Wairiri Buffalo farm ... again!

Yes, I’m back here for a week while I decide what to do and looked for work/a place to livget in Wanaka. I was initially only going to be back to do the market for them so that Lucy and Christo could have a wee break, but happily accepted when Lucy asked if I could stay a bit longer to get some pesky chores done. I feel quite at home on the farm and was happy to help them out after they’d been so good to me.

Chloe and I did the Riccarton Market on the Saturday and I then quickly rushed back to take my family to the airport with Frances.  It was a bit weird saying goodbye to them as it didn’t feel like it’d be so long till I see them again, and I guess it won’t be since I’ll see them in 4 months, and I’ve gone longer without seeing them while I was at uni :P haha 

Anyway on Sunday I headed back to the farm and it was all go. I slotted back into my regular routine as if it hadn’t been 2 and a bit months since I’d last been there. There were a few additional chores to do and some that had changed. For instance they have a new baby buffalo 😍 she’s called Leila and she’s adoreble! One of my jobs was to feed her her bottle theee times a day, which I loved! 

 

The Shed still needed a regular deep clean and electric fencing needed putting up. I also cleared and built a wee enclosure for the wee baby Buffalo since they’re would be more arriving soon, and by the end of my week there, just as I was about to leave, a wee bit arrived. They wean them from their mothers as soon as possible to maximise milk production, and this wee guy has already sold so a life-style block further north. He’ll stay at Wairiri for a bit longer though and till then we needed to get him into the bottle, this proved much more difficult than it was with Leila. Poor Lucy was trying everything she could to get this wee boy to drink but he just wasn’t taking. I think he was just about getting it the day I left. 

   

I tidied up a shelter and wee area where the new-born buffalo would be held once they were taken off their mothers. 

 

We bid farewell to about 9 buffalo that had been sold to various lifestyle blocks. 

And as always my constany company of Ruby the dog was was wonderful. There is something quite comforting about a dogs conpany.

 

Spread some grass seed in sweaterting heat!

  

The day before I left for Wanaka another WWOOFer arrived and I walked her through everything that I’d been doing, a wee handover per say. It was weird saying goodbye to the farm one last time, I know I’ll be back to visit again before I go but I won’t be working there again and that made me a bit sad. Anyway onwards to another step of my trip, I am now heading to Wanaka to look for a job for two months, and that also means I need somewhere to live for that time. I have put some feelers out with other wwoofing places and helpx (similar to wwoof) but nothing conclusive yet. Wish me luck!