Stop Over

Finished work, oh what a feeling! On route back to Southeast Asia I had a stop over in Brisbane catching up with family and friends, reuniting with Megan, seeing Luke... Plus having a day at the football.

No day at the football is complete without some footy food. We indulged in a chicko roll, hot chips, hot dog and of course the good old Aussie Pie. Just like I remember it fatty, crumbly pastry with chunks of some kind of meat and thick sauce combining the inners, what a treat.

Megan and I were lucky enough to be in town for a fair trade fashion show where fibres and textiles were on display from various undeveloped nations. Local designers are proud to showcase these resources and nobody is taken advantage of in the production of items.

We caught up with Luke who is now working in Noosa (Australia), no doubt enjoying the sun, surf n turf!

But the time has come to get back to southeast asia for the cost of living in Australia is killing me........................

Wild Foods

The small town of Hokitika is host to an outrageous food festival that has been up and running for 17yrs. Locals and foreigners alike come from miles around to take part in the festivities. Over the years it seems the food has tamed, but you can still get your laughing gear around some wildfoods......

The festival was held on March 10 (2007) and seems always to be around this time from year to year. Each year is themed differently for culinary purposes and fancy dress. This year was a French theme, ooh ooh ooh say it frenchie, chowder! Do you think I found any, NO!

People were dressed in the traditional red scarf, stripped shirt, white pants and beret, the more outlandish took the Where's Wally approach. It's not just restricted to themed dress up however, there were clowns, sheep, devils and my favourite: (start wearing purple,wearing purple for me now Jada -see LAM friends) dressed all in purple, occasioanlly blowing the rickshaw horn, the number 1 jimmer, dazzled!

That sort of sets the scene now lets get to the food.

Hu Hu Grubs; a big attraction, available cooked or raw, they are a small native grub that tastes like hazelnut. Funny the way so far along my travels I have indulged in one grub or another, its seems every country has a worm they are proud to eat.

Pickled Fish Eye Sushi; a pink coloured eye of a large fish (maybe snapper or gropper) was placed on a sushi roll, wasabi and soy was your choice. TRUELY HORRID!

Paua Paddy; a flour, egg and possibly potato batter with paua folded thru was pipped onto a BBQ. It looked like a black pancake and tasted of saltwater and mushroom. Try as I did , I couldn't get the secret recipe out of the chef.

Smoked Boar & Mussel Skewers; possibly the nicest thing I ate all day. New Zealand's beautiful large green lip mussels, suprisingly tender for their size matched well with the slight gaminess of the boar and the subtle smokey flavour.

Horse Burger; I felt like I was eating PAL (dog food)!

Bull Tail Curry; tender pieces of meat with a more robust flavour than ox tail, was cooked roganjosh style, YUMMIE!

Possum Jerkie; a little under dried for my liking and quite a non-descript flavour.

Possum Pie; "Possums are seen as a pest in New Zealand, destroying huge amounts of native forest. When you sample our pie you are helping save New Zealand forests." (Possum Pete, Wildfoods Festival,2007) Possum pie is produced in Pukekura, population 2.
Unfortunately, I did not do my part.

Cow Utter; utterly weird! Rubbery,fatty bite size that tasted of nothing for a few seconds then an over powering unpasturized, off-milk flavour hit and lingered.

I also indulged in some specialised drinks from Fiji; Karva: tongue numbing and Fire Water: reminded me of Malibu rum.

In all, it's a great festival that the everybody really gets involved in. Don't miss the 100+ bonfires on the beach Friday and Saturday nights, in fact some people only come to the festival for interaction between fires.

Character pool!

I met plenty of people from all over the world during my time in New Zealand. I lived and worked with a German, an Alaskian, a Canadian, two Swedes, two Dutch, an Australian and of course a few New Zealanders. As usual the German was the dodgiest (joke)!

Hasst pub was a great spot to mingle with the locals, my favourite became a 74yrs young, electrician by trade, now whitebaiter 'CUZ'. He was always up for a chat about his younger days, rhubarb chutney and of course whitebaiting.

Cuz originally comes from Dunedin, he arrived in Hasst 16 years ago for a job. On completion of this job he planned to return to Dunedin, however an electrical storm hit the region blocking roads and making travel unsafe. He was called in to do some repairs about the town and has been there ever since.

He considers himself a bit of a homebody, infact he has only been to the North Island once and never even dreamt of going overseas. Cuz can be found on any fine afternoon, standing at the bar having a quiet ale.

Oh Canada: I had the pleasue of becoming friends with a crazy country Canadian girl -Jada- who cycles 30 to 40 km on hazardous mountain roads, for fun. Making the most of every opportunity and living life to the fullest is what she is about. I watched Jada go from helping with guided walks, waitressing and general hand, to assistant manager of a wilderness lodge in a few short months. Always helpful, happy and generally a pleasure to be around must have helped, hey!

Day by day monotony was broken by gifts from India from Jada's friend Dave. Who does that? Send random gifts in the mail from distant lands, just for fun. Dave, what a guy! It was like Christmas everytime a package came. Once a rickshaw (bike) horn made of copper arrived, these are no longer made in India. Man, did we get some milage out of blowing that in the silence of the wilderness. BAR POO BAR POO!

Tramping

Getting around on foot is the best way to experience and appreciate the true beauty of New Zealand. Tramping is a term I'd never heard of prior to living in New Zealand, this is what they call hiking for days on end.

Day long walks are common on just about every main road on the south island. Walks can be found that take upto 4-5 days, cabins are located on these trails and reported to be a great social environment after a long hard day of solitude. A bunk is supplied for a small fee but food is your own responsibility.

Around Hasst there are some beautiful trails that lead to hot pools, waterfalls and beaches. If these options don't tickle your fancy there are plenty of mountains to hike up to excape from it all and enjoy the view.

Warning: A huge trend in New Zealand at present, is to hire a campervan and drive the islands. This is a great way to get around independantly and many companies offer good deals. Please however, keep locals in mind when you are driving at 40km\h in an 100km\h zone, stopping on one way bridges to take photos and driving up the middle of winding mountainous roads. Yes, these things all happen regularly and the locals hate it!

42 Below & Beyond

Yeah the weather might be a bit chillier than southeast asia, but the beer and spirits are just as flowing. New Zealand is renowned for its world class beer, wine and quickly catching up with Russian and Scandinavian vodka via their 42 Below brand (also available in vanilla and blackcurrant).

As a beer drinker it was hard for me to go past many of the fine local brews on offer, in fact on only a couple of occasions did I try a fine pinot. 'Two Paddocks', made in the Otago region by Sam Niell's winery, is an example of the spicy, berry flavour of the region.

Living on the south island not too far from Dunedin exposed me to 'SPEIGHT'S; darker than my usual choice of beer but a flavour I soon became accustomed to. Possibly a working man or woman's beer with bitter sweet full bodied flavour. Brewed in Dunedin and great value priced at $33 NZ a carton (24 beers).

Other local beers worth a mention include: Montigues: different flavoured beer for different seasons, eg: Summer (light and fruity), Winter (heavier and creamy), as well as Pilsner, Tui and Mac's Gold.

When I was looking for something harder vodka was my choice. 42 Below was mind bending, no bitter, harsh alcohol swallow, just clean, crisp and smooth. Suprisingly cheap at just $30 NZ for a litre bottle.

There is something about the alcohol in New Zealand, it could be the beautiful fresh clean mountain water giving purity to beverages. The fresh air getting to your head, or the beauty of the environment, whatever, the hangovers are never as horrific here as they are in southeast asia and beyond.

Greenstone

Sure like most towns and cities around the world, there are weekend markets selling trinkets and food stuffs, but if you are in the market for jewels, New Zealand has it's own semi-precious stone, GREENSTONE. It is a water stone that locals believe should not be purchased...

The thrill of a good piece of greenstone comes from either finding it or having somebody give it to you.

A beautiful stone both hard and tough, its lustre improves with age, reputedly as a result of being worn next to the skin. Maoris once used it to make weapons and prized it for its properties of beauty and strength. Many families hand down pieces for generations.

New Zealand greenstone is composed of either nephrite or bowenite, whereas the term jade is restricted to nephrite and another distinct mineral -jadeite- which is not found in New Zealand.

On the south island's west coast there are many pockets where greenstone can be found, if you are patient and look hard enough. Around Jackson Bay is a good spot, getting a locals tip is your best bet!

HAPPY HUNTING!

The greenstone pendant shown, was a gift from a young fisherman whom I had the pleasure to meet over a drink or two or three. He found and polished the stone with his own hands.

Thanks Joel, Megan loves it!

Let's Go Fishing!

The freshwater rivers in New Zealand are a wash with tastie treats. Trout the size of salmon live in abundant numbers. The river mouth is a local tip if you are in search of the BIG ONE.

Warning: a fishing permit is required if fishing in New Zealand.

The Whitebait season runs from April til October, this is a buisy time for many local fishermen (whitebaiters). Many make their yearly wage from the season, fetching upto $120 NZ a kilo for the tiny translucent (baby) fish.

Locals own or lease shacks (often a 3m by 3m fibro box) along river banks. So proud are some, of their role as whitebaiters in the community, shacks have been handed down from generation to generation.

The job of the fisherman is to drop a runway (a wooden L shaped frame lined by a net) into the river, sometimes waiting hours for a good haul. The runway works by trapping the tiny fish as they pool in hundreds and thousands as they get gushed up river systems, making fishing on the incoming tide optimal. Often a fisherman may spend upto 8hrs alone in a shack waiting for a full net, emptying the catch and redropping the runway.

New Zealand whitebait is sold as a delicacy all around the world, simple preparation is the key :

Some people like to flour and deep fry the tiny fish serving with aioli and lemon.

Locals in Hasst prefer to whisk up egg, add the fish and pan fry, calling it a whitebait fritter.

I however think the best result comes from a 1 minute fry in a hot pan with a little salt, a squeeze of lemon juice to finish and served on a plate with some fresh rocquette leaves and mayonaise. DELlCIOUS!