Paihai: Bay of Islands

G'day, rellies, mates!

I am finally finished blogging about my trip! Read all about it.

Wednesday I took a bus up to Paihai, aka the Bay of Islands, to meet Sanna and Joanna. It was a long trip- seven hours on two buses- but the scenery made it worth it. I'm no botanist, obviously, but New Zealand mix of typical forest-y and in-your-face tropical plants is striking. There are pines growing right next to palms and giant ferns. The forest is broken up by huge swatches of meadow covered in patches of daisies, dandelion and clover. The meadows have pockets of densely packed tropical trees and flowers with amazingly neon colors. And of course, there's the sheep. Everywhere you go, there's sheep. I'm not jaded yet, though- I still think they're cute. I understand why you might think the brown, matted unsheared ones are ugly but the little lambs are heart-meltingly adorable.I saw a lamb playing with his mother that was so freaking cute it made me briefly reconsider my no-kids-ever rule. Briefly. That's not happening. Ever. If I want a kid I think I'll just get a lamb. They're soft and cuddly and when I get bored with it I'll just put it out to pasture.

Our bus driver was not so taken with the sheep. According to him they're "very dumb" animals. "They don't die," he told us, "they just forget to wake up." Zing! But he did kindly point

out one of the regions attractions, Warkworth's famous pink sheep. He suspected their hue had something to do with the "candy floss" sheep in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Sanna and Joanna were kindly waiting for me in the pouring rain when I arrived in Paihai at 8:30 (an hour late). Paihai is tiny- a population of about 800- and it's composed mostly of hostiles and resurant/bars. Since it was so late, there was nothing to do except watch TV at the hostel. I didn't mind though, the hostel was actually quite adorable, especially considering it cost about $17 a night. It's called The Pickled Parrot after it's mascot, Rocky the parrot. Apparently Rocky once got into some alcohol left out by some backpackers and got "pickled" (drunk) and really annoyed the rest of the guests. Rose, the friendly owner, must have thought this was funny enough to change the hostel's name.

Rose and Rocky (not my picture). Rocky screeching. Rocky attacking my shoe and Rocky meowing.

Rocky was fearless, climbing on anything and everyone. He meowed every time he wanted to be picked up which I found endearing despite my dislike of parrots. Less endearing was his love of biting buttons, zippers, laces.

Thursday morning the three of us took a ferry to the historic town of Russel. I don't know much about Russel except that it was New Zealand's first established town that used to be called Kororareka. You can read about the history here. There seems to have been quite a lot of unsavory behavior and disputes in the past, so it's probably worth reading about. But I just walked around. It's a pretty good place for wandering. The views were spectacular.

The exotic ocean views and the quaint British-colonial style buildings made it seem, as Sanna put it, "like the set of Pirates of the Caribbean." It was beautiful. Highlights of the trip were:

Christ Church: New Zealand's oldest established church.

I took a bunch of pictures of the graveyard...

...but there were no ghosts in any of them. Not even ghost sheep.

Long Beach: Name says it all really. Well actually, if it was named "Long So Gorgeous You're Angered You Don't Live Here Beach" the name would say it all. Pow! Comedy, coming at you!

Even the sand was beautiful! (Just like my feet.)

We ended our trip with a stop by New Zealand's oldest police station.

Then we ate candy on the beach while waiting for the ferry to come. It was a satisfying end to the trip. And I hope this is a satisfying end to my post because I can't physically blog anymore. I think I've spent more time on this post than I did in Paihai.

If you're interested, there are many more pictures of Paihai on my Picasso web album. Until next time, cheerio!

Kiwi Food of the Week

Ginger Beer

Like many Kiwi traditions, ginger beer has a British origin. But it's certainly a part of Kiwi culture now. Absolutely everywhere you go, you can get a can, or, bottle, or keg depending on the ragingness of your alcoholism. Oh, I jest. There are alcoholic versions of ginger beer, but the soft drink form is much more common. And delicious, at least, in my highly sophisticated opinion. It's like ginger ale, just kicked up a knotch: ginger-y enough to make your eyes water. Burns so good.

Perhaps it seems a little more popular to me than it actually it though, since it's one of only four soft drinks that are readily available. Variety definitely isn't something Kiwis demand. If you want soda, you can have Coke, Sprite, L&P (Kiwi fizzy lemonade) or ginger beer. That's about it, unless you're at a big supermarket. There's also Vault (or "V") a toxic-colored energy drink. Almost every gas station and dairy has a sign out front advertising a meat pie and vault combo- the Kiwi equivalent of a burger and coke. But if you want say, a diet cherry coke, you're going to have to employ some of that famous number-eight-wire mentality and knock it up yourself.

In that spirit, I've decided to enhance the Kiwi-ness of my ginger beer experience and make my own. I hope it doesn't explode!

Is my absence is boring a hole in your heart so deep no amount of booze will fill it? A frosty mug of ginger beer won't fill the Rachel-shaped hole in your life, but you can take comfort in knowing I've

Lemon-based Ginger Beer Recipe is for 1.5 L plastic bottle
•2 tblspns warm water
•1/2 tspn sugar
•1/4 tspn dried yeast granules
•1 cup sugar
•juice of 2 lemons
•rind of 2 lemons
•1 tspn to 1 tblspn dried ginger
Put first measure of sugar in warm water to dissolve, add yeast and stir. Place in warm place to start working.
Finely grate or slice rind from 2 lemons and place in a heatproof container with the 1 cup of sugar and the dried ginger. Pour over 1 cup of boiling water and leave to steep for 10 minutes. Strain into 1.5 L plastic bottle in which the ginger beer will be made. Top up bottle with cool water to near top so that final temp is approx. body temp. Add yeast to bottle as soon as it shows signs of working, ie. it foams. Cap bottle tightly. Mix thoroughly and put in a warm place. Leave until bottle becomes undentable. Depending on the yeast this can take anything from 12 hours to 3 days, but best to check regularly, as I guess there is a risk of explosion with this! Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and OPEN WITH GREAT CARE!

What's wrong with a little destruction?

Carolyn told me last night that everyone who reads this blog is going to see Franz Ferdinand. At first I was extremely excited for Libbie since Franz Ferdinand is her Mighty Boosh, her Rushmore. But then I got a little jealous. Carolyn got to see Jarvis Cocker, Molly has Bret's t-shirt and Libbie's seeing Franz Ferdinand. When is it Rachel's turn? Maybe you're right Carolyn, maybe it's time I learn that it's never my turn. I mean, besides the fact that I'm living in the most exquisitely beautiful place on earth (check out my new photos in my picaso web album). But no Bret or Jemaine sightings yet. Although, there are posters of Rhys Darby Everywhere telling us to save the environment.

I'm also upset because I won't get to see Libbie overly excited like she's seen me many, many times. Are you ever uncomposed? I guess I'll never know. Since I'm not a rockstar and I can't afford to be destructive, I'll probably do something aggresively constructive like ripping apart coke cans to make jewellery or angry baking to channel my dissapointment. And while I'm doing this I'll listen to Franz Ferdinand and pretend I'm at the concert with y'all. So I guess I will be there, in spirit. Libbie, I dedicate this song to you:

Don't do anything your future husband would be ashamed to hear about. Unless it gets you backstage. Then I encourage you to use all your womanly assets. But good luck understanding them.

Cookie Time!

Rocky Road Brownies

Kiwi Words of the Week

Looking back on my blog, I can see it's been ages since I've done a Kiwi Word of the Week post. I have a hard time choosing flash words so I've been slagging off but since I'm no piker I decided to do a posts with heaps of slang. My week was chock-o-block full of exams and assignements. But I found out I got an A on a test I thought I did a hash job on so I bought myself some lollies as a pressie. They were really yum! Especially the tiramisu-flavored dairy milk but I ate too much and felt crook. I used the rest to make rocky road brownies for the dinner Joanna made for me and my flatmates. It was a good time but I was too knackered to update my blog afterword like I promised. No worries though, I'll have plenty of time to blog since I'm on holiday for the next fortnight. I have to go now because I'm going into town to go to the shops and then my mates are coming over for tea so we can suss out what we're doing over the break. Cheers!

My indisicive nature and experience with fashion has taught me not to hate something on principle. (Although I do enjoy and regularly engage in unmerited hating) but when ankle boots first became about three years ago I thought: "No. Just no. Not ever." And now I own a pair -isn't life ironic? Now I know you're thinking, "but Rachel, if you didn't like them why did you buy them? There must be more to this story you're not revealing. What happened inbetween?" Well, I'll tell you!

Once I had time to get used to them, I decided they were okay for some people. And then I decided I would really fancy some, providing they were black suede with a cuffed portrait collar- elf shoes, basically. Sadly, these seem to exist only in my imagination, probably because most people wouldn't willing choose to dress themselves like elves. I have, however, found these which are pretty close and practically named after me- I think it's fate.

Anyhow, my quest for ankle boots began. So last week when I bough some badly needed sneakers at the Warehouse, I got these as part of a 2-for-1 deal. I still can't decide if they're ugly or not, but I think, just maybe, they're ugly-cool. Here are some pictures of me wearing them, as requested by Libbie, so you can "see what New Zealand men see." The first outfit I wore to class. I can't decide if the second outfit is too crazy. I wore it to the produce store and no one seemed upset but since I'm a pretty poor judge of social conventions, I thought I'd let you guys decide.

I'd like to take the opportunity in this caption to say the reason I'm making a hipster d-bag face in the second photo is because I did not expect it turn out. But it was the only one that wasn't blurry (irony!) so I kind of had to use it. Plus it's kind of funny.

Is my outfit sociall acceptable? You Decide!

Cookie Time!

I decided that Thursday is my official cookie-making day. I don't have class Friday so Thursday nigths I've been livin' it up the only way I know how: baking while listening to glam rock. I'm not afraid of living on the edge. Neither apparently is Cookie Muncher, the mascot of Cookie Time, New Zealand's most popular cookie brand. I see his face pretty much everywhere I go. He seems to be a rather trippy rip-off of both the cookie monster and H.R. Puffinstuff. But I guess I should show some gratitude because he's responsible for the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookie I've ever had. It really tasted like a cookie!

Anyhow, this Thursday, I made...

Coconut Meringues with Lime Curd Filling

Any food is comfort food if you're sad enough.

It has come to my attention that most of my blog is about food and clothes. And I'm not
going to apologize like I usually do in the beginning of my blog entries because this is not going to change. These two things, after all, are core tenants of my being. Back in the old country, they served the vital function of distracting me from how incredibly boring my life is. I may live in a nearly uninhabitable desert populated by cockroaches and tumbleweeds but I can pretend my life has some semblance of glamour and excitement if I'm prancing around in metallic peeptoe pumps sipping ginger-infused mojitos and nibbling on chocolate raspberry pavlovas. Now that I live in New Zealand and my life is properly exciting, not much has changed. I still have pipe dreams of being a pastry chef/fashion designer. I still waste an inordinate amount of time on marthastewart.com and http://tavi-thenewgirlintown.blogspot.com/. I still dress like a fifties housewife and I still have an innate need to bake cookies. Which is why I'm introducing a new weekly feature. You'll see soon.

If this bothers you, consider this: Without food or fashion, all I'd have is my love of British pop culture. Just imagine if I had to pour all my obsessive, geeky energy into that. I'd be some grotesque caricature of a nerd instead of a fully realized human being. And I'd slip in a lot more pretentious British pronunciation/slang. So count your blessings. That being said, I will try to post more personal stuff- you know, like about my life and feelings and stuff. I'm working on a "Ten Secrets You Don't Know About Rachel" list like the kind that seem to be so popular among Internet folk.

I want y'all to know that I really, really appreciate your comments. Like so many aspects of my life I find myself riding an emotional roller coaster while blogging. First I get excited, then I feel inadequate because I can't think of anything clever to say and then I get frustrated and give up and post before I'm finished because I know the post is overdue. Your comments validate my struggle and repair my fragile, fragile self-esteem. I'm a delicate flower.

Even if I'm not successful, I really do try to make my blog entertaining for everyone. I should explicitly state now, in case you haven't noticed, that some of the pictures (usually the ones I didn't take) are linked to "surprises". I hope you'll enjoy them.

Kiwi Food of the Week

This week’s food was the first “foreign” item I bought five long here in New Zealand, those five long weeks ago. I was so naïve back then. In my excitement to discover the wonders of exotic Kiwi cuisine I failed to take into account the possibility that some the US’s most boring foods had different names in New Zealand. As Shakespeare eloquently put it: this don’t make them taste better. Like this week’s food:

"Sultanas" a.k.a...

"Raisins"

Well, technically, sultanas are a type of raisin. They're raisins treated with sulfur dioxide and flame dried to give them that sexy "golden glow." Almost all grapes in the US are sultana grapes and thus are raisins are sultanas as well, we just don't call them that. The history of the name "sultana" is probably more interesting than the food itself. The name refers to the feminine form of the title "Sultan". According folklore from the Ottoman Empire (and Wikipedia) a sultan was enjoying some grapes one day when a tiger began attacking him. Like a womanly coward, he fled, leaving the defenseless grapes at the mercy of the cruel sun. Thus, "sultanas" were born.Disenchanted trick-or-treaters everywhere can thank his sorry ass every time they get a box of raisins instead of candy.
But I'm not complaining. Raisins/sultanas have their place and they've certainly had their place in my life. So far, I've made rueglach, "Kitchen Sink Cookies", cinnamon rolls and various other things with them. I added them to the coconut rice pudding I made for my Thai dinner which one of my Kiwi guests said was a nice touch. Molly, I think you would really like the pudding- it starts to taste like coconut cake batter after a few days.
If you're interested, which judging by the number of comments I recieve about Kiwi Food of the Week you're not, here's a short list of common US foods and their Kiwi names:
Peppers= capsicum
Cucumbers=courgettes
Cilantro =coriander/ Chinese parsley
Red onions: pickling onions
Papayas= paw paws
Oranges= mandarins

When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True Story.

The weather is really beautiful today and I'm done with class until Monday so I think I'm going to continue on with the awesomeness theme. Last week some awesome things happened to me, or rather, I bought some awesome things.

Last Wednesday I walked all over town trying to find a suitably tacky pair of heels to go with my dress for the Masquerade Ball. I didn't find any then, but I did find a Salvation army store which had this (for $5.00!):Just buying it made me feel like a badass teenage rebel which is nice because I think wearing this jacket is the closest I'll ever get to being more like Daniel Desario than Sam Weir. Plus, this one has lovely darting so I don't have to worry about losing my shape while I'm rejecting societal conventions.

But, since I am first and foremost a lady I had to balance out m purchase with this:

It's sparkly, it has ruffles and it's a cardigan- all things Rachel. It's also a medium which means it doesn't fit. When I saw it in the store I convinced myself it'd be slouchy-casual, like boyfriend jeans. When I got home I discovered it is simply Too Big. Luckily, this hasn't stopped me from wearing it...

Kiwi Food of the Week

Since probably heard me a prattle on about this week's food even when you clearly weren't interested, I doubt it needs much of an introduction. But it seems wrong to ignore the rich history of this food, a national icon so ingrained in New Zealand culture it's become part of their everyday lexicon. (Supposedly, I haven't heard verbal evidence yet.) But I know better than to beat a dead fish, er, horse. So, without further ado...

"chocolate fish"

That's right, Rachel had her first chocolate fish. Because of the hype I've created in my mind surrounding chocolate fish I was waiting for a special occasion to buy my first "choky" fish. (Actually, I was waiting for someone to give me one, if I'm being honest.) But, like most things designed to attract children, I found the brightly colored wrapper irresistible. The verdict?

Eating this was sadly anticlimactic. As in, it was frankly terrible candy. Of course it cost roughly $0.25 US so I shouldn't have had such high expectations. But having reasonable expectations is not one of my strengths. The raspberry marshmallow center was tough and dry. It really made me appreciate my homemade strawberry marshmallows, which I still have a scar from. And the chocolate coating was too thin to have taste. Don't cry for me, though-there's plenty of varieties to try and try I will.

What has two thumbs, speaks limited Spanish and hasn't cried once this month? Este mi!

Yesterday marked the one month anniversary of my arrival in Hamilton. It's strange to think I've been here a month already but now that I've had a month to consider I can definitively say I love New Zealand. I love waking up each morning to a leisurely breakfast of kiwis, kiwi tea (I'm now a tea-drinker) and muesli. I love how everywhere looks like postcard. I love walking over the Waikato River on my way into town. I love how friendly and relaxed the people are. I love the astounding number of exciting things to do here. I think part of the reason I can't believe it's been a month already is because there's so much left to explore. Which I will be doing Saturday when I take a three-hour blackwater rafting trip through Waimato's famous glow worm caves. In short, my life is kind of awesome.

I think the only thing I don't like about New Zealand is that generally laid-back atmosphere is rubbing off on me. Since coming here I've been so...lazy. For example, today I was planning to go back and fix the last two posts which I posted accidentally and couldn't be bothered to edit. Then I was going to do two or three more posts since I've decided Wednesday is my blogging day. I was also going to go to the gym. Clearly, none of this happened. So I hope you can believe me when I say that from now on I really am going to try to work harder on this blog. Starting tomorrow.

Cheers,

~Rachel~