We dropped our car off at the Europecar depot on North Terrace in Adelaide at midday. It was a short walk to the bus station which was to take us to our new host. A quick phone call to confirm was all we needed to do before embarking on our penultimate WWOOFing experience.
We were met at the bus stop in Mt Compass by a Swiss lady called Francine Douglas who was due to look after us for the next few weeks. We pulled into the gates of her cosy cottage and were shown to our accommodation, a beautiful self contained studio outhouse. Francine lived alone with her Meremma dog called Marnie. Both dog and owner had quirky natures, the dog smiled when it met you, it almost looked like it was snarling but we were ensured it was not.
We mowed lawns, fixed shovels, repaired and painted cupboards, built seating areas and even went to build a retaining wall with a friend of Francine’s. An experience to note was that of the market. Francine ran a food stand at 2 of the local farmers markets and on one particular weekend, we were drafted in to run the barbeque. We cooked eggs, bacon and sausages offered on both white and brown bread, toasted or not. The task seems quite simple on the surface but when you have 6 or 7 people standing in front of you asking for eggs a certain way and toast not too brown, the pressure soon begins to mount. We managed quite well and managed to make Francine some decent profit which was really satisfying.
We rewarded with a glass of wine every night and use of her 1970 odd Mazda 323 station wagon, which had no petrol cap, a choke held on with a peg, the light permanently on bright so as not to break the circuit and a steering wheel which didn’t work for the first 3rd of it’s turning circle, not to mention the breaks that need to be on the road before they worked!
It was a lovely experience shared with a warm and kind host. She was vulnerable at first but her trust, once earned, was honest and eternal.
We were met at the bus stop in Mt Compass by a Swiss lady called Francine Douglas who was due to look after us for the next few weeks. We pulled into the gates of her cosy cottage and were shown to our accommodation, a beautiful self contained studio outhouse. Francine lived alone with her Meremma dog called Marnie. Both dog and owner had quirky natures, the dog smiled when it met you, it almost looked like it was snarling but we were ensured it was not.
We mowed lawns, fixed shovels, repaired and painted cupboards, built seating areas and even went to build a retaining wall with a friend of Francine’s. An experience to note was that of the market. Francine ran a food stand at 2 of the local farmers markets and on one particular weekend, we were drafted in to run the barbeque. We cooked eggs, bacon and sausages offered on both white and brown bread, toasted or not. The task seems quite simple on the surface but when you have 6 or 7 people standing in front of you asking for eggs a certain way and toast not too brown, the pressure soon begins to mount. We managed quite well and managed to make Francine some decent profit which was really satisfying.
We rewarded with a glass of wine every night and use of her 1970 odd Mazda 323 station wagon, which had no petrol cap, a choke held on with a peg, the light permanently on bright so as not to break the circuit and a steering wheel which didn’t work for the first 3rd of it’s turning circle, not to mention the breaks that need to be on the road before they worked!
It was a lovely experience shared with a warm and kind host. She was vulnerable at first but her trust, once earned, was honest and eternal.
