Farm Stay Program in New Zealand

Through New Zealand Internships Farmstay Program I was arranged a stay on a sanctuary farm from 1 November 2016 to the 31 November 2016. If I had more time in New Zealand than until March, I would definitely extend my stay at the sanctuary and I would recommend it to everyone. At the beginning, I was not sure if the duration of 4 weeks was too long because there was already a group of people who were really close, but I fitted in quickly. After a few days, also 2 other new girls arrived and I got along well with them too The Farm belongs to two young women and they were both really nice. One of them was once also a German volunteer on the farm who decided to stay in New Zealand. The property is really beautiful, on the farm they have sheep, goats, chicken, ponies, cows and a lot of other animals, which were all rescued from the butcher or bad circumstances on other farms. Mine and the other volunteer’s tasks is to feed the animals in the morning and in the evening. The owners also have two Opportunity shops, where I worked two times a week for 5 hours. They sell good quality second-hand clothing and household goods and use the revenues for the farm and the animals. Other tasks, that need to be done, are put on a bill-board every morning so that the we can choose one of them or we can also search for our own project that we would like to work on. I worked 4 hours a day but most of the time I would work more hours because I loved to work on the farm especially spending time with the animals. We were provided with a nice small house with a little garden for themselves. We could prepare our own breakfast and lunch, but have dinner all together every evening. Now my farmstay is over I am now travelling through New Zealand but hope to visit the farm before I leave. Thank you New Zealand Internships for organising this experience for me.