Kaikoura, Part 1

Saturday, 16 April, 2011
Nelson, NZ

In January of 2007, my good friend Provo and I stopped in Kaikoura (kai-KOHR-ah) on our way from Picton to Lake Tekapo, but we were only there long enough to hit the public toilets, grab a coffee, and see how crowded the place was with tourists. This time, Matt and I had a nice leisurely visit and got to know Kaikoura and the surrounding environs pretty well in our few days there, and enjoy the cozy, sleepy little seaside town that is Kaikoura in the off season.

The coastline and bays around Kaikoura provide a refuge for all kinds of marine life, and thus it is New Zealand's center for whale watching and swimming with seals and dolphins, as well as boasting a number of great surf spots. All of these things, and the need to get some exploration in, led us to spend most of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday seeing the sights and taking in the beautiful scenery around Kaikoura. It's about a four hour drive down the east coast from Nelson, and we had some gorgeous scenery along the way, trees covered in yellow and red leaves, the beautiful colors of fall, which we don't have many of in Nelson, due to our warm little microclimate.

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 Both above photos: beautiful colors on the road between Nelson and Blenheim. 

 It had never occurred to me that grapevines would turn yellow in the fall, until we hit the vineyards around Blenheim! Gorgeous, no?

 A look at a stretch of Highway 6 between here and Blenheim. Note the Radiata Pine plantation on the hill. 

In the settlement of Kekerengu, we stopped for a break at The Store (which comprises the entire settlement), a cool seaside establishment with very unique construction. Neat fireplace!

We left Nelson around 10:30 on Wednesday morning, and hit the coast north of Kaikoura about three hours later. We had absolutely gorgeous weather until we hit the winding highway through the mountains on the way home yesterday, which was fine with us! Mostly, we had beautifully sunny days to enjoy the beaches and the views, with just that little chilly bite in the fall air. North of Kaikoura, the rocky coast is home to a number of fur seal colonies, with our furry friends sunning themselves on rocks right up to the edge of the highway. There are a number of places to pull off and say hello to them, with the biggest colony being at Ohau Point. There were hundreds of seals all over the rocks, this year's pups playing in tidepools, and a few seals out in the water, surfing down the massive breakers that were rolling in. It was really cool to stand right at the side of the road and see such huge numbers of animals, who could care less that the highway is right there! 

 All of those dark spots are seals!

Driving south, we stopped to investigate a couple of potential surf spots, enjoying the blue, blue ocean and the great scenery, steep Oregon-y headlands with the snowcapped Seaward Kaikoura Range rising up behind.

We found the perfect waves at a spot called Maungamaunu (or somesuch- there are about four different spellings for it), a point break right off the highway about 15km north of town. With a chilly wind blowing and only a thin wetsuit, I decided not to get in, but Matt paddled out and ended up doing some of the best surfing of his life, with some of the longest rides in the history of Matt. This wave is incredible- they pull around the point and keep breaking perfectly all the way to the inside of the bay, 150 metres or more. 

 Matt waiting for a wave. 

 The perfect point break. 

The scenery wasn't bad either :) 

I entertained myself on the beach, writing and taking photos, and hunting for paua shells. Paua (POW-ah) are big clams whose shells have a gorgeous iridescent lining. We had only found a couple small shells in our entire time in New Zealand, although they are incredible common. This beach rewarded me with huge numbers, mostly just for the enjoyment of finding them scattered every few feet along the beach! 

 I found this shell with the meat still in it. Yes, Paua are black! A fact that greatly surprised Matt and I the first time we had paua fritters!

 With the small camera for scale. 

Treasure. 

The beach was also littered with crayfish shells. Kaikoura means "to eat crayfish," with "kai" being the Maori word for "food" or "eat." The Kaikoura coast is home to an abundance of this kiwi delicacy, but we did not partake because they go for $70-90 a plate!

After Matt's epic surf (he got so many amazing rides, and on such a perfect mellow wave that he was able to do some fancy turns and things that added to the stoke), we headed for a free DOC campsite up the Puhi Puhi River, about 10 km north of Kaikoura. The valley and its braided river were stunningly beautiful, full of yellow leaves, mist, and a couple very old homesteads. The campground sat right below the snowy mountains, and it got COLD that night! We were happy to have our long underwear and lots of layers while we cooked up some sausages and potatoes for dinner, and a quick cup of tea before climbing into the "bed cave." 

 Driving up the valley. 

The view from our campsite. 

A typical New Zealand campground.

On Thursday morning, we headed into Kaikoura and enjoyed wandering around the tiny downtown strip and the neighboring rock beach. Kaikoura only has a population of about 4,000, but overflows with tourists in the high season. The whole economy is built around the tourism industry, centering on whale watching, fishing charters, kayaking, and seal/dolphin swims. We saw plenty of backpackers while we were there, but ultimately it was nice to enjoy the feel of a tourist town in its down time, with local farmers hanging out on the sidewalks and a very peaceful, friendly feel to the place. We really enjoyed walking around, poking about in the shops and galleries, and soaking up the sunshine beside the very calm bay (the town of Kaikoura is built at the foot of a very small peninsula, which provides the sheltered area that draws in so much marine life).

 Matt skipping stones. 

 Beautifully carved clock tower.

Kaikoura business district with the Seaward Range behind.

I think I'll leave it at that for tonight, as it's getting a bit lengthy. Thanks for reading, and tune in for Part 2 tomorrow or the next day!

Back from Kaikoura

Friday, April 15, 2011

Just a quick "we're still alive" post to say that we made it safely back to Nelson after three awesome days down the coast in and around Kaikoura. Our escapades included finding some great surf, seeing some amazing scenery, getting up close and personal with a whole posse of fur seals, and coming home less several books (both of ours), one wetsuit (Matt's) and one surfboard (mine), and several hundred dollars the richer as we begin to sell our stuff  in preparation for coming home.

I'll have a full account of our shenanigans, complete with lots of photos, posted tomorrow night.

A Day Out

Sunday, April 10th, 2011
Nelson

Yesterday was the first Saturday that Matt and I have had off together since we arrived in Nelson, and we took advantage of the timing and visited the Saturday Market, perusing stalls and talking to the vendors, who are all incredible characters, and stocking up on gifts to bring home next month (next month!!). It was a nice warm day, and while I was more interested in looking at the handicrafts, Matt got sucked into a stall selling used old-fashioned hand tools, and came away with a gorgeous handplane for his surfboard shaping and other woodworking. After the market, we treated ourselves to a late lunch at a cafe on the market square called Yaza! and found it to be delightful. They serve Pomeroy's coffee, which is a local roasting company, and I just had to take a picture of our preferred drinks (which were some of the best coffee I've tasted in awhile):

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A flat white (mine) and a mocha (Matt's), with the handplane in the background :)

And I thought some of you might enjoy a photo of some classic (upscale) Kiwi cafe food:

On the left is my roasted pumpkin calzone with spinach, feta and red capsicum, and on the left is Matt's bacon, red onion and roasted kumara pizza. Both were served with typical Kiwi condiments: aioli, chutney (in this case made with carmelised onion and mustard), and relish (tomato). It was all fantastic. And I should add, ALL food in NZ is eaten with a knife and fork (British style), which I have entirely adopted by now.

We didn't make it back to the market in time to hit the produce stalls, so we went to the fruit and veg mart near our work, where we spent $12 and came away with all of this:

Nice haul, eh? The white pumpkin is very typical of New Zealand, and it's hard to come by any other kind, but that's okay, because we're crazy about them! It's what we used in our pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving, and they are so delicious and creamy when roasted. 

I have another day off today (and another tomorrow, we're down to working just a few days each week, which has both advantages and disadvantages) and have kept myself busy working on some top-secret craft projects (the travel sewing kit I brought with me has definitely come in handy) and also baking a coffee cake and another batch of bread. This time I used this bread recipe from Down to Earth, with wonderful results. With significantly less yeast than the recipe I have been using, I got almost twice as much bread out of this one, so I don't think I'm going back! It also came out lighter and fluffier, and held its shape better, which is good because I don't have any loaf pans here!

I'm still using the same seed mix I got a few weeks ago, of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries. Rhonda's trick of wetting the loaf slightly and rolling in the seeds before baking worked a treat!

Matt and I both work on Tuesday, and then we both have the next three days off, so we're going to get out of town and head over to Kaikoura (kai-KOHR-uh) for a couple days to hopefully get some surf, and just see some new territory. We filled up Lucy's gas tank yesterday for the first time in about 5 weeks, which feels really great, especially with the price of petrol over here. The last time we filled the tank was in Blenheim, before we drove up to Spray Point Station. Since then, the only driving we've done was from the station to Nelson, and a couple trips to the supermarket. Those bikes are definitely paying for themselves. 

I managed to snap some pictures of the changing leaves yesterday, as evidence that the season is well on its way to winter:

Further evidence is found in the fact that it's getting dark around 6 pm now, since we moved the clocks back a week ago. This also means that with the clocks moved forward back home, we're back on the 5 hour (and a day) time difference again, up from the 3 hour difference we've been operating on for the last six months. This is also why I got up at 4:45 AM today to Skype with my brother and my parents at 10 AM their time! It was a wonderful taste of home, even if it feels like a bit of a dream now, since I went back to bed after we hung up. 

Hopefully my next post will have some new travel stories and photos as we head down the coast to Kaikoura, and until then, enjoy whatever season you might happen to be residing in on your respective ends of the earth!

Rainy Days and Cooking Adventures

Wednesday, 6th April, 2011
Nelson, NZ

I had two days off in a row on Monday and Tuesday, and Matt had Monday off too. While originally we had hoped to go in search of some surf, a cold autumn-y gale blew in off the Strait, and it poured rain all day and the wind buffeted the house rather spectacularly until evening- there's no doubt that the change in seasons is making itself known. We spent a cozy day inside, bundled up and drinking back-to-back cups of tea, reading, baking, and getting to know our housemate Jamie, who is home a lot while she tries to find work. She's really fun to talk to, and it's nice to share thoughts with another American, and see what her perspectives are on New Zealand, as she's been over here several different times.

We made our weekly batch of bread, and it's so nice that it's become habit now. While we are here, we have the luxury of a lot of free time when we're not working, but we're not keen to spend on much besides groceries and the occasional treat, so we've been filling our time by learning new recipes and skills, and it's been great. Matt is throwing himself into learning more cooking skills, and quickly mastered kneading and judging the right consistency of the bread dough. He's a much more precise cook than I am, and when it comes to bread, that really pays off. It was so nice to have fresh bread baking on a cold fall day that I was inspired to go one step further, and made a batch of cinnamon rolls! They were surprisingly easy, and I was incredibly pleased with the result, as well as the recipe, which I found in a baking cookbook from the library.

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Just to make sure the oven got a proper workout, we made lasagna for our rainy day dinner, including a tomato sauce made from scratch, after watching a Masterchef Masterclass a couple weeks ago and realizing how easy it is. It's SO worth it, the taste is amazing and the smell of it cooking beats all. Here's a very basic version of the recipe (proportions are a matter of taste, really, so mess around with it and come up with what works for you):
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Easy Tomato Sauce

Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a skillet. Add chopped onions and garlic, and cook until the onions start to go transparent. There should be enough oil in the pan that they are cooking in the oil, not on top of it.

Add a couple cups of diced tomatoes. Fresh is always best (I like to take the skins off, for texture reasons), but canned or tinned tomatoes will work fine. Matt and I decided to beef up the sauce by adding some more vegetables, so we put in finely chopped carrots and sweet red pepper as well.

Let everything cook down for awhile, it should be bubbling steadily and have enough oil in it that you can see the olive oil in the sauce. After a few minutes, add a handful or two of chopped fresh herbs. Basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, tarragon, marjoram, rosemary, there are lots of options. Basil and oregano are most crucial to a true Italian flavor, but lots of things taste great in the sauce. It will smell amazing as the herbs cook into the sauce.

That's pretty much it! Just let it cook down until it becomes nice and saucy, and make sure to salt it well, although you won't need too much with all the other flavors in there. Use on pizza, in lasagna, or served on pasta. You can also fry up some ground beef (mince) and add it to the tomatos for a nice meaty sauce. You can also puree the sauce (sans meat) for a smoother texture.

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To round off the kitchen goodness of late, I came home from work tonight to find this multi-talented man of mine in the kitchen mixing up bacon, spinach, cheese and red capsicum (sweet pepper) scones for dinner. They were superb, deliciously savory and a joy to eat. He sauteed all the savory ingredients together before adding them to a standard cheese scone recipe, and they came out great. We ate them with simple steamed veggies from the freezer.

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We're down to working only 20 or so hours per week now, and spending most of our free time at home, to avoid spending money, so cooking is providing a lot of our entertainment, as is reading library books and blogs and taking in as much information as we can about homemaking, chickens, saving and managing money, and other skills we hope to put to use as we restart our lives back in Portland this summer. It's an interesting change from all the traveling and roadtripping we've done on the North Island, to living such a settled, routine-filled life here, not leaving town, barely driving, and thinking so much about our return home. This is a time of major planning and information intake for us, as we launch ourselves into the reverse of all the work it took us to get here; now we have a lot of work to do in order to get home; belongings to sell, priorities to set, and last travel plans to be made. In some ways we've been struggling with feeling a bit stuck, like if we were home right now, we'd be able to do more with our time, but I'm also realizing that there is such value in not having every part of our trip be awesome and adventure filled. This way I know that we had a true life experience in this country, living and working and spending money and making money, cutting corners and forgoing things we might want, occasionally splurging on something special--- all things we would do at home. We're truly living life here, not just traveling and sightseeing. As stir-crazy and unexotic as that feels sometimes, I believe it's a very good thing that our entire trip hasn't been a touristy, lackadaisical one where we ignore the realities of life and don't recognize that this country is not just a destination, but a regular country and homeland where people work and live and go about everyday activities. It's not all tropical beaches and humid, starry nights on the road without care or responsibility, and it's good that we know that.

Autumn Arrives in Nelson

Saturday, 2nd April, 2011
Nelson, New Zealand

Life goes on comfortably here at the "top of the south," where in just the last four or five days, fall has descended on us. The nights are cold, and early morning bike rides to work require gloves, even on the sunniest of days. The poplars and maples are turning yellow, and the wind coming in off the sea has a distinctly autumn-y crispness to it. This is one of the last places in the country to feel the change in the seasons, but with the arrival of April (the equivalent of October back home), there is no denying that it is truly autumn (which is, incidentally, my favorite season. Hurrah!)

Work continues to be mostly enjoyable, with the occasional insanely busy day or whackadoo customer thrown in just to keep things exciting. We are enjoying getting to know our coworkers, and have found them all to be awesome people. We have been hanging out quite a bit with Kathryn, who is from Scotland and a kindred spirit, and spent Wednesday evening with her and a big group of British travelers at perhaps my favorite pub that I have been to, ever- The Free House. A converted tiny Anglican church, the place is light, bright, happy, and has giant sculpted copper cockroaches all over one wall, a roaring fire in the woodstove, and one of the best Irish jam sessions I've ever heard playing in the corner.

We've also been invited by our manager, who is a totally rad Canadian ex-pat, to join him and several friends at Golden Bay for Easter weekend, where they are renting a big house out in the bush and planning to explore a local cavern system. He made sure we got time off for Easter weekend, including one paid day off, so we may very well take him up on the invitation, as we've had about a million people recommend we see Golden Bay before we leave NZ.

My body has finally adjusted to cycling again, after six months of not being on a bike. I still miss Sheila, my beat-to-hell but familiar road bike, but am enjoying the bike commute nonetheless. We have driven the car once in the past two weeks, which I think is a pretty good accomplishment. The only disadvantage of our two-wheeled commute is the terrain. Our ride to is almost entirely downhill on the way to work, which means it is almost entirely uphill on the way home. It takes us 15 minutes going to town, and around 30 minutes coming home, due to the slightly uphill grade of the bike path, and then the massive and steep hill that we live on, which no sane person could ride all the way up, even on a mountain bike, and so necessitates walking.

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 From Tahuna Beach; the hill in the background with houses all over it is where we live.

A highlight of our week was celebrating our first paycheck on Wednesday by going out for-- wait for it--MEXICAN FOOD! And also an Indian Buffet. The restaurant is called Mumbai Mexico, run by an Indian family, and advertised entirely by word of mouth. An unlikely cultural combination, but it was exceedingly well done. The buffet was incredibly good, but the chicken and spinach enchiladas (and a Mojito) totally made our week, and were astoundingly authentic. I think I have sufficiently emphasized on this blog how rare Mexican food is in this country, so you can appreciate how grateful we were to find some, finally! (To highlight the ignorance in this country of all things Mexican: we watched a show on the telly about a kid from the Far North going to the national spelling bee, and one of the words he was given was "Chipotle," and the judge pronounced it "cha-pot-il." Sigh.)

Matt and I finally had a day off together on Thursday and we made the most of it. After sleeping in and having a breakfast of bacon, pancakes and coffee, we headed out to run several errands, and Matt also signed up for a library card! The library is right across the street from our work, so it is very handy and we came home loaded down with woodworking and animal husbandry books (Matt) and cookbooks (Me). We also finally got down to the beach! It was a beautiful day, and we found our way down to the beach at Tahunanui, which we can see from our living room windows. It was chilly in the late afternoon, but wonderful to walk barefoot in the sand again, smell the saltwater, and admire the beautiful light on the water. It had been far, far to long since we'd had any quality time on the beach.

Mostly we've settled into life here, but are getting a little stir-crazy after being itinerant for so long, and are really starting to look forward to coming home. Our experience here is and has been amazing, but we have learned so much and expanded so much in our views and knowledge that we are getting really excited to come home and re-start our life there and put all of these things into action. While we are still here, though, we are taking advantage of our time by adding to our routine things like baking bread, which we've been doing regularly, with the odd chocolate cake thrown in alongside, and learning more about cooking, as that's one thing we have the resources to here. While I struggle with how much TV we end up watching here, one benefit has been that we have become religious followers of Masterchef New Zealand and Masterchef Masterclass, and are already reveling in how much better pasta is when cooked in very salty water, and how easy it actually is to make your own tomato sauce for pizza, and similar things.

The other news of late is that we have two new housemates, Jamie and Tom, who just moved into Nickola's other spare room. Tom is a Kiwi and Jamie is from California, and although we haven't gotten to know them terribly well yet, they seem really cool, and it's fun to have them around.

It's time for me to get this posted and move on to other things, but I thought I'd add in one last cultural note before I go:

In spite of six months' presence in New Zealand, until last night Matt and I still hadn't entirely figured out what was meant by the terms "Manchester" and "Whiteware." These phrases are not brand names but are used constantly in commercials and on signage in stores (as in, "50% off all Manchester"), but they always seemed a bit generic so we never completely caught on. I finally remembered to ask Nickola for a translation, and it turns out that Manchester refers to linen generally (towels, sheets, duvets, etc.) and Whiteware means appliances- washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, the whole bit. So we were right about the generic thing, at least. I can see where the logic for calling appliances Whiteware comes from, but no one seems to know why linens are referred to collectively as Manchester.

Cultural Quirks and Things I Miss

Monday, 28th March, 2011
Nelson, New Zealand

With April looming up in the headlights and just under two months left in New Zealand, I think it is time once again to reflect on some of the cultural differences we've experienced/are experiencing over here, and to take note of some things we distinctly miss about home. From the profound to the random, we have made note of a variety of distinctions in culture and way of life, and I'd like to share them with you all here.

**Before I begin, let me give a disclaimer here. The things I'm going to talk about are based purely on my own and Matt's observations and experiences in New Zealand, and may not necessarily be representative of the entire country or culture. Our observations may also be intertwined with our opinions, and in comparison to how we have experienced things back home in the states, which may also not be entirely representative of American culture. Some of these issues are quite sensitive, and I don't want anyone to think that we have an ill opinion of either New Zealand or America because of them; these are just differences we've noticed, that seem worth sharing and reflecting on. We have had an amazing experience here in this country, and we also love and miss our home; we are not trying to say that one is any better than the other; there are good and bad aspects to both cultures, so please just keep that in mind.

So here we go:

• I'll dive into one of the heavier issues first: parenting style. In general, we have noticed a difference in Kiwi attitudes towards parenting, versus what we are accustomed to in the U.S. In New Zealand, we notice that parents tend to give children more responsibility at a younger age, that they become more self sufficient and are not catered to as much as most American children we know. While I think there is a bit of a protective attitude in the U.S. of constantly checking up on your child and making sure they never do anything that might get them hurt (which is a good thing), what we've seen in NZ is that children are brought up to entertain themselves, get what they need for themselves (within reason), and learn by getting themselves into sticky situations and learning the consequences for themselves (which is also a good thing). We have also noticed a lack of discipline/consequences when watching parenting just in stores, in parks, on the beaches, etc, compared to what I have observed back home. Again this is purely our observations, but we've seen far more of parents here giving in to their children to keep them quiet, rather than setting boundaries and expectations and following up on them, or else just letting a child cry or tantrum until they get over it, and not really address the issue at all. I don't want to express an opinion on this, because I'm not totally sure how I feel about it, and also because it seems to go hand-in-hand with the cruizy, laidback culture in general, and the vast majority of Kiwi children still grow up quite well-adjusted, healthy, and well loved. 

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 Wharenui on a Marae in Rotorua

• The attribute of not setting expectations is something we have experienced several times ourselves while in New Zealand, which is what makes me think it's just a part of the culture. I'm such a planner and scheduler that it's something I have a hard time with, but I do appreciate the easygoingness of it as well. From our Workaway experience on the Coromandel to goat-hunting in Taranaki, we have had the experience of being invited to do something, and having the actual activity be entirely different from what was suggested in the first place. "A few beers on the beach" turns into an all-night party, with no warning that you might need warm clothes, something to sleep in, and a sober ride home. "Come to our house and then we'll go to a friend's place up the road" can mean a 45-minute drive and then backtracking half an hour back to the friend's house, when you could have just met there in the first place. We've also run into this type of phenomenon while job-searching, countless times. "Yes, we're hiring, leave us your c.v. and we'll call you next week" has, almost exclusively, turned out to mean "We think we'll hire someone this summer, but we don't know when and for what hours, and by the time we've figured it out two months from now, you'll be leaving town anyway."  I know that sounds harsh, but it's been an incredibly frustrating aspect of the culture for us. Laidback is awesome, but especially when it comes to job searching, and also our own safety, it gets old pretty quickly. Given more time, I'm sure we could get used to it, but in such a short amount of time it's been very hard to secure work. There's a very straightforward method and set of expectations to job searching in the states, and it's been difficult to cope with the differences here, and so many times we have been told that we will have work or be contacted soon, only to be let down. Kiwis in general seem to have a hard time naming a distinct time, place, and expectations for anything. The answer to "What time should we get up tomorrow?" is usually "Oh, I'll just knock on your door," and "Just come over later" seems to be the name of the game for everything else. 

 A typical New Zealand Villa/Victorian style house, New Plymouth.

• Racism. Believe me, I know there is racism in the U.S., clearly we have a massive history of it, and I am not usually directly exposed to what is left of it nowadays. But I have to say, in the U.S., it is widely culturally unacceptable to do or say anything remotely racist. I don't mean to say it doesn't happen; I am very aware that it does occur through many areas of our culture, but in general if you were to say something racist or culturally derogatory in a public place or social gathering in the states, especially to a stranger, there would be a massive uproar immediately. That said, while racism is clearly discouraged in New Zealand, and this country is, generally, doing a far better job than the U.S. of integrating cultures while preserving and protecting important cultural differences, we see and hear derogatory comments all the time, without comment or reaction from bystanders. I can't tell you how many times we've heard about "those f*&%ing Maoris" from people we've just met, and Matt observed a customer at a petrol station comment to her children about "those stupid f&%#ing Indians" in front of the Indian station attendant. That said, comments in the reverse direction occur as well; Lyn told us about Maori students at her school calling their white teachers "f&**ing Pakeha" to their faces. While it's painful and awful that there is still racism in the U.S., I suppose we are somewhat protected from seeing it, which may be a bad thing, as it makes it easier to ignore. Here in New Zealand, we see expressions of it all the time, so we are all too aware that it is occurring. What is bizarre to us is that it seems so much more...I don't want to say acceptable, because it's not, and condoned isn't really the right word either, but that's the best I can come up with. All of that aside, it has been amazing to see, for the most part, two distinctly different cultures existing side by side, while mingling and, mostly, being very accepting of the other. 

 Mural in Kaitaia

• Patriarchy. Another sensitive subject, and another cultural aspect which, while not expressed overtly, persists nonetheless. New Zealand, while having some of the most progressive policies in the world and being the first country to give women the right to vote (in 1893), still suffers from a fairly heavy degree of male-dominated culture. Keep in mind, this is just our observations, but I'll give you some examples. We've been to several places advertising items that come in "Small" and "Man-sized" versions. Multiple ads on TV show women unable to do some task, and needing a man's help. A particularly good case of this was a commercial for a bicycle tow-line, advertised along the lines of this: "Is she having trouble getting up that hill? Use your muscle power to help her out!" Every ad for beer, barbecues, or a building supply store has some allusion to the fact that things are only for men, and always show the men being in control and the women in the background taking care of the kids or cleaning the house. Lovely. I know these kind of things are present in the states as well, but I've never seen such a massive barrage of this kind of propaganda, all trying to prove that certain things are just for men to do, and certain things are just for women to do. I've also never heard or seen so much support for "Blue is a boy's color, and pink is a girl's color." At work, I have had several parents tell me that they can't buy a red jacket for their boy, because it's too much like pink, and they don't want their boy wearing pink. I can't say anything at work, but I can't help but express an opinion here: First of all, get over it already, and take the chance to educate your children that any color they like is fine, and that pink can be a boy's color if that boy likes pink. And second of all, red is too close to pink? I'm sorry, but it's an entirely different color. Seriously.

 Haka at Waitangi

Ok, enough of the big stuff. Now we're down to the random, fun differences. 

• Postcodes. I find this one kind of funny, but it really is an interesting difference. This came up because we ask every customer at the store for their postcode, to find out where our customers are coming from. I was flabbergasted to find out that the vast majority of our customers, and, apparently, Kiwis in general, don't know their own postcode! I finally asked about it, and it turns out that until just a couple years ago, postcodes weren't even used in most of New Zealand. Nelson only had one postcode until about two years ago, so you just wrote the street address, and "Nelson," and maybe the suburb if you wanted to get fancy. Most people still don't even use their postcode except for official business, and because there are so few people in the country and so few large cities, mail will get to you without the postcode. I think it's kind of awesome, but it's a completely foreign concept to me, because in the states the postcode (we call it a Zip Code, and it's five digits, as opposed to NZ's four) is an integral part of your address, and often mail will be returned if it doesn't have a zip code on it. In cities, the Zip Code narrows you down to about a 30-block area of town, if not smaller. In rural communities, there is one zip code for every town with a post office, which includes the surrounding area. The zip codes go basically in order of settlement, meaning that the east coast, and New England in particular, have the first postcodes, starting with 0, and most of the west coast has zip codes starting with 9. In New Zealand, the codes start in the north, with Auckland having the codes in the 1000s, working south- Nelson's are in the 7000s. 

• Vanity Plates. Personalized car license/registration plates are very popular in New Zealand. I swear sometimes that every other car we see on the highway has a vanity plate. I don't know why they are so popular, but they are certainly easier to come by and are way way more common than in that states.  

 Our Kiwi Christmas lunch.

• Some observations on food. New Zealand food is, in a nutshell, awesome. New Zealand is renowned for being very modern and innovative with food, while at the same time paying tribute to all the cultures that exist here, and to their membership in the commonwealth, i.e. lots of British influences. New Zealand gave the world chef Peter Gordon, as well as Simon Gault and the guys from Masterchef, and the fusion of cultures that goes on in New Zealand cuisine is evident everywhere we go. Seafood is a constant denominator here, with fish and chips topping the list of iconic Kiwi food. In an interesting twist, at least 80% of fish & chips shops also sell Chinese food. "Fish & Chips Chinese Takeaways" is probably the most common shopfront on any New Zealand street. Additionally, pretty much any restaurant you may go to, from Indian to Thai to Italian food, will also have Fish & Chips on the menu! Everyone here fishes, as you don't need a license to fish or collect shellfish on most coastal areas (this goes hand in hand with the hunting/gathering that is so common through all levels of society here). Prawns, scallops, whitebait, paua, mussels, pipi (tiny clams), oysters, snapper, tarakihi, hoki, gurnard, snapper, crayfish, and so many others, are fundamentals here, cooked by themselves, in stews, or as fritters. The famous Kiwi "barbie" or barbecue, is another wonderful thing- sausages, grilled courgette (zucchini), prawns, veggies, mushrooms, bacon (ham), streaky bacon (American bacon), everything can be cooked on the barbie. The traditional roast dinner is a step up from the British one, I would have to say- similar ingredients, but lighter, somehow. Roasted chicken or pork or lamb, mashed potatoes or kumara, peas, sausages, gravy, and usually a salad or fresh veg of some kind too. Some other distinctly Kiwi foods include pies (small, single-serving ones, in every flavor and ingredient combination imaginable), chutneys and relishes of all kinds, sweet chilli sauce (to which I am addicted), the famous Pavlova, the flat white (like a latte, but with more steamed milk), ice cream, tea biscuits (light, wafery or shortbready dunking cookies) and of course tea. Kiwis, from tough burly hunters to farmers to housewives to businessmen, are tea drinkers, making a cuppa numerous times each day. We have completely adopted this, and are also sold on the fact that not a single Kiwi establishment or home we have stayed in has used a stovetop tea kettle. Plug-in kettles (or jugs, as pitchers are called here) are the norm, and are far more speedy at heating the tea water than anything else. 

 Carved gateway at Ahipara School, Far North. 

That's all for the observations, but Matt and I have also slowly been compiling a list of things we regularly miss about home, most of which fall into the category of Random Items. Besides of course our family and friends and beautiful Portland generally, we miss:

• Mexican food. What I wouldn't give for a carne asada taco from a dive-y Portland taco truck!
• Cooking in cast iron. 
• A very general thing: having our own space and ownership of it, besides the van. 

Matt misses:

• Portland Beer! It's worth noting here that NZ beer is weaker than US beer, by a couple alcohol percentage points. 
• Woodworking

I miss:

• My oldest, most beat-up hooded sweatshirt. 
• My black leggings
• My garlic press
• Owning a teapot (not to be confused with a teakettle)
• My bike! Oh my bike. 
• Country music. Real American heartland country music. Not something I normally care too much about, but one of those things you miss after being totally deprived of it for over half a year. 
• Being able to just call up my family or friends when I feel like talking. Skype is wonderful, and email is nice, but top-ups and calling cards make it too expensive to do more than talk to my folks and brother once a month and call friends for a few minutes on important occasions.

Cathedral Cove, Coromandel Peninsula

So that's the list for now, as we look at what we'll miss and what we look forward to upon our homecoming. The more Matt and I have been thinking about going home, as that time approaches, the more I keep trying to remember what all we have in storage back in Portland, and failing. I know some general things- bike, clothes, kitchen stuff, but it's been long since I've seen any of it, and I've gotten so used to living off of so little, that it has all slipped my brain. It will be like opening one big Christmas present, as Matt said, when we empty our little storage unit sometime this summer. As it is, since September we've each lived off of a Rubbermaid bin's worth of clothes, and haven't allowed ourselves to buy anything that won't fit in the bin. We've each bought a few things since we got here, but ultimately we've each got about three pairs of pants/trousers, a couple pairs of shorts (or skirts, in my case), a few sets of long sleeves, 6 or 8 t-shirts/tank tops, a weeks' worth of underwear and socks, one dressy outfit, bathing suits, a pair of hiking boots, a pair of dress shoes, a pair of walking shoes, jandals, raincoats, long underwear, a warm hat and gloves, and a sunhat. There's a few other bits and bobs, to be sure, but that's pretty much it. I've definitely started to notice that the clothes I have are getting a bit baggy and worn out because they've been worn so much, but we're both really pleased with how well we packed, as we've used everything we brought and barely needed anything more.

That's enough reflections for now, it's time for me to make lunch and get to the rest of my day off!

Successful Bread, and Recipe!

March 26th, 2011
Nelson, New Zealand

I figured an actual recipe deserves a post of its own....

I baked a second batch of bread today, with far better success than my first attempt! I used a new recipe this time, a much more traditional one involving kneading and rising. I looked around the internet for a basic bread recipe, and then tweaked it in a few places, so here's my version:

Combine, in a large mixing bowl:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. honey (if you like a slightly sweeter bread, double this amount or use white sugar instead)
1 Tbsp. yeast granules

Whisk lightly with a fork, and then let this combination sit for about ten minutes. During this time the yeast should do its stuff, foaming up and bubbling, creating a head on top of the water.

Add:
1 pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. cooking oil or olive oil
Approx. 6 cups flour, one cup at a time.

I used 2 cups wholemeal flour, and about 4 cups of white flour. Add a little at a time, stirring and mixing all the while. When the mixture begins to come away easily from the sides of the bowl and combine without being totally sticky, you've added enough flour. I think I used a bit too much, because it was a bit thick and heavy to knead (it still came out great, though!). Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knead for about eight or so minutes, trying not to add too much flour to the dough. Knead by folding the dough on top of itself, giving it a quarter turn, then pushing it away from you with the heel of your hand. Repeat. When the dough has formed a cohesive, smooth ball and is no longer sticking, place it in a greased bowl, cover with a cloth, and set it somewhere relatively warm and out of the way of any draft. Let the dough rise (prove) for 1 to 2 hours. In this time it should (approximately) double in size. 

Punch down the dough, and work it for just a few seconds to pop the air bubbles in it. Don't work it too long, or the dough will become rubbery. Form into loaves or rolls, and place on greased baking sheets or in greased loaf pans. Cover again and let rise for another 45 minutes. After 35 minutes, preheat the oven to 350 F/177 C. Before you bake the loaves, slash the tops with a knife to prevent them from splitting (they will still taste great, this is a purely aesthetic touch). Bake for 25 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Let cool in the pans for a few minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

This recipe makes as much bread as is shown in this photo. This bread baked for just the right amount of time, but did not brown on top. Brushing the tops with egg would make for more toasty looking bread.

Enjoy! (And let me know your results, if you try this recipe!)