It didn’t take me long to fall in love with New Zealand.
For a nature lover, it had it all – mountains, lakes, glaciers, pristine beaches, rolling hills, sheep-speckled farmland, thick wooded forests, caves, even sand dunes! The politeness and laid-back vibe of the locals reminded me a lot of Canada so it felt like home too.
Even after 7 weeks of road tripping the country from top to bottom, I didn’t want to leave. Yet, my bank account was depleting fast since New Zealand wasn’t cheap.
I needed to find a way to stay there longer.
Lucky for me, I met a girl at the hostel in Queenstown who told me all about her WWOOFing experience at a yoga retreat where she worked on their social media in exchange for food, accommodation and unlimited yoga classes.
A light bulb went off in my head.
Several emails and a few phone calls later, I found myself on a bus heading to Golden Bay to start my WWOOFing gig at a yoga and meditation retreat.
I unpacked my bags at Shambhala, an eco-friendly retreat located on a private golden sand beach. The deal? 4 hour of marketing work daily, in exchange for food, accommodation and access to all of the retreat’s offerings.
Not only was Shambhala situated on a beautiful location, the entire property was artfully embellished with Buddhism and Yoga-inspired decor.
My day would begin at 8:00am, when we would all gather in the hilltop meditation studio overlooking the water. The retreat owner, John, would guide us through a 30-minute meditation. We practiced silent seated meditation with a simple Buddhist breathing technique. It felt completely alien at first, but as the days went on I began to experience a heightened ability to focus immediately following the meditation. This piqued my interest in meditation, and later in my travels through New Zealand I had the chance to study it more thoroughly.
After meditation, everyone would head back to their accommodation to have breakfast. The other WWOOFers and I would make our way to John’s house to have breakfast there. Breakfast was typically DIY, but lunch and dinner at John’s place was always a treat! One of my favourites was John’s pizza that he would make from scratch, including the crust! He was a great cook.
We would spend the mornings busy with work. Then, after lunch we busied ourselves by doing absolutely nothing.
There was lots to explore nearby including Wharariki Beach, Farewell Spit, Wainui Falls, Te Waikoropupu Springs, Cobb Valley, and – most famously – Abel Tasman National Park.
In the evenings, we would pile into the meditation studio again for a yoga class. A great way to earn your dinner!
With just a few hours of my time invested each day, I was able to have a retreat experience for a week-and-a-half for absolutely free!
My WWOOFing experience at Shambhala was so enjoyable that I ended up WWOOFing twice more in New Zealand, and then again in Australia. It’s definitely my favourite way to travel longer and cheaper, while getting a cool new experience or picking up a new skill.
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