Don't Worry, the Cows Look the Same in NZ

It's been a fun and exciting week, time flew by so fast! On Sunday, we hitched a ride to Christchurch by an accountant who was heading back home from a weekend with his buddies. We had booked a hostel called The Jailhouse. Hannah was the one who booked it, so I had no idea that this hostel was actually an old jail!

It was surprisingly cozy for what it's original purpose was for

We were in a two person room and the beds were very comfortable! Probably one of the best hostles we've stayed in so far!

Monday morning, Maria (the woman who lives on the farm) picked us up and drove us to her house which was about 40 minutes out of Christchurch. We drove up her driveway, being greeted by mooing calves and a snorting pig. 

We settled in pretty quickly here. Maria and Mark are incredibly welcoming people. Hannah and I each have our own room overlooking the farm. We get fed to our hearts desire, with the most delicious, gluten free food. Hannah and I even cooked for them a few times, it was really nice to use a well equipped kitchen with sharp knives! We don't come across those in hostels! 

Maria and Mark expect us to work 4 hours a day. About and hour goes to feeding the animals twice a day (which is definitely my favorite). Throughout the week we have really gotten to know quite a few of the animals: 

These are the calves. There are 28 of them and they are all 5 months old. They are very friendly and love to chew on coats or zippers or socks or hands :) 

This is Joey, he's one of the calves 

I loved hanging out with these little guys... Unless they escaped... Then it was a different story...

This is Missy, Maria's pet pig. Her stomach just about touches the ground when she walks. She also can't see because her fat roles cover her eyes... We fell in love pretty quickly with her. 

Smile for the camera Missy! 

Maria and Mark have three chickens. We like to call this one The Lady because she's so proper with the way she carries herself. 

Lamby and Lisa are the sheep who are used to get wool. These two like to boss around the steer. 

30 deer are also on the farm, they are much more skiddish than the cows, so harder to get a good picture. But even these guys have some funny personalities. 

This is Carrot, he's one of the 12 steers that we feed everyday too. 

The steers are just as friendly as the calves... They're just a little more intimidating with their size 

So curious about the camera 

So everyday, twice a day we would feed all these animals. It took us a few days to get a routine down, but by the 5th day, we were pros! 

Hay for the calves and biceps of steel for me

Hay Gurl Hay! 

Ever have that feeling of being followed??

Every other day or so, Mark brings fresh veggies from one of the nearby factories. The factory makes the vegetables for restaurants like KFC, so they have to be strict of the quality of vegetables. The animals on this farm definitely benefit from that!

After we are done feeding in the morning we usually do a few hours of work that needs to be done around the farm. Our first task was stacking logs into the wood shed.

Job well done and only took us a couple of days 

We quickly found out that rats enjoyed the shelter of the wood... Luckily this one was dead... But we weren't so lucky with a crate that had a rat with her nest... I've never seen Hannah mooooove so fast! 

One of our other jobs was to weed around the small pine trees that were trying to grow. There were 100 of them so we found ways to entertain ourselves. 

Hannah gave a lesson to the steers about "How to Be a Fancy Cow". 

1. Don't poop on another cow

2. Don't poop while staring at a human in the eyes 

3. Don't poop on your hay

I can't say any of them practiced their lessons... 

It was an awesome week!  We have a few days break before we go to our next farm stay. I'll be sad to leave here. It's much more comfortable than living in the hostels and I love being with the animals and working outside. I am very grateful for Maria and Mark's hospitality, they taught me a lot about farming too!  Definitely one of my favorite experiences so far!