Live from New Zealand

1 Live from New Zealand 2013

[Please excuse the delay in getting this posted, as trying to write and manage pictures on our tablet has been more challenging than I anticipated. So as to keep moving forward I’m going to proceed with pictures in a new way, mostly with a link in each post, like above. Resizing and inserting has just proven too time consuming. Enjoy!]

Happy New Year! We’ve been traveling in and learning about New Zealand for the last 3 or so weeks, finding the country beautiful, very friendly, and easy to navigate. Our main problem now is there is so much we want to do!

My last quick post was to say we had arrived and all was well. We spent a great 10 days or so with Joanna, Heath, Kayla, Callum, and their animals on their 15 acre lifestyle block outside Ngaruawahia, close to Hamilton and about an hour south of Auckland. While there we fed the animals most days, chickens, cows, alpacas, sheep, and weeded most of their extensive flower garden beds. They had only moved to this property 3 months prior so were still hard at work with multiple projects including the daunting beds. We slowly made progress, then felt great when we were able to define the true garden border. Throughout the week we made our way around the yard, clearing out each bed as necessary and generating plenty of compost weeds. The first day we all planned to get in the pool after working to cool off, but before putting my togs (swimsuit) on I truly managed to fall in instead. Winner!

We also had the chance to take part in a few end-of-year school festivities, including their primary/intermediate school gala, a festival day with rides and a bouncy house, food and lollies for sale, and just general fun. We also stopped in on their school picnic, a fun field trip with swimming, kayaking, paddle boats, and gentle paint ball. It was fun to see all the Kiwi kids in action.

We learned a lot about the country and culture while with the McFarlane family – Kayla quizzed us on Kiwi words like chuffed (excited) and choice (cool) while Callum told us about eels and birds and was super industrious outside. Joanna and Heath were helpful in getting us acquainted with a cell phone, car search (we have learned that the hood is the bonnet and the trunk is the boot), and errands – Adam even bought a pair of jandals (flip-flops).

As summer was starting the animals were getting warmer so Adam helped to shear their alpacas and sheep. They weren’t the most beautiful creatures after finishing, but I’m betting they were cooler. We moved the fence for the cows each day to give them fresh grass, a trickier task since the hill they were on was quite steep, but it helped us get in shape. Some pesky cows managed to get out of the fence, but seemed to respond as we coaxed them back inside. This experience was a great introduction to the WWOOF experience, World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming, that we hope to participate in most of the time we are in the country. WWOOF programs are available all over the world and offer room and board in exchange for 4-5 hours of work per day. The work depends on the host but often includes gardening, animal care, fruit picking, construction, etc.

We certainly ate well that week, with beef from their home kill in various forms, rabbit pie, kumara (like a sweet potato), ice blocks (popsicles), fresh eggs from their chickens, and a new tasty treat, pavlova. This delicious dessert is a sweet meringue with whipped cream and green kiwi fruit and strawberries on top. It’s a new favorite and hopefully we can make some of our own at home.

Friday night the family was gone and they were generous enough to lend us one of their cars to venture into Hamilton. Adam had been working on his driving, on the left side of the road with the driver’s side on the right, and his confidence was improving with Joanna’s help. Roundabouts were trickiest to master but I think he got the hang of them quickly. In Hamilton we enjoyed a gourmet pizza and walked around, then took a bottle of wine home and managed not to get lost.

Saturday we ventured out with a car once again, heading west to Bridal Veil Falls and then on to the surfer town of Raglan. The falls were beautiful, 55meters tall with viewpoints from the top, middle, and base, and we hiked down the 261 steps to the bottom then back up again. Raglan had a laid-back vibe, as does much of this country, with lots of cafes and little artisan shops. We landed at Manu Bay Reserve, a little south of town, to gaze at the beautiful blue-green Tasman Sea and the surfers enjoying the waves.

After heading back to the house we hopped in the car with Joanna and headed about 2 hours east to Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty area. Her mom and step-dad live in a great house overlooking a big estuary with views of Mount Maunganui. Adam took lots of pictures from their deck including some great sunset shots. We had a delicious dinner of beef sausages and patties, lamb sausages, and chicken from the barbie plus kumara, potato salad, green beans and salad, with jello with tons of fresh berries, yogurt, and ice cream for dessert. Later that night we ventured out with Wendy and Joanna to see Christmas lights around town, one house was immensely decorated, and then drove to Mount Maunganui in the dark, stopping at the quiet beach and driving through town, which apparently gets rockin around 11pm.

We arose early on Sunday to see the fishing crew off on their boat adventure before making breakfast ourselves and hauling the kayak down the street to the water before spending an hour or so paddling around. We then ventured back out to Mount Maunganui and walked around the beach, a lively place during the day, dipping our toes in the water to escape the heat of the sand.

On our way back to Ngaruawahia that evening with Joanna and Callum we drove through Matamata, a hotbed of Hobbittown where their information center has a rounded roof and doors and looks straight out of one of the movies. We stopped to pick up fish and chips, plus some potato wedges, a paua fritter (abalone), and pineapple fritter, plus some Kiwi treats like L&P (a somewhat citrusy beverage made here), ginger beer, pineapple lumps (like chocolate covered pineapple taffy), and jeffers (chocolate and fruit balls).

Monday we were sad to say goodbye to the McFarlanes and the very welcoming environment at their house. We’ll be back to visit them before we leave the country, and hope to stay in touch even when we are back in the States. They made our first days in the country so enjoyable, educational, and truly helpful for getting acquainted. They were also most generous and we are forever grateful.

New Zealand as a whole is really laid back, people are friendly and eager to help, and life is casual. Most people seem to pay attention to their water consumption (the places we have stayed collect rain water from their gutters for their main water source) and compost, and many have chickens. The country seems quite environmentally conscious and dedicated to a good life, celebrating the outdoors and natural beauty. There is not a “no shirt, no shoes, no service” rule, so plenty of people skip either or both, even when out and about. I feel very comfortable with the small assortment of clothes I brought that can all be used for hiking, weeding, or out in public. It’s definitely a nice place to be, and so beautiful!