Make Your EFL Holiday An Adventure With WWOOF, Part 2

Any advice?
Carrie suggests putting some thought into selecting a host who will be a good fit for you “I, for example, would never go to a place that said something like “no alcohol ever” or had 6 hour per day requirements. That may be fantastic for some people, but likely not an environment where I would be happy. Some people are more interested in cultural exchange, while others are primarily interested in the free labor.”

Furthermore, as many host properties are not easily accessible by public transport, Carrie recommends having your own transport, especially if you are wwoofing alone. “If you get there and it seems like a bad situation, you need to be able to get out. I think the overwhelming majority of hosts are probably wonderful people, but you don’t want to end up walking several kilometers with you backpack because you made a bad choice.”

One final observation is to be on the lookout for WWOOF listings which seem to serve more as subtle ads for bed and breakfasts; Carrie came across a few of these – hosts that also ran B&B operations and just didn’t seem to have room for WWOOFers…but did have rooms to let.

Anything else?
Carrie also had the opportunity to do something I really enjoy: learn a local legend, in this case, an aboriginal one, which dates back to aboriginal times and has two possible endings: “A large quantity of flour was stolen from the trading post. The aboriginals were blamed for the theft and slaughtered by gunfire. That is actually much more humane than some other areas where the white men poisoned the aboriginals by lacing their gifts of food with strychnine…
“A woman, Gorgogan, was born and lived in the area. She magically flew south to the beach and became a spirit. During the day, she would appear as the black rocks on the shore along with many other women spirits. At night she would –
Ending One: Appear as a light at sea and lure certain men to their deaths.
Ending Two: Appear as a light at sea.”

Which men were lured to their deaths, and why? Who was responsible, the men or the spirit? Carrie wasn’t able to track down the answers to her questions…that’s for her next trip, and possibly for the Bootsnall Legend Logue, which might just be on the way.

For more information on WWOOF, check out the main WWOOF website and also the Eco Travel Logue Review of WWOOF…and finally, for Australia know-how, how about the Bootsnall Australia Blog?

If you missed the first half of this story, read it here.