The Black Fly

Ben explains why he chose to leave Cornerstone Farm just ten days in to what should have been a six week work exchange

With the Sun baking me at 35C, black flies pulling chunks of flesh from my neck and mosquitoes doing what they do best I was somewhat unhappy with my situation.

And with every minute that passed I became more and more wound up until finally, following a quick succession of bites to my neck and arms - I snapped - and like a child losing his temper I threw my tools to the ground where to my complete horror I growled and muttered to myself "You know what Ben...? I think I'd rather be sat at my desk in Dudley."

Well absolutely not! There is no way I have quit my job, left my flat, given all my stuff away and travelled 6,000km only to be wishing (albeit briefly) I was back at home. And as fleeting as this moment was, it was enough to have me sat in front of Mitch twelve hours later telling him that I would be leaving first thing in the morning - this of course despite it only being the tenth day into what should have been a six week stay at his farm.

So you're probably thinking "poor Ben... a little bit of hard work and he chucks in the towel!" Well I'll admit, the work was long and hard, but it was not the work alone that had me decide to leave. You must remember that the Work Exchange does not have me earning money and so I am reliant on the collective experience with my hosts to act as a just reward and unfortunately in Alexandria I felt the scales were quite a way off from being balanced.

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You mustn't get me wrong though, I did enjoy my stay at Cornerstone Farm, but staying the full six weeks became out of the question within I think a couple of days of arriving.

The food in particular was a real highlight and Lola's cooking I have to say was exceptional. It is also with pride that I can say that I tried six new foods for the first time, most notably bear meat and venison, the latter of which was out of this World and perhaps now my favourite meat.

I also very much enjoyed the end of each of day where for up to an hour and a half I'd get to lie in the hot tub and watch as dusk was gradually replaced with the night sky one star at a time. It really was wonderfully peaceful.

For up to an hour and a half I'd get to lie in the hot tub and watch as dusk was gradually replaced with the night sky one star at a time. It really was wonderfully peaceful

But despite my near-no notice Mitch was thankfully very understanding having already realised that I was perhaps not best suited to life on the farm. 

So, I leave Alexandria after breakfast tomorrow morning destined as fate would have it to return back to Winchester and making the return journey all the more interesting, I plan for the very first time to try out hitchhiking!

Venison Burgers... and they tasted even better than they look