KiwiTrex

It’s a new year but it doesn’t feel like it. With the absence of family, holidays, and cold weather it still feels like late July. We’ve been spending our extended summer exploring the west coast of New Zealand’s south island. We have taken in some truly amazing scenery in the past few weeks, and should have some new pics on Flickr shortly. We have already spent 4 nights staying in a temperate Rainforest. We stopped in a small town and learned how to forge our own knives. The past few days we’ve been in Queenstown ,which is a popular winter ski destination but still pretty nice in the summer time. We would almost think we were in Colorado if it weren’t for all the fish and chips.
Today we are leaving, but we’ve mapped out several campsites to stay in over the next few days. This week we hope to hike to a natural hot spring, Kayak in a Lagoon, and swim in beaches boarded by temperate rain forest. Amazing!

Pearl Jam was an amazing show. Turns out it was the last show of a nearly two year world tour which we actually witnessed the start of when we were working at Bonnaroo in 2008. Coincidentally enough it was at this performance where we first became inspired to plan our trip to New Zealand. We enjoyed getting to see our friends from Nelson, you can see some pictures if you head over to flickr.
The next morning we left Christchurch and headed to a holiday home in Hanmer Springs. Christchurch was cold when we left and it was cold and rainy by the time we arrived in Hanmer Springs. We had a fireplace at the cabin and a lamb backstrap in the car and we decided that this was the perfect time to make chili. If you want to recreate this experience at home, here’s our recipe for kiwi-style lamb chili (which we came up with ourselves).

1 lamb backstrap (if you don’t have lamb backstrap you could substitute another lean meat, like venison backstrap or beef sirloin)
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of tomatoes with chiles (1 can of crushed tomatoes/5 fresh tomatoes soaked with basil and cayenne pepper)
1 small or 1/2 large red capsicum (that’s bell pepper to you folks back home)
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 diced sweet onion
2 cloves of chopped garlic
some dashes of Garam Masala seasoning (all-spice and chili powder will probably do ya)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter
1/4 red wine
1/3 cup finely grated vintage cheddar cheese

Cut your lamb into fairly large (but still bite-size) pieces. Add salt and pepper. Dice onion, capsicum, and cilantro. Heat a sauté pan or skillet to medium high heat. Prime your skillet with about a tablespoon of butter. Add the onion and garlic then cook until moist and fragrant. Add the lamb to the skillet and sear until it’s fully browned on the outside, but still rare. Halfway through this process add the capsicum and cilantro. Put the skillet with lamb, onion, garlic, capsicum, and cilantro aside to rest.
In a large stock pot, heat up the diced tomatoes. Add two cups of water, kidney beans, the spices and the wine to the tomatoes. Bring to a low simmer. At this point, combine the lamb mixture with the tomato. Cover and simmer slowly for one hour. Uncover and continue to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or until reduced to your liking.
Serve and garnish with cheddar cheese to taste.

This chili was delicious and warming on a cold rainy day next to the fire. It was fun to eat such an American tradition with a different spin on it. “I loved it and I usually don’t even like chili!” -Lillian “Mom, I know you like yours extra hot so I would suggest adding one finely chopped jalepeno as well at the same stage as the capsicum and cilantro. Maybe Jon should sit that one out though.”-Matt

During our trip southward to Christchurch we camped out near the beach beside a beautiful mountain range. Just before we set up camp the sky was on fire! After witnessing an amazing sunset we went to bed early with the sounds of waves crashing and the occasional train whistle in the distance. We were disturbed briefly during the night by a loud rustling in the bush which turned out to be a baby hedgehog. He was so cute!
The next morning the sun came up over the ocean to light up the breathtaking mountain views. That day we drove into Kaikoura, a small tourist town with surfing beaches in view of snow topped mountains. We camped near a duck filled stream in a small holiday park. The next morning we woke up early to make Thanksgiving day phone calls to our families back home. On our way out of town we got some more amazing pictures of the scenic beach and mountains. We even saw a group of seals fishing on the rocks.
Today we are in Christchurch getting ready to go see Ben Harper and Pearl Jam.

Since last update we have kept very busy. Summer season is getting underway and it’s warming up on the South Island. The towns are getting more crowded as tourists and local vacationers are pouring in from everywhere. We camped by the beach at Ruby Bay for a few days before heading back over to our wwoof hosts near Mapua. We spent another week enjoying their company and the beautiful surroundings while working. We worked repairing a shed and ridding the garden of an invasive vine. One night while we were there, we drove into Nelson to meet up with our friends and stayed out to the wee hours of the morning listening to their band and meeting other travelers. On Sunday we left the farmhouse and host family to start our journey to south to Christchurch.
Our first stop along the way was Pelorus Bridge. We had first seen the Pelorus River during our journey between Picton and Nelson a few weeks ago. We didn’t have much time to enjoy it then, but we promised ourselves that we would come back later to explore; and we definitely did that. The first day at Pelorus we read books on the rocks above the river and took a morning walk on which we got to see Kiwis for the first time! We’ve seen lots of the fruit and the people, but we had never seen the birds before. Most people, in fact, don’t see Kiwi Birds in the wild here. They are extremely endangered and very shy, so we were lucky. Later that evening we saw a rimu (morepork), a small NZ Owl. The Second day, we took a hike that led us to two waterfalls. That afternoon we swam in the crystal clear river. Later that night we went on a glow worm walk. Little green lights lit up the forest like faries. The next Morning, after two full days at this beautiful place, we were ready to continue heading to Christchurch, but first we went for one more swim in the Pelorus River. We were soon interrupted by two busloads of backpackers stopping to do exactly the same thing!

We have spent the past week WWOOFing outside of Nelson. Our hosts there were a nice couple and their teenage daughter. The setting there was incredible! The garden was just getting underway while we were there, but the outcome later this summer is sure to be amazing. Our accommodation was top notch. We had our own private sleepout with a kingsized bed, furniture, tv and some gorgeous views. Our hosts were friendly, eager to engage in conversation, or to share advice for good tramping in the area. We ate delicious fresh food during our stay, and on Sunday night were able to make an Athens, GA style meal for the family. Our Sunday feast became almost like a mini Thanksgiving, since we decided to prepare generous portions of everything. The meal consisted of our version of “Hot Buttered Soul Chicken,” Hoppin’ John, cornbread, mac n cheese, and NZ silverbeet served like collards. Our hosts even asked everone to state what they were thankful for as we sat down to eat. It really flt like home. We were reluctant to leave on Monday, but they had another WWOOFer on their way, so we had to move on. We plan to come back soon, though.
For now, we are staying in Nelson with some people that we met in town. Our current accommodation is our tent, which we have pitched in the front yard of a house built in the 20’s. The home belongs to a local organic coffee roaster who is the sole owner/operator of Kush Coffee in Nelson. The house used to be the caretakers property for a mental institute, which is now in ruin. The propety we are camping on is now the overgrown remains what must have been a very beautiful asylum.

After a briefly unpleasant run in with a brewery and avocado farm outside of New Plymouth, we decided it would be best to go ahead and get to the South Island of New Zealand. Our trip south took us through the capital city Wellington, across Cook’s straight, and through Picton. The ferry ride across was absolutely freezing, and we got to use our winter coats for the first time this trip. We had to bundle up as much as possible to be outside, but it was so beautiful on the deck, that we didn’t want to miss it. The water was an unbelievable color of blue, and we could see the islands all around us as we crossed. Once we arrived in Picton, the weather started to warm up after just one more cold, rainy, dreary day. We got to enjoy a homemade cedar hot tub at the Backpacker’s we visited that evening.

We are currently in the Marlborough region, merely a stones through from the Stoneleigh Vineyard, enjoying lovely sunny warm weather for the first time this spring. We actually got to wear our t-shirts today! We have been WWOOFing with a Dutch family on a small farm. Our duties as of late include taking Rowdy the border collie for his walks, feeding the chooks, weeding, mowing, and occasionally being electrocuted by cows. (and feeding the cows as well)

All is great fun. I miss you too Mom.

We are dreaming of Fall in Athens, wishing for all that turkey we’ll be missing soon, and contemplating what Christmas on the beach will be like.
Internet is still slow and scarce, but we hope to elaborate on this blog soon; as well as post some new pics to Flickr.

We spent our last days in Auckland test driving cars and eventually finding one to buy and drive for the rest of our trip. After trying out several Subarus, Hondas, and Toyotas, we finally settled on a Honda CR-V. After a full day of test-drives we knew we loved the CR-V (don’t we always love Hondas) but were reluctant to make an offer since it also came with the highest mileage and the highest price tag. However the owners were wonderful people who had taken excellent care of the car and ended up coming down on the price enough for us to get the one we wanted.

We headed out of Auckland in our new car, towards the Coromandel Peninsula. We spent the next two days in Coromandel Town enjoying the first bit of sunlight and warm(ish) weather we’d seen so far and exploring the town. We had a great host at the motel and enjoyed making food in our room and on the barbeque she let us use. We intended to spend as much as nine days in the Coromandel, but immediately after getting there, we were contacted about a position WWOOFing on the other peninsula north of Auckland. Even though we would have to go back all the way around the way we’d just come (and further besides) after just two days, we jumped at the chance to have our first work underway.

We have been living this past week with a WWOOF host named Theona, who owns two small dogs and a cat on a small farm house in Kohukohu. Her property overlooks the bay from the top of a high hill in town. The past few days we’ve worked in her yard and vegetable garden, and in the evenings we warm ourselves by a wood burning stove. We also have agreed to come back for two weeks in Late December to house/pet sit while Theona takes a Holiday in Mexico.

Yesterday evening we drove 44 km to the secluded beach of Mitimiti. Mitimiti was “wild and wooly” as the locals say. Which means the local farm animals are roaming outside their fences and hanging out on the beach as well. The weather was still too cold to enjoy a day at the beach but we had come at low tide to collect green lipped mussels from the exposed rocks. Last night we enjoyed our first gathered New Zealand Mussels , which we steamed in a local Chardonnay with some garlic and rosemary. Needless to say they were the freshest seafood we’ve ever enjoyed. Our first Kaimoana!

In case you were wondering, yes we did land in New Zealand. We’re just catching our stride here in Auckland. We’ve been jetlagged and trying to figure out our surroundings for the past week. Unfortunately, it seems to be common practice here in Auckland to charge for internet so right now we’re paying an outrageous price for every minute of internet that we use. That makes it difficult to search for cars or keep in touch, but we do get to play a fun game called “unplug the internet.” What this game involves is going to the required page as quickly as possible and then unplugging the internet as soon as all the information is loaded so that we pay for as few minutes as possible. We’re not very good at it yet.

Otherwise, we’ve been very happy here. The first few days were rainy and gloomy, but the last few have been sunny and nice. We finally found the grocery store, and we’ll probably be buying a car tomorrow. We’re missing Triscuits, Lactaid (uh-oh), and deodorant which doesn’t involve a spray can. However, we’re very happy with the selection of local produce, meat, and cheese. We haven’t even had a moment to take the camera out of it’s case yet, but we’ll start thinking about that soon. I’ve got to unplug the internet now, so more later!

Lillian

I’m sure everyone is curious about what we’ve been up to the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately this last leg involved more driving than planned; we have managed to have some fun though.
Spending time in Eugene, Oregon, was like a breath of fresh air. Eugene is allot like Athens in some ways. It’s a college town with plenty of music and young people. But Eugene also features several local theaters, dance groups, and other centers for preforming arts. Eugene is full of artists, but unlike Athens actually features many venues for the artists to sell and promote their work. As we mentioned, the annual Eugene celebration is like Athfest only much larger. The downtown is like a larger (and more mature) version of downtown Athens. There are more artisan shops and organic /local food restaurants than there are bars. Also, there is another “downtown” area closer to the university where the cheaper pizza beer and chicken wing crowd can converge. There are many neighborhoods within walking distance of european like shopping districts. The whole town seems to have cultivated a sense of community and appreciation for nature and the outdoors. When It was time to check out of the hotel we had over the weekend, we discovered that somehow we had been approved for an extra night that we never paid for. So we spent our labor day exploring what Eugene was like minus the festival crowd.

Once we got on the road again we headed south down the 101 into the Bayside town of Florence, Oregon. Florence is a small town fueled by tourism, and home to some fantastic eating establishments. We set up camp in the state park right near the beach. The Beaches of Florence (and for miles to the south) feature gigantic sand dunes. Dune surfing and dune bugging are big attractions for Oregon and California tourists. While we were camped, we decided we should go into town to experience at least one of the little seafood restaurants which seemed to rival the dunes as the town’s most popular feature.

The place we decided on was tucked away in a shaded corner right on the bay’s edge. It was so small you actually entered through the kitchen! The feature which attracted us the most was the chalkboard menu. They had no permanent selections; instead, whatever was freshly available was written on the chalkboard outside the restaurant and then again inside, but in greater detail on a larger chalkboard.
That evening we enjoyed a New Zealand white wine and lamb appetizer , along with panko breaded calamari, fresh baked artisan bread and a fruit de mere angel hair which included mussels, clams, shrimp and halibut in a delicate Marinara sauce.

After Florence our next stop was in Brookings. Brookings is another small Oregon tourist town, but was very different from Florence. For one thing Brookings is right on the coast rather then on a bay. Brookings also lacks the giant dunes that were so characteristic of the town just a few miles north. However Brookings had it’s own charm. For one thing the rest area there was the entire reason we decided to stop for the night . That is to say the rest stop in Brookings was one of the nicest parks we’ve ever been to. The state park was even nicer, but crowded with R.V campers enjoying the absolutely perfect weather and pristine beaches. We of course joined right in and had a fabulous time on the beach.

Further down the coast we saw giant redwood forests, dense fogs and cougar tracks. We promise to get some pics of this on Flickr soon, but right now we are getting ready to spend two nights exploring San Francisco before we depart to New Zealand.

Matt

On last update we were planning to go to Olympic Park and then to a concert at the Gorge Amphitheater. Well, after driving all the way around Seattle and into Olympic Park we decided there was too much of the park and coast that we wanted to see to spend our time driving back around Seattle to see a concert. So instead, we spent several days camped out in the rainforest and coast and then continued south on the 101 into Portland. We saw some beautiful rocky beaches with the biggest driftwood we’ve ever seen. There were entire trees bleached out and stacked along the coast. We had to actually crawl over them in order to get to the beach. At night we made driftwood fires after watching the sun go down and ate food and listened to the crashing waves for hours.

In Portland we had great public transportation which made it really easy to get around town. We also had some good food.
We didn’t stay there long, though, because we found out about the annual Eugene Celebration and we’re in Eugene now, celebrating. This is a great little downtown festival. It reminds us of Athfest, but it’s been going on longer and it’s on a much larger scale. We’ve been having a blast walking to downtown everyday to listen to music and enjoy the sights.

driftwood on Rialto Beach