Detour

Working For Your Keep Farm stays are an increasingly popular, if somewhat muckier, alternative to city B&Bs. In the countryside you can try herding sheep or milking cows, or sometimes even do a whole day's work to pay for your keep.

But when I showed up at Raratu Lodge, near Havelock North on North Island, ready to get down to the ranch and shear some sheep, proprietor Pete Hill was quietly amused. Forget New Zealand's shepherding heritage—nothing could get him to herd sheep, even if he had any. "Field lice," as he called them, were far too stupid and too prone to disease. Seeing my city slicker's crushed expression, he did offer me the chance to douse a few of his dairy cows with a de-worming bath, but the intermittent late summer showers ruled that out.

Pete explained that Raratu, a hillside haven of fast-growth Californian pine and olive groves, was more of a lifestyle farm. "A life-sentence farm, some would say," he added dryly. Still, guests can get involved if they like. Some help plant a few pines but most just use this as a peaceful base for visiting wineries and beaches.

The soil was now too soft for planting, so there seemed nothing else to do but relax on the vine-draped porch of the comfortable guest cottage, admire the views across the valley to Mount Te Mata, and look forward to a home-cooked meal washed down with a glass or two from local vineyards.

But that night there was one important farming chore I could help with. Possums, the fast-breeding, vegetation-devouring scourges from Australia, were overly fond of Pete's young trees. Beneath a sky brilliant with stars, I swept the trees with a portable searchlight designed to mesmerize the marsupials mid-meal. In the space of an hour we found three, and with a light crack from his .22, Pete sent them to possum heaven. As much as I enjoyed helping out, I found possum-fur blankets a little hard to bear afterwards. Call (64-6) 874-7990 for reservations.