Making great memories

My wwoof hosting journey continues and at present I have a young man from Germany here with me.  Simon has been such a breath of fresh air and has also been a marvelous help around the property.    We have managed to finish the drip watering system in the olive grove, along the chamomile row and in the rosemary hedge.  This will lighten my workload on a daily basis as I will no longer have to water everything by hand.  Bless him for his efforts in that.  We also managed to complete the timber raised bed that was not quite finished when Simon arrived and today we filled it with soil, horse manure and straw.  This will break down over time and become incredible soil for future planting. On top of this we have begun to plant the winter crop and replenished some of the flowering plants to encourage bees to the area. During the two weeks with me, Simon has experienced a number of firsts.  He got to go fishing for the first time and caught a beautiful yellow belly.  I cleaned it and then cooked it up for his dinner that night.  Simon's first catch and first taste of an Australian fish.  Top marks to him for his attempts there.   His prior host had organised for Simon to go to a local rodeo, to help them man the bar.  While there he got to see Buck and bull riding as well as many other events during the night.  Another first as they don't have rodeos back home, he said.  Simon came away most impressed with it all. On the Saturday Simon came back to me and along with my sons, we went to the local speedway racing.  Simon had never seen this kind of racing in Germany as they only have Formula 1 and rally driving.  During the course of the night, I jokingly said to him, If I can arrange it would you jump in a car and go for a ride with a race driver.  He was most keen on that idea, so at half time while in the pits, I spoke to my favourite driver and his daughter (also a race driver) and jokingly mentioned what I said to Simon.   Young Chloe jumped at the chance to take him along in her car the next day and told us to be back at the track at 2.30 for him to be fitted with a race suit and for him to learn the ins and outs of safety and such.  Simon spent the entire night with the team and rode with Chloe during her 4 races.  He even had the opportunity to be with her when she won the finals.  He is still smiling like a cheshire cat and I am sure that when he moves onto the next leg of his journey he will cherish all he has seen and done here.