The New Zealand Food Diaries

Right, back to New Zealand. Where was I? Ah yes, the food.

I confess, I spoiled myself on this trip and said to hell with the budget (within reason). So instead of scrimping and making packed lunches or opting for toast for breakfast, I went to the cafes and restaurants. I wandered until I saw what I wanted, be it Vudu Cafe, with it’s great coffee and hearty bowls of porridge, warm relaxed energy and Bon Iver playing softly in the background, or Pier 19, for breakfasting on bacon and eggs while sitting in the sun on the waterfront or, on our final night, dinner inside the beautiful restaurant.

I ate a lot of good meals, good not just because of the food but because of the company, be it pizza with everyone at Winnies or the delicious rehearsal dinner at Solera Vino, which finished with a beautiful croque en bouche. But Pier 19 takes the prize for best dinner of the trip. I had mussels three times during my stay, but the ones at Pier 19 took the prize.

It was the broth with the mussels that did it, salty and sweet and heavenly. I was glad to have some bread to mop it all up. I followed those with a main of beef with anchovy butter, potatoes anna and broad beans. While I’m not usually a fan of stacking food, I thought it worked in this case, though I was quick to demolish the tower.

I spent the last few days of the trip roadtripping with my friend Emma. We got down to Dunedin and back and on the Saturday morning we headed to the Otago Farmers Market, where the food may be less fancy than Pier 19, but it’s no less tasty. I visited these markets last time I was in New Zealand 2 years ago and a big part of my desire to go back to Dunedin was simply to visit the markets again. The thing about growers markets in Sydney is that they’re pricey and they tend to cater to the elite few – you don’t see a good cross section of society there. As more markets pop up, this is slowly changing I think. One day, I hope they’ll be like the Otago markets, where you’ll see anyone and everyone buying their fruit and veg, catching up with friends, treating themselves to a danish or pie. My personal treat came in the form of a magnificent bacon buttie.

Look at all the bacon! It’s out of control! I confess I couldn’t finish the lot, but it was damned good. And don’t you love the logo on the paper bag? It makes my heart glad.

The other thing we got was cheese. Not your average cheddar or brie, but a smooth creamy cheese with a bit of bite and lots of cumin running all the way through. We got it from the same guys I bought some from last time (I am a creature of habit, ok?). They were handing out generous samples, and this cheese immediately won our hearts. It was perfect for an afternoon picnic in the Lanarch Castle gardens.

Sigh. I think it’s time to start planning my next trip.

My Place & Yours: My Secret Weapon

So, pausing New Zealand posts for a moment to consider this weeks theme for the My Place and Yours meme, which is Your Secret Weapon, chosen by theme queen My Bricole.

I confess, the theme gave me pause. Because, you see, my secret weapon isn’t really a secret. But what the hey, it fits the other criteria: it’s close to my creative heart, I know I can go to it in a pinch and it has never (so far!) let me down.

I know I wrote about getting her a while back, but this is Daisy Fforde, my brilliant Canon 450D. The name Daisy was suggested by Rich in the comments (Tracey suggested Gracie and I tried both out for a while, but it was Daisy that stuck. Although I still reserve the right to call a future pet Daisy if I so choose). I decided she needed a last name as well and as I was deep in the midst of (and loving) Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next novels at the time I went with Fforde. I like it because Daisy doesn’t just take pretty pictures, she’s an action camera too, she’s got a bit of Indiana Jones about her.

When I have her with me I am always more aware of my surroundings, always looking for the beauty, or the quirky, the movement and the stillness. And when I am short of ideas, it is often Daisy Fforde who gets me back on track.

For more secret weapons, head over to Meet Me At Mikes…

P.s. Please don’t judge me by the Twilight books in the background. They just stand out because of the covers. The Odyssey’s in the shot too! Middle English Lyrics, The Great Gatsby, Jeeves and Wooster! Look! I have good taste! Honest!

The New Zealand Flora Diaries (Pt.2)

Hey Lady, nice hat!

The New Zealand Flora Diaries (Pt.1)

Springtime in New Zealand. No words, just flowers.

The New Zealand Fauna Diaries or, Penguin! Sheep!

Ok, so I’m going to tell you about the wedding (which was fantastic) and the presents for Lou and Tim (which went down well) in a bit, but I thought I’d begin with some general New Zealand travel stuff, starting with the fauna.

This, my friends, is a close encounter between a sheep and a penguin:

Apparently, these delightful creatures have something of an understanding in that they try not to get in each others way, but I think the penguin had the upper-flipper in this situation.

We got to see them as part of an eco-wildlife tour of the Otago peninsula run by the sustainable environment-friendly Elm Wildlife Tours where we also saw fur seals (beautiful!) and sea lions (slightly scary when they move suddenly, and fast). The yellow-eyed penguins come onto shore at dusk. One moment they’re in the water on their bellies and the next they’re standing and waddling their way up into the hills.

One word: Awesome.

And speaking of penguins, check out this story about a penguin’s love for her zookeeper.

Actually, this does tie in with the wedding a bit, because penguins? They mate for life. For the final event of the bucks/hens day we all met up at the local bar to play trivia. And there was the groom, resplendent in a penguin costume selected by the best man for him to wear for the evening. Then, after the hens right and properly won trivia, the bride in her sparkley veil and the groom in his penguin suit danced and hugged and beamed.

Post holiday blues

The mail is still waiting to be opened. My bags are still waiting to be unpacked. But no amount of wishful thinking, cups of tea or long long walks can change the fact that although my head and heart are still there with the lakes, mountains and good friends, I am now here in this quiet empty house and there is work to be done.

Maybe one more cup of tea.

Done, Finished, Ready

The last couple of days have been frantically, whirlingly busy, but I’m just about done, finished and ready. So here are Three Beautiful Things for today, before I head to New Zealand for 10 days, 1 wedding, lots of laughs and hopefully a couple of decisions.

1. An freelance article is done. It was an easy one, but I only got the brief a couple of days ago and I needed to send it off before I left. Done!

2. My crafty wedding project took a bit longer than expected, but it’s finished and the result is better than I expected, by which I mean that it didn’t wind up in the bin and will actually be given with the gift. I hope they like it!

3. What’s that you say? I need my passport? And currency? This trip’s been coming up for so long. I made the flight booking months ago and until recently the trip (as opposed to the wedding) had fallen almost completely off my radar. So much so that I only thought about things like currency and my passport yesterday. Luckily, the passport is valid (though I’m cutting it close, it’ll need renewing on my return) and the currency was easily obtainable. I’m almost ready!

My Place & Yours: On the Shelf

I’ve never blogged a meme before, but when I saw this one up at Meet Me At Mikes, I decided to join in. It’s a bit nervous-making (I don’t know why!), but here goes.

This weeks theme is ‘On the Shelf,’ and I quickly realised that our shelves are in serious need of a tidy. This one, in the hallway, usually has a stack of books on it, but I moved them to make way for my little boxes, which usually sit together on a terribly dark and crowded shelf in my bedroom. Some are from friends, others are travel souvenirs.

The boxes are sitting on a little set of drawers, which were a birthday present from my friend Bekk, who was my housemate for 2 years while we lived in run-down terrace in Newtown. The drawers are ceramic yellow with blue flowers, and used to brighten up our living room.
The green box and dish are made from Malachite, my Nanna on my Mums side brought them back from South Africa about fourteen years ago. Soon after receiving them I dropped and broke the lid of the box, but my mum glued it together and now, well now I love it even more.
I bought the painted box from a market stall in Prague in 2000. It’s an image by Alphonse Mucha, a Czech Art Nouveau painter. His images were all over Prague, the most beautiful city I’ve ever visited.
My friend Emma bought me the Venetian Mask box and although I associate her with it I also tend to think of my own visit to Venice, even though I was only 11 at the time. I remember watching the gondolas but not wanting to go out in one because it was raining, and I remember going to see a glass blowing shop, as well as the masks, of course.
I bought the china box in Melbourne, in a small town near the sea. I can’t remember the name. When I bought it I thought it was a fish on the lid, but then I thought it might be a dress. Either way, it belongs to a seaside town in Melbourne, where there was a lovely antiques shop and good fish and chips.

So much history in such little boxes!

Victory is mine

I’m going to New Zealand next week for the wedding of one of my best friends from high school, Louise, who was also my first housemate back in 2003. We lived in a rambling mansion in Surry Hills we had the good fortune to house-sit for several months, most of which time we spent watching movies, eating Pad Thai and talking about boys. I’m in the Bridal party as a Lady in Waiting (a brilliant title, don’t you think?) and I get to wear a dress of my choice (within certain parameters). The process of finding the dress (purple, silk, gorgeous) was relatively easy compared with finding the shoes which sucked an entire day, yesterday, from my life.

So, this post is dedicated to all those who:

- Have given up an entire day in pursuit of the right pair of shoes.
- Have spent the first five hours of that pursuit looking at and trying on shoes that were too tight/loose/high/flat/light/dark/plain/cheap-looking/expensive.
- Have wanted to try on at least 6 pairs of shoes that weren’t in stock in your size.
- Failed to get the attention of a sales assistant.
- Engaged with all manner of sales assistants from pushy to helpful to careless.
- Have returned to the store you started in and decided to settle for shoes that were too light and too tight.
- Have queued to pay for light & tight shoes, finally reached the counter, then spied, up high, what looks from a distance to be the perfect pair of shoes.
- Instead of buying the wrong shoes, ask to try on the right ones.
- Know withing 5 seconds of trying them on that they are indeed PERFECT.
- Have realised that the perfect shoes are $80 cheaper than the wrong ones.
- Have experienced, in the relief of the moment, the evaporation of  your tunnel vision, only to see a sign telling you ‘Buy one pair, get the second 50% off.’
- Then buy a pair of perfect work shoes as well as perfect wedding shoes in what is a quick and effortless decision.

Victory is mine.

Now I have a week to get everything else together. I’m working on a crafty something to go with the gift, so please send positive crafty thoughts in my direction! It’s something I’ve never tried before and it could still all go pear-shaped. We shall see.

Patience, Jewels, Cloudspotting

Three beautiful things for a beautiful Friday evening.

1. I sit on the step in the back garden and my cat ambles up wanting his ears scratched. I take the opportunity to brush him, something he used to hate, swishing his tail in warning, then taking swipes at the brush and my hand. Now he sits patiently with his back to me, occasionally angling his head so I can reach under his chin. When he has had enough, he ambles away to a sunny corner and flops down.

2. From my vantage point on the step I spy 3 bright ruby-red jewels, the first strawberries of the season. I pop one in my mouth while it is still warm.

3. I lie on my back and watch the occasional clouds, something I used to do almost every day in my teens. It’s late in the day and the ground is still warm but the light isn’t glaring. I let my mind wander and before I’ve realised it the sun is setting and the clouds have multiplied, only now they have frocked up in pink and violet and golden yellow. They are racing across the sky – perhaps they have somewhere to be.