Our First Couchsurfing

We had a wonderful stay at our first Couchsurfing visit. We stayed with Bernie, Ash and their 6 year old daughter Courtney. They live on a 250 acre farm and raise cattle. They are very self sufficient, water from a pond is used for the toilet, and drinking water, and water for showers comes from rain water collected in a storage tank.

I especially enjoyed Ash’s shop. He and his father made their own saw mill from scratch 20 years ago and Ash hasn’t been to a lumber yard since. When he built a new garage with the bedroom above were we stayed, he milled all the stud, joists, wall paneling, flooring, stair treads, even the siding. He has a log peeler to make round logs for fence posts which he sends out to be treated for use in the ground.

They have a Kiwi on their farm and because they are becoming extinct it was equipped with a radio tracking device. Because Kiwi’s are reclusive, and shouldn’t be disturbed Ash said ‘you’ll never see it’, but I might be able to see one at a zoo.

Bernie worked in town at a school. We really enjoyed our stay with them. Don’t forget to click on the video.