Tricie and Conor's Travel Blog: Tramping in the alps

Hey everyone, I'm writing a post mostly just to show you all some pictures of our hiking trip in the Lake Ohau National Forest in the southern alps. We're staying at a great little farm now that grows organic strawberries and raspberries. Our hosts are Chrissie and Giles, two young world-travelled folks who are settling down to do the farm thing for a while. We pick strawberries, dig potatoes, and try to keep the weeds at bay.

I have this much to say - no one should ever gripe about the cost of organic produce. Ever. The enormous amount of human labor that goes into it is really staggering. Every weed must be removed by hand, and the plants must be cared for with exceptional attention. Even then, the number of fruits and veggies lost to pests, fungus, disease, weed overgrowth, is massive. I will never scoff at the funny-shaped, far from perfect fruits of an organic strawberry pint ever again. After all, they are perfect because they aren't covered in poison. Which is what everything non-organic is.
I've learned too that there is no half-way point between organic and non-organic, especially where fruit is concerned. Either you're munching on pesticides and fungicides and herbicides, or your not. We are so lucky to be here and learning and working with these young farmers who care enough to resist the pervasive push of conventional farming, which in new zealand, even more than the U.S., is de rigeur.

Well, enough of my little rant, here are some photos from our hike and our recent travels. We've got another trip planned for this weekend up at Mt. Cook. Happy holidays to everyone there across the pond...