We got to Mallorca late in the day and because it was the weekend there were no buses running to Pollença where we were going to be wwoofing for a few weeks.  We had to stay the night in Palma.  We set out in the dark the next moring so that we would be on the farm in time to start work that day.  When we got to Pollença our host, Bos, was 2 hours late picking us up.  Good thing we got up so early.  Once we finally got to the farm, which was a 20 minute drive up a one lane road that was one switchback after another, we got right to work.  We had talked with people about the olive harvest beforehand and everyone we taked to was curious what we would be doing; after all there are machines that just shake the tree.  It turns out that the trees we were collecting from were 500 to 1000 years old and much too big to be shaken.  The solution: hit the trees with a stick knocking the olives into a net on the ground, then pick them up.

The farm was called Pedruxella and absoultly stunning.  It sat high on the side of a valley surrounded by rocky peaks.  The land was all terraced with limestone popping out every which way and sheep wandering all over.  The owners and our hosts, Bos and Liz, live in the states but spend about 3 months a year on the farm.  When we arrived only Bos was there, who even though he ran on his own clock was very nice.  Liz and the kids arrived later for our last week.  Because they are not there all the time they have a farmer, Tolo, who runs just about everything.  We spent the days working for Tolo, and had dinner with Bos and the family.

The olives go to press first thing on monday mornings.  Because they are organic they have to be the first ones through the press for the week. This was good for us becasue it ment that we could not start picking untill thursaday, otherwise the olives would start to rot.  We worked all day Thursday through Sunday and had the other 3 days off.  We spent our first chunk of free time just hiking and exploring the farm.  After another week of work we were ready to see more of the island and go climbing.  Since it was the off season we were able to rent a car for those 3 days very cheaply.  Before climbing we went with Bos to check out the olive press.  The press itself was worth seeing but not overly interesting, the olives are cleaned, smashed and then rather than being pressed are actually run through a centerfuge.  The really interesting part was seeing how the olives are really part of the culture.  There was a huge line of small cars to huge trucks waiting to press their olives.  Everthing from families only making enough olive oil for thier own use to huge commercal operations.

After the press we headed to a town called Soller to go climbing.  Unfortunately it starting pooring just as we got there.  Luckily there was a section of the crag that was a huge cave and therefore dry.  The only bad thing is that all the routes in the cave were roof routes and way out of our leauge.  We went for it anyway and surprised ourselves by doing ok.  We tired ourselves out for the next two days of climbing.  After climbing we checked out the town that due to heavy trade in the past felt more french than spanish and had its own language.

The next day was my birthday so of course we went climbing.  This time we headed to the south coast where the weather was perfect.  We climbed right on a beach and were even able to take a break and swim.  That night we wanted to go out to dinner at a traditional Mallorquin restaurant that was recomended to us.  When we showed up at about 7:30 it was closed with no signs of life.  We wandered around and everything seemed to be closed.  Finally we settled on a British restaurant that was open.  The food was mediocre at best but we had fun anyway.  As we were leaving at about 9:00 we walked past the restaurant we had planned on and were surprised to see it was packed.  Oh well.

On our last day with the car we went to another climbing spot on the coast and climbed another full day.  When we went back to work on Thursday we felt like we needed a vaction to rest.  We continued working with Tolo and learing all about the land, he seemed to know everything!  One day when we were walking up to pick, a solid 15min hike, and he was telling us how he uses his dogs for goat hunting.  They trap the goat on a rock and by instict it will just stay there, then he throws a rope over it like a leash.  By amazing coinsidence just as he finished explaining, a herd of wild goats went running by.  He whistled at the dogs and pointed and they were off.  He threw is stuff down and followed close behind.  They all ran over a hill so we couldn´t see.  Within 3 minutes Tolo came walking back walking/dragging a live goat by its front legs.  He put a leash on it and tied it to a tree.  Later it was put in a pen with a few others where it will be kept until it is needed for meat.

After a couple days off, again just exploring the area on foot, it was Thanksgiving.  It was really nice to be in an American house so we could celebrate!  Liz had family come in and in total there were 18 people for dinner!  Lisa and I had a lot of fun cooking a good chunk of the dinner.  We cooked the turkey in a wood fire oven and it was delicious.  The next day was an even bigger party for the Tafona. The house has an old olive press run by a horse and once a year they have a big party and do a tradional press. The first step was cleaning all the machinery with vinegar.

Step 2: Tolo sorting the olives from the leaves

Step 3: A horse pulls this stone in a circle to crush the olives

Step 4: Put the "Tapanade" into baskets

Step 5: Stack the baskets in the press and add boiling water

Step 6: Press the baskets

Step 7: The oil seeps out along with juices and water.  It flows into a tank and seperates over time.

After our big finale press we were ready to hit the road again!