Manukau

We went to the "Travelers Hut" for the night. Neville, the owner, used to work for ___ Har (big oil company) as a civil engineer. Now his goal is to be self-sustaining in the rolling hills in Western Northland, scraping by, driving a school bus. He grows his own veggies and herbs, keeps animals (chickens and cows) and slaughters them himself. He uses very little electricity (mostly for the fridge and slaughterhouse). He does his own renovations on his small cabin to increase the space. Everything is well thought-out and efficient, but at the same time very artistic. And he has a parakeet named Ziffer, who he is teaching to forage for food in the forest.

The campsite is a small parking lot, for five cars. It has a little hut with a shower (gas bottle, mini-furnace that self ignited when the water starts running) and toilet. Then there is a small cabin for rent, just a bedroom, with a common area kitchen attached (fully supplied except for a stove). Food scraps go to the chickens, and all other waste is sorted (glass by colour, plastic bottles, cans, rubbish). In a few places, you can see where materials have been reused (such as glass as artistic mulch).

And to top it all off, he gave us some duck eggs to try. They were delicious!Read more