Wwoofing with Jenny (from the block)

Our week spent with Jenny in Murchison provided a refreshing change. We had our own little cottage and we were provided with dinner each night -- part of the reason I'd chosen Jenny's place was because of the reviews raving about her cooking, and we were not disappointed in the least.

I mostly helped Jenny with housekeeping for her three guest accommodation rooms, Dejan mostly shoveled horse poo (ha ha), but we also helped out with cobweb dusting (which seems to have become a horrifying trend in my life) and weeding out at her amazing other property by the river. During our ample free time we also went on several nature walks to explore the boundless beauty of the Murchison area.

"Downtown" Murchison

On one of the nearby nature walks.

Rupert, one of Jenny's super-friendly cats.

The second of the three cats.

Dejan hard at work.

Not a bad place to retire to, I'd say.

Jenny's pony, who would whinny until someone started petting her.

We're pals.

Another view from a nature walk.

Probably the best seat in the world.

Pano, courtesy of Dejan.

Photo op with Jenny!

One part of our stay in Murchison was totally unexpected. Military helicopters were flying over constantly and military vehicles were driving all over town, with uniformed soldiers in the back. There were troops were posted everywhere in this tiny town of less than a thousand. They stood in groups on street corners, they could be seen walking through people's front lawns, or setting up a post by placing their machine guns on various fixtures in town. Dejan and I were absolutely baffled. Had a war begun that we didn't know about? Was Murchison going through some sort of rebellion or attack?!?

Equally strange were the anti-army posters everywhere around town, as well as the unfamiliar flag posted on numerous doors, windows, and shop fronts. The military guys themselves were both shockingly young and extremely friendly. They also all seemed super bored. We greeted them with confused, giggling hellos and were rewarded with a hello and a chuckle in response.

(You can see the soldiers in the distance.)

The sign that greeted us on our way in.

Dejan's token pano.

Becara's flag.

Becara flag in the window, plus a "hostile" sign directed at the occupying Kiwi military.

More militants on the street corner.

Jenny informed us that this was a drill of sorts that happened regularly, but always in a different New Zealand location. Our timing was lucky that we were there within the couple of weeks that the town was "occupied." Troops from all over (from any countries with interests in the Pacific islands) joined together and essentially pretended they were carrying out a mission to restore peace in the fictional island nation called "Becara."

Residents of Murchison had been informed of the drill well in advance and were asked to greet the troops with hostility, as would likely happen in a similar real-life situation (there's more information on the drill here or the Facebook page called "Southern Katipo").

Of course, many of the Murchison townies decided to really commit to their role, staging protests and even "attacks" with water balloons. If only I had been a local, we could have taken part in the fun.

A Kiwi's version of acting hostile.

A protest emerges amongst growing political turmoil.

Things start getting heated.

Suddenly, violence erupts.

Oh, the carnage! (The rebel technology of water balloons can be seen here.)

The rebels were detained, disturbingly unashamed of their actions.

Note: all protest photos were taken from the Murchison Museum Facebook page. 

In the end, our time in Murchison was a bit more fascinating than we had initially anticipated. After our beautiful time with Jenny, we reluctantly departed for our next wwoofing spot: Punakaiki, next to Paparoa National Park on the West Coast.