloud covering the top of the bluff, we drove all the way to the top for Sam to pose on a rock. Fall is coming, so Monday morning I borrowed the hospice car and Sam and I drove to the thrift shops to find him some warm clothing. Now, I know most of these shops well from my own forays for warm clothing before going to Antarctica: the Southland Hospice shop, two Salvation Army shops, St. Vincent de Paul, Methodist, as well as the private ones. But after just 3 shops and 2 purchases, Sam was done. An endurance shopper he is not. Sam thought I should check the seafood shops for oysters; he is really keen to taste them. I promised to fix him oysters when he returns. That is called providing incentive. Then I drove Sam to Riverton to his next job. We found the place easily enough, though Sam seemed uneasy because it is very close to the center of the town. The short driveway was overhung with shrubs and trees and a bit spooky. Bins and other equipment was strewn about the path to the door. I was uneasy too. The door was answered by a young woman who looked to be about Sam's age. "Come on in," she said with a distinct American accent. "I'm from Utah and I'm a Wwoofer too." Sam did not need a second invitation. (Just in case, we checked with our friends from Riverton, who had high praise for the family Sam is staying with.) Cheers, Kiwi Traveler PS I did go and get oysters when I got back to Invercargill, and they were fantastic! I honestly believe they are the best I have ever tasted. KT