Woke up to cold and rain therefore no pooh-flinging today. Instead, a great day to hunker down and relax. We left Austin on May 15th and haven't slowed down until today. Ran out to the grocery store to pick up a few items. Oh, they do not use grocery carts here, they use trundles. In reality they are the same type of grocery carts we use in the states, they are just called trundles down here.
You know how you see homeless folks in your cities holding signs that read 'will work for food.' After friends of our read my last blog, they suggested that we should have a sign that reads 'will work for wine.' I can get on board with that one!!!
Made my first feijoada Cake today. Came out really good. For those not familiar with this unique little fruit (including me until a few weeks ago), they are really good. They taste like a combination of passion fruit, banana, kiwi, tangerine. So good!
I'll let y'all know tomorrow how we survive a day of labeling at the vineyard.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Getting old is a bitch!
The subject title may seem odd for a blog about our New Zealand trip but bear with me. As Ernie & Joelle started to read my entries, they both started to remind me of all the other stuff we've done and I didn't mention. When I try to garner a little sympathy for an old mind, they basically say suck it up and get with the program. Maybe not in those actual words but definitely with the looks. Thank God for family!
So here are some of the things they reminded me of and I can't believe they didn't get mentioned in this journal.
We went to Huia Winery the other day to have lunch with Joelle (she works in the vineyard there). We picked up several meat pies (similar to the pot pies that one makes in the states except the stores serve them already coked and ready to go). She arrived at the winery tasting room about the same time we did except she came in on the tractor. What fun! Ok, so maybe only a city girl would think riding a tractor would be fun. Just call me silly. After lunch, we got a personal tour through the winery and got to taste some wine right out of the tank. Ernie and I thought that was so cool and we were so lucky to get a chance to do that.
We then went on to Forrest Winery to visit Trevor (our son-in-law who works in the front office of his winery) and tour his winery. Trevor introduced us to the winemaker Chris and we then got to try several white wines directly from the tanks and a few reds from the barrel. Twice in one day. Just call me ecstatic!!!! So Joelle just pointed out that we got better treatment from our son-in-law than we did from our daughter. Thank you Trevor!
Joelle is putting Ernie and I to work - and here we thought we were retired. We're going to do some labeling at Huia next week. Seems they have a shipment that needs to go out and the wine needs to be relabeled so they need extra hands. The bad news is that we don't have a NZ tax number so they can't pay us, the good news is that since they can't pay us with money, they're going to pay us out with wine. Oh gee, does life get much better than that?
Oh, oh, oh......we are also going to be working at a pooh-fling. They actually call it a 500 prep. I guess pooh-flinging conjures up other images and raises some questions as to what goes on in an bio-dynamic vineyard. They actually make a 'tea' from the cow manure and then dilute it in water. The tea is then put in barrels on a trailer and the trailer is pulled through the vineyard while workers fling the tea on the grapevines using long handled brushes.
As I said earlier, we are heading into winter but we've just had a 'warm snap' to the weather and now the cherry tree in their yard is blooming. Hopefully the out-of-season bloom won't cause a problem.
Again, thank you family for reminded me things I forgot to list! Hope y'all have a great day!
So here are some of the things they reminded me of and I can't believe they didn't get mentioned in this journal.
We went to Huia Winery the other day to have lunch with Joelle (she works in the vineyard there). We picked up several meat pies (similar to the pot pies that one makes in the states except the stores serve them already coked and ready to go). She arrived at the winery tasting room about the same time we did except she came in on the tractor. What fun! Ok, so maybe only a city girl would think riding a tractor would be fun. Just call me silly. After lunch, we got a personal tour through the winery and got to taste some wine right out of the tank. Ernie and I thought that was so cool and we were so lucky to get a chance to do that.
We then went on to Forrest Winery to visit Trevor (our son-in-law who works in the front office of his winery) and tour his winery. Trevor introduced us to the winemaker Chris and we then got to try several white wines directly from the tanks and a few reds from the barrel. Twice in one day. Just call me ecstatic!!!! So Joelle just pointed out that we got better treatment from our son-in-law than we did from our daughter. Thank you Trevor!
Joelle is putting Ernie and I to work - and here we thought we were retired. We're going to do some labeling at Huia next week. Seems they have a shipment that needs to go out and the wine needs to be relabeled so they need extra hands. The bad news is that we don't have a NZ tax number so they can't pay us, the good news is that since they can't pay us with money, they're going to pay us out with wine. Oh gee, does life get much better than that?
Oh, oh, oh......we are also going to be working at a pooh-fling. They actually call it a 500 prep. I guess pooh-flinging conjures up other images and raises some questions as to what goes on in an bio-dynamic vineyard. They actually make a 'tea' from the cow manure and then dilute it in water. The tea is then put in barrels on a trailer and the trailer is pulled through the vineyard while workers fling the tea on the grapevines using long handled brushes.
As I said earlier, we are heading into winter but we've just had a 'warm snap' to the weather and now the cherry tree in their yard is blooming. Hopefully the out-of-season bloom won't cause a problem.
Again, thank you family for reminded me things I forgot to list! Hope y'all have a great day!
Sleepout done and feelin' like home!
So we picked up carpet yesterday to put in the sleepout. There was a small area rug and the rest of the floor was basically painted garage floor. For those of you not familiar with a sleepout, it's a 'romper room' or a bedroom to us at the back of the garage. It is quite common in New Zealand and Australia. Since we are going into winter, the floor was pretty damn cold and kept the room quite cold also. We were able to buy an off cut of carpet at the carpet store for a mere pittance of the original cost. Of course it was slightly wider than the room and not as long as needed so that meant I got to be the carpet cutter. After cutting and piecing the extra carpet, I must admit it looks pretty darn good and the room is appreciably warmer already. We put together shelves for our clothes and everything is in it's place now. It's starting to look & feel like home.
Ernie decided to cook tonight - his 'famous' rosemary chicken. While he was cooking and making all the requisite noises like shit, damn, where the hell is that, you guys don't worry about me just go on playing your game. Joelle, Jasmin and I were playing a dice game at the table. We did tell him to let us know if he needed any help but he just assumed that we would know when he needed help and be there. We'll need to work on the asking for help issue. Anyway, while we're sitting playing dice, Joelle looks toward the kitchen and so very casually remarks "Dad, I think your kitchen is on fire!' As we turn to see what she's talking about, the flames were rising higher and Ernie was jumping around trying to blow out the fire. He finally placed a pan lid on the flames and they eventually went out. After the excitement, we resumed our game and he continued to cook. Oh, the meal was excellent and his chicken reputation remains untarnished.
Hope y'all had a good day today. Ours was very productive and good. Tomorrow we will have a relaxing, easy day while celebrating the Queen's birthday.
Ernie decided to cook tonight - his 'famous' rosemary chicken. While he was cooking and making all the requisite noises like shit, damn, where the hell is that, you guys don't worry about me just go on playing your game. Joelle, Jasmin and I were playing a dice game at the table. We did tell him to let us know if he needed any help but he just assumed that we would know when he needed help and be there. We'll need to work on the asking for help issue. Anyway, while we're sitting playing dice, Joelle looks toward the kitchen and so very casually remarks "Dad, I think your kitchen is on fire!' As we turn to see what she's talking about, the flames were rising higher and Ernie was jumping around trying to blow out the fire. He finally placed a pan lid on the flames and they eventually went out. After the excitement, we resumed our game and he continued to cook. Oh, the meal was excellent and his chicken reputation remains untarnished.
Hope y'all had a good day today. Ours was very productive and good. Tomorrow we will have a relaxing, easy day while celebrating the Queen's birthday.
Friday, 3 June 2011
A yank living in a metric world and other difficulties!
That's me - a yank - better known to some as an American. I get that everyone else in the world is on the metric system and even some yanks are too - if they're scientists or engineers. But for us everyday people, metrics are like greek to me. My husband has written up a cheat sheet for oven temperatures and I'm starting to figure out weather temperatures - 15C and lower is cold and I should wear a sweater at least and over 25C means you start peeling of clothes. Actually slipping into something lighter since peeling off my clothes might get me deported.
I know I will conquer this mystery but when I go shopping here, it gives me quite a scare. I look at some fish or a piece of meat and the price is $20 or more per kilo but my first response is to read it as per pound. Once my breathing slows down and I stop mouthing expletives, I realize my error and then just bemoan the fact that everything is more expensive here but not as outrageous as it would be if it were per pound. As for the cost of things here, it is fair to say that New Zealand is quite expensive. Currently, gas (for your car) is between $7.50 & $8 US.
We went to the Mitre 10 store (like a Home Depot or Lowes) looking for shelves and carpet and stuff like that to finish off the sleepout (more about that in a minute) and I asked a sales person where I could find a flashlight. She just stared at me like I was from an alien planet. I tried to describe what a flashlight is and what I needed it for and she sent us off to the lighting department. Obviously I didn't want a floor lamp or a ceiling light so we just wandered around the store until we found the torches. Go figure!
Went to the boot sale this morning (a city wide garage sale for my US friends). Got some very cool table puzzles and some veggies but nothing more. Then went out to get carpet for the floor of the sleep out. The project for tomorrow is to finish getting the sleepout put together.then things will feel like home. I think we will be finished with all the settling in stuff by the end of this weekend. Oh, we have a long weekend because we are celebrating the Queen's birthday on Monday. God save the Queen!
I know I will conquer this mystery but when I go shopping here, it gives me quite a scare. I look at some fish or a piece of meat and the price is $20 or more per kilo but my first response is to read it as per pound. Once my breathing slows down and I stop mouthing expletives, I realize my error and then just bemoan the fact that everything is more expensive here but not as outrageous as it would be if it were per pound. As for the cost of things here, it is fair to say that New Zealand is quite expensive. Currently, gas (for your car) is between $7.50 & $8 US.
We went to the Mitre 10 store (like a Home Depot or Lowes) looking for shelves and carpet and stuff like that to finish off the sleepout (more about that in a minute) and I asked a sales person where I could find a flashlight. She just stared at me like I was from an alien planet. I tried to describe what a flashlight is and what I needed it for and she sent us off to the lighting department. Obviously I didn't want a floor lamp or a ceiling light so we just wandered around the store until we found the torches. Go figure!
Went to the boot sale this morning (a city wide garage sale for my US friends). Got some very cool table puzzles and some veggies but nothing more. Then went out to get carpet for the floor of the sleep out. The project for tomorrow is to finish getting the sleepout put together.then things will feel like home. I think we will be finished with all the settling in stuff by the end of this weekend. Oh, we have a long weekend because we are celebrating the Queen's birthday on Monday. God save the Queen!
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Wellington Food & Wine Show
Last weekend we took the ferry from Blenheim (on the south island) to Wellington (on the north island) to attend this show. While the Cook Strait is known to be rough crossing usually, the water gods smiled down on me and provided a relatively calm ride. While I love the water and water activities, my stomach hates them. I usually just go along with my planned event and suffer the stomach problems soI was doing the happy dance on that crossing.
Our son-in-law and daughter were exhibiting Forrest wines at the show. What a treat! We got to sample a lot of amazing wines - along with some no so amazing and sample equally great food. The people we met at the show - just other attendees - were so much fun and so open and hospitable. In fact, one couple invited us to come back to Wellington to spend a weekend with them visiting wineries in their area. Since we've been in New Zealand, we have eating some amazing Thai, Indian and Malaysian food. The flavors are so fresh and lively that they seem in stark contrast to the winter weather. I had the chance to take 2 cooking classes while at the show and can't wait to cook chicken curry laksa (a malaysian soup). Yum yum!
Our son-in-law and daughter were exhibiting Forrest wines at the show. What a treat! We got to sample a lot of amazing wines - along with some no so amazing and sample equally great food. The people we met at the show - just other attendees - were so much fun and so open and hospitable. In fact, one couple invited us to come back to Wellington to spend a weekend with them visiting wineries in their area. Since we've been in New Zealand, we have eating some amazing Thai, Indian and Malaysian food. The flavors are so fresh and lively that they seem in stark contrast to the winter weather. I had the chance to take 2 cooking classes while at the show and can't wait to cook chicken curry laksa (a malaysian soup). Yum yum!
Intentions are great but my actions suck!
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| Looks like these two are headed out to sea! |
Second blog and already behind!
So the first post has been published and there is so much to catch up on since the decision to blog but unfortunately it is late and am having trouble focusing. We are currently in Wanaka in the southern area of the south island of New Zealand. We had a great day today beginning with an 11K walk around the lake followed by lunch in the van because the winds were blowing around 35 MPH. The weather today has been quite iffy. We were going to go for a walk to the Rob Roy Glacier but we didn't have the right outer wear and provisions - that being rain gear along with winter weather wear. We left Wanaka in relatively nice weather (overcast but otherwise nice) but the forecast was for rain and possible snow along with strong winds. We did not have winter hiking gear nor rain gear so had to forgoe the glacier walk for a lake walk. We did about 11K around the lake, had lunch in the mini-van because the winds were so fierce that we couldn't eat outside and then went for a rousing and very competitive ground of mini-putt (that's miniature golf for all you non-New Zealanders). I must say that this was one of the fiercest miniature golf courses that I have ever played. In any case, we had great fun and then had to return to the condo for a round of clothes washing. While the clothes were doing their thing, we played an fun game of Balderdash followed by a round of Kings and Assholes. Yes that is the name of the game. Great strategizing game but definitely one that will leave you calling your fellow players assholes!!! You should really try this game!!!! Tomorrow we will return to Blenheim for one day and then on to Wellington for the Wellington Food and Wine Festival. We arrived in New Zealand one week ago and haven't slowed down since. We managed to buy a vehicle, a new bed, sort through our luggage and work through jet lag. When we arrive back in Blenheim on Sunday evening, we will be looking for our goods that were shipped and the arrival of our new bed. Things are beginning to settle into place. So much more to say but have run out of time on our internet allotment in the condo lounge. Got to admit that I'm pretty proud of two posts so far. Will try to stay current in my post but may falter if my son-in-law doesn't stop sampling his wines. Miss all my family and friends in the US but am enjoying getting re-acquainted with my family here. To all my friends in Italy - Ciao! To all my friends in the US, enjoy the summer and great home-grown tomatoes and summer fruit.
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