Struan Farm

Damsons & Syrian Seven Spice Mix: A Match Made in Heaven

I froze several containers of damsons from the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand this past summer so that I could play around them a bit further when time permitted. And damp, chilly winter days are usually a good time for playing around in the kitchen here at Struan Farm.

On my recent trip to the US I went to a store in Charlottesville, Virginia called The Spice Diva, where I purchased a container of the shop's custom blended "Syrian Seven Spice Mix." I've since discovered that this is one of those things that is different in every home, with every cook, and also in different Arabic countries. The Spice Diva's mix has allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, rosemary, nutmeg and green cardamom, although I'm not sure of the relative proportions of each spice/herb. It's fragrantly aromatic, heady even, and smells like it would be great in both savoury and sweet dishes. It's also something I've been wanting to play around with.

Today I decided it was time to play with both, making "Syrian Seven Spice Damson Jam." And boy am I glad I did this.

First the fruit is covered with water in a pot and cooked gently until soft, skins breaking.

The cooked fruit is then drained, and either sieved or put through a food mill ("mouli") to remove the stones and make a puree. I've bought a new mill that has interchangeable plates with different sized holes, and this has made a big difference working with damsons. Much easier!

Weigh the puree before putting it back into the jam pan, where it is warmed gently. Then add an equivalent amount of sugar and any spices. I added one tablespoon of the Syrian Seven Spice mix for 1.4kg of puree, but I've also used a combination of ginger, cloves and cinnamon that works well too. Boil the jam vigorously until set. (Trust you know about putting a plate in the freezer and then drizzling hot jam on the cold plate and running your finger through it. If it stays separated and doesn't run you're good to move on.) This doesn't take very long at all, the fruit must have heaps of pectin. Pour into prepared sterilised warm jars and seal.

This jam is a beautiful ruby colour, and tastes delicious. It's not terribly sweet, with savoury elements thanks to the Syrian Seven Spices. I am just loving it.

I'd intended to contribute the jam to the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand, but am thinking I may need to hold back a jar or two for our use. Fortunately the fruit yielded seven good sized jars, so think I can keep a jar or two without feeling too guilty...

 

 

 

 

Kale Chips a la Charlottesville

I had a lovely dinner recently at the Farmington Country Club on my visit with friends Kris and Bob in Charlottesville, Virginia. For starters we shared some kale chips, which were lightly battered and seriously moreish, unlike any other kale chips I'd had.

Of course being the foodies that we are we drilled down on the recipe, and were told the batter was made with chickpea flour. The assistance pretty much stopped there, I suspect the recipe is a much guarded state secret. I emailed and asked if they might be willing to share it with a visitor from New Zealand, but no such luck. Didn't even get a reply!

Upon returning home to Struan Farm well, you know me. I decided to do some homework. I discovered a recipe for Crispy Spiced Kale by Martha Rose Shulman that looked suspiciously like the recipe for the kale chips we had, and decided to experiment:

These were absolutely similar in terms of consistency, now I'll just need to recruit Kris to help me hone in on the seasoning. The recipe called for Aleppo chile, cumin, garam masala and ground coriander with fresh scallions. I think the ones we had might have had parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, but my memory could be faulty. Need to check with the locals.

The batter is made with chickpea flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and sparkling water. The trick is getting the oil very hot before the battered kale goes in, it's the first time I actually used a thermometer to make sure it was hot enough. These are reminiscent of pakoras, so enough for a light meal for me when I'm on my own.

Pretty Pears

I returned home to Struan Farm from my weekend trip to Nelson with a bag of these beautiful red pears in my suitcase. I'd return with heaps more seasonal fruit but for Air NZ's weight restrictions, I'm always a bit nervous I'll be faced with the choice of having to toss things out at the airport or being charged a ridiculous sum of money, so err on the conservative side (for once). These made the cut, a new variety being grown in the area.

I put a few in the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand but used most of them for a simple dessert. I thought they were a Nadia Lim recipe, but can't seem to find the link. Either way, put quartered pears (don't need to core or peel) in a baking dish with a bit of water and a few tablespoons of maple syrup. Dust then with cinnamon. Bake until quite tender, turning to that the cut sides spend time sitting in the liquid to soften. Serve with ice cream or yogurt, yum!

Autumn Weekend Getaway

I popped away for a few days this past weekend, leaving John to hold down the fort at Struan Farm. Friend Glen recently moved from Doone Cottage, her rural home for many years along the Motueka River outside of Nelson, to be closer to "civilisation" in town. Her new home is along an estuary in nearby Riwaka. It's still quite scenic but just five minutes from town. I was keen to see where she's moved and have a good catch up on how it's all going. At certain times in our lives we make major life changes that rattle the status quo, and this is a rather big one for Glen. 

After my visit with Glen I spent a second night in Nelson. The area is well known for its horticulture, there are wineries, fruit stands and markets in the surrounding area full of interesting things, at this time of the year particularly. As someone known to brake for apples and pears I was in seventh heaven! 

Later in the day I had a chance to wander around town, browse the shops and galleries, have dinner at my favourite restaurant, Hopgoods, and then hit the fantastic Saturday market before flying home. I came home with lemons, pears, and seed garlic in my suitcase, as well as a grapevine wreath. A fun, quick autumn getaway!

A Day Off

It seems we need to go away from Struan Farm in order to "allow" ourselves to rest and relax. At least this is the case for John, who is relatively new to being at the farm on a full time basis. I learned to pace myself about two years ago, not that I'm wanting to sound superior in this regard. I collapsed from exhaustion one two many times, so learned the hard way that one can't work full tilt every day or one pays the consequences in one way or another. The challenge is that there's an endless amount of work to do around this place that keeps calling out to us. Much of which we created. It's our fault and we know this.

So John declared a "holiday" this past Saturday before we both fell over. Also before the scheduled tsunami of farmstay guests lands at the front gate. I'd just rather call it "A Day Off," since "holidays" mean something far more extended to me. This didn't even qualify as a "long weekend."

We travelled over to Kinloch to see John's sister Anna and two of her daughters and their families for lunch. Her place is a short walk to the shores of Lake Taupo, and in summer when the place is busy with holiday makers it has the feeling of the lakeside resort it is. We tried to bring the leftover ham from Boxing Day as a hostess gift, but when that was graciously declined went bearing Piopio strawberries and blueberries instead.

It was good to get away. On the drive over we encountered this rather amusing "road hog." He or she was being watched by a motley mob of sheep and goats, who weren't too sure what he/she was up to.

It was also good to get home to Struan Farm, feed Clifford and water the veggie gardens. Bring on the tsunami!

Slow Poke

Since returning from my recent trip to California, where I sampled "poke" for the first time at Bear Flag Fish Company, I've been determined to try to recreate a reasonable facsimile of the dish here in NZ.

My first challenge was tracking down impeccably fresh, sushi grade ahi tuna, but that turned out to be relatively easy. Egmont Seafoods, a wonderful fish supplier based near the port in New Plymouth, has it available for sale each Wednesday.

Next I needed to find a "poke" recipe with which to play around. I was lucky enough to find one that is based on Bear Flag's version, here.  I couldn't find toasted sesame oil but had the regular sesame oil also called for, so went with that. The raw tuna is chopped against the grain into cubes, then marinated for two hours in soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice, chile sauce, white and black sesame seeds and green/spring onions.

Poke, pronounced "poh-kay," is a traditional Hawaiian dish of ahi tuna marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, or variations thereof. Think of it as the Hawaiian version of ceviche. It's healthy and delicious. In Newport Beach, California Bear Flag serves it with tortilla chips, and most people add guacamole (which maybe isn't quite so healthy!). Poke "bowls" are a bit trendy right now, especially in Australia.

Here's Bear Flag's version:

 

And here's my first attempt, with tortilla chips and a wee bit of guacamole (avos are still reasonably expensive here at the moment, so I didn't go overboard):

 

The verdict: it was good, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as Bear Flag poke. This recipe tasted too much of sesame oil vs. Bear Flag. When I make it again I'll most likely eliminate or reduce the sesame oil and increase the Sriracha chile sauce and lime juice. To make matters worse, the avos in my guacamole were bland and watery, and it goes without saying that those sure weren't California tortilla chips. My experiments will continue, but  I might just need to accept that an exact recreation of Bear Flag's poke may not be possible. At least not without getting my hands on the recipe!

It also might make sense for me to research how traditional Hawaiian poke is made, to taste and understand the authentic dish and improvise from there. For this I was working with someone's improvisation of someone's interpretation and hoping it would get me to where I wanted to go. 

 

A Winter's Break

Yes, I went away overseas. You might not have figured that out, since I wrote and scheduled blog posts to keep things humming while I was gone from Struan Farm. There are almost always enough stories to tell, things that happen, to do that. Typepad did have a bit of a malfunction, not posting to Twitter or FB for a day or so, but I was able to chase them up and get things corrected from afar.

John and I flew over to Southern California together for a wee winter's break. He had a business meeting, then headed back to New Zealand. We stayed together for a few nights at the westdrift Manhattan Beach, formerly the Marriott, after which I went to stay with friends. We had a chance to do a bit of shopping for him, visit Whole Foods to experience that situation, and go for walks. I lived in Manhattan Beach many years ago now. Much has changed but much has remained the same. I still know my way around and am able to adjust to driving on the right hand side of the road in all that traffic. 

The weather was perfect:

The avos reasonably priced, even at the high end gourmet supermarket, Bristol Farms:

Once I got down to Corona del Mar/Newport Beach to stay with friends Laura and John the gourmet fare improved considerably. Breakfasts were homemade muesli (Struan Farm's recipe), fresh berries, Siggi's low fat, low sugar Icelandic style "skyr" yogurt, and freshly ground coffee. Lunches included Taco Maria, the LA Times' Restaurant of 2018, Zinc Cafe  ,with its healthy salads, and Le Pain Quotidien, where we had a "grains bowl" made with quinoa, farro, kale, roasted kumara/sweet potato, pecans and goat cheese.  

At Taco Maria we enjoyed a starter called "aguachiles," scallops marinated in citrus juices and cilantro (coriander) oil with thin slivers of watermelon radish and cilantro flowers. For our mains we tried a fish and a chicken taco each that were made with blue corn tortillas. I preferred the chicken mole, Laura preferred the fish. Either way, the food was excellent and service outstanding. I'm going to try making the aguachiles, since we can grow watermelon radishes here and make coriander oil. With scallops from the Marlborough Sounds, of course.

 

I was introduced to "poke," raw ahi tuna with various seasonings, at Bear Flag Fish Company. I will definitely try to make "poke" once I can get my hands on some sushi grade tuna from Egmont Seafoods. They've told me it's stocked on Wednesdays, and they can courier. The Bear Flag recipe seems to have chile sauce, black and white sesame seeds, and perhaps a splash of lime juice. We shall test it out. And as you would expect everything tastes better with chips and guacamole.

 

We enjoyed local produce and Icelandic cod at The Farmhouse at Roger's Gardens. Their tagline is "field to fork." Our server wasn't quite up with the play in describing the provenance of the food, but I was interested to learn that passionfruit is now being grown in California. Most Americans have never seen or tasted it, don't know how to use it. Dinner my last night was in Laguna Beach at Broadway by Amar Santana. This was by far the most hip and happening place I dined at. Laura, John and I shared a dessert called "The Beehive," a wonderful honey goat cheese mousse based on an almond sponge, encased in meringue with elderflower jelly, honeycomb, edible flowers, and honey ice cream. The people watching was also quite good.

 

Aside from the gourmet extravaganza, there were lots of long walks and shopping (of course). The wardrobe and makeup stash were refreshed, along with some bed linens. Regrettably I had to jettison some rather special Temecula Olive Oil Company balsamic vinegar (apple) and olive oil (roasted garlic) due to Air NZ luggage restrictions. Laura was the winner on that one. I've contacted them to see if they might be able to ship to me, along with their honey balsamic and pomegranate balsamic. It was very hard to choose amongst them! Their shop in Laguna has a tasting room, a great idea.

While I normally read quite a number of books when I travel, I didn't manage to do so this trip. Jet lag got the better of me, it was a shorter trip. On the flights over and back I did watch a few movies: "Four Billboards," "Moana," "Ladybird," "The Battle of the Sexes," "I, Tonya," and "Paddington 2." I realised too late that I should have swapped out Paddington for "Phantom Threads," actor Daniel Day-Lewis' final film before retirement, but we may get around to seeing that one here in NZ.

It was a good break. The warmth and sunshine helped my Vitamin D levels and mood generally, I had a good fill of avocados, and I'm looking less "farm-y" according to John, my fashion advisor. Anticipating the impending demise of plastic grocery bags, I returned home with a supply of reusable shopping bags from Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. They are good sized and cost quite a bit less than the $6.99 being charged at New World for those burlap Trelise Cooper numbers!

Oh, and my only impractical purchase?

It will be transformed into a Christmas decoration, eventually, once I finish the grandchildrens' Christmas stockings. Santa at the Beach, a very Kiwi concept, from Jebba Needlepoint in Corona del Mar. He had to come home to Piopio with me.

 

 

 

A Visit to Gibbs Farm

It's taken me a few days this week to have the time to sit down and write about our visit north this past weekend. John and I travelled up to Auckland and further north to go to an open day at Gibbs Farm. The trip was to raise funds to support the Auckland Art Gallery.

It was an amazing day. The 1,000 acre private property overlooks the Kaipara Harbour, and has a growing collection of monumental sculptures (20+) by major contemporary artists installed in dramatic, open air settings. Animals, exotic and otherwise, range around the place. The farm is open monthly by appointment to educational institutions, artists, charities and the public. It is a very special place that everyone should see it at least once. In New Zealand the phrase "world class" is overused and often aspirational, reflecting in my mind some self-esteem issues, but I don't know how else to describe Gibbs Farm.

I was going to spend some time researching the works and artists but have given up on that in the interest of time and my fear that I wouldn't do them justice despite some art history education many years ago. Artists include Richard Serra, Andy Goldsworthy, Maya Lin (who designed the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. and is currently working on the renovation of the Neilson Library at my alma mater, Smith College), and Len Lye, amongst many others.

My favourites were a new work entitled "Jacob's Ladder" by Gerry Judah, "Dismemberment, Site 1," by Anish Kapoor, and "Te Tuhirangi Contour" by Richard Serra. The light and sky weren't terribly good for photography that day, but I'll share some photos with you below so you can get an idea of the variety of works and the massive scale, of both the art and the landscape. 

 

As you might imagine, this has given John a few "ideas." We'll work our way through that.





 

 

 

Almost Nelsonian?

You may recall on our not-so-recent weekend away in Nelson John sampled an amazing gin & tonic cocktail at the Cod & Lobster Brasserie. 

He chose both gin and tonic from an extensive/overwhelming array of options, but we were perhaps most impressed by the presentation, in a huge vintage cut glass goblet, sprinkled with lemon zest and juniper berries:

Now you might say we don't get out enough, and that would be true! But he enjoyed the drink sufficiently that I decided to try to recreate the experience at home at Struan Farm.

The perfect glass is still a work-in-process. (The one above may actually be a fruit compote rather than a glass? Or maybe a water goblet?) But I found a large inexpensive glass goblet at an "op shop" in nearby Te Awamutu that met the brief sufficiently for a first attempt. I picked up a boutique gin made in Taranaki (New Zealand) called "Juno," along with "Fever Tree" and "East Imperial" Old World Tonic. I had the fresh organic lemons and juniper berries on hand, although I did have to buy an old style lemon zester having progressed to micro-planers for most of my zesting requirements these days. My technique with lemon peel also needs some work, no corkscrew effect....

Not bad for my first effort if I do say so myself, and it seems I am needing to do so. Do you think we can characterise it as "almost Nelsonian?" 

John wasn't quite as enthusiastic as I'd hoped he'd be. To be fair, this probably says more about Karen and her "joie de vivre," which can be a wee bit overpowering when she gets going. He did enjoy the drink, or at least he said he did. (Let's just say that John has adopted the mantra "happy wife, happy life." He's a wise man in most respects.)

But my quest for the proper goblet continues. I promise it won't be turned into the stuff of Arthurian legend, but I do know the locations of a fair few antique, collectible, and "op" shops around the traps and I prefer that retro cut glass look. We'll try some other "boutique" or "artisanal" gins too, having learned there are a fair few out there to sample.

Porridge a la Nelson

In fact, this should be called "Porridge a la Morri Street Cafe." 

On our recent trip to Nelson John and I had breakfast at the same cafe every day. You will know I'm a creature of habit, so that would have been my choice. But I was also wanting more of their delicious porridge. On the menu it's served with bananas, but I wangled my way to blueberries, and learned at the end of day one that a half portion was available which suited me just fine.

The waitresses recognised us after the first day (John would say this is because of me). On day three I inquired about what made the porridge so good, and the waitress said that all she knew was that it was cooked with almond milk. So I've returned home and recreated the dish. Recreated the dish at least sufficiently for me.

Oats are soaked overnight in unsweetened almond milk in the fridge. For one portion I usually do 1/2 cup of oats to one cup of almond milk. Add cinnamon, lots. The next morning cook the oatmeal with a good glug of maple syrup and more cinnamon if needed. At the same time, toast a handful of pecans in a small frypan. Put the porridge in a bowl, top with the toasted pecans and blueberries (these are Piopio Berry Orchard blueberries that I thawed overnight).

An updated twist on a classic winter breakfast, yum!

A Weekend with Everything, Even Trees

Apologies that blog posts will be a bit thin on the ground this week. John and I travelled down to Nelson for an extended long holiday weekend for Queen's Birthday here in New Zealand. It was a belated birthday and anniversary present for me, we'd needed to wait until the farmstay season at Struan Farm settled down to get away for a few days, and that had been extended even further by the contractors staying in the Cottage.

But we made it to Nelson, hooray! Lots to do down there with the arts, food, wine, wonderful Saturday market, and friends to visit. Friday night we had an amazing dinner at my favourite restaurant in NZ, Hopgoods, but since we were a wee bit early for our booking we went next door for a drink at the Cod & Lobster Brasserie, where John had this extraordinary gin and tonic to whet his appetite:

I love the huge vintage glass and embellishments (juniper berries, curl of lemon peel). It was served with a special Indian quinine tonic called "Fever Tree," chosen to compliment the gin John selected from three pages of options. (Who knew one could be quite so serious about gin, or tonic for that matter? Perhaps we don't get out enough...)

On Saturday after breakfast with John's cousin Ann and a quick tour of the Nelson Market we spent some time walking in the Queen's Gardens, which are located next to the recently modernised Suter Art Gallery, where we saw an interesting exhibition of kinetic sculpture by Andrew Drummond. Later that day John splurged on some garden sculpture by Nelson artists  Brendon & Jane Harley (I know, John bought art!), before we met our friend Glen out in nearby Mapua for dinner at the wharf.

On Sunday afternoon we caught the new NZ documentary film "Pecking Order," a quirky story about rivalries amongst members of a Christchurch poultry club, all of whom are rather obsessive about chooks, before an early dinner and fabulous Irish music concert at the Theatre Royal that was part of the annual Ceol Aneas Irish Music Festival. 

But back to the Gardens. They have a number of notable heritage trees, many types of which we have in the Pet Paddock at Struan Farm, including several Dawn Redwoods, Swamp Cypress, and a huge Cedrus atlantica glauca, which I was interested to learn is also called "Atlas Cedar" and originates from northern Morocco and the Atlas mountains of Algeria.

 

John was thrilled that our large Dawn Redwood is much bigger than the Queen's. It's a guy thing isn't it? My tree is bigger than yours....

Suffice it to say that our weekend away had everything: companionship, great food and wine/gin, art, music, film, perfect weather, and even TREES. The one thing we missed out on due to time was Evensong at the Cathedral, but really, what more could one want over two days for a weekend escape?

The Forgotten World

Friends Bruce & Elizabeth, John and I got up very early this past Saturday morning and left Struan Farm for nearby Taumarunui. We'd booked a trip with Forgotten World Adventures along the Forgotten World Highway rail trail.

It was quite an adventure indeed! We were taken from the office in Taumarunui by bus to the depot, where the group of 30+ intrepid souls got into golf carts that had been reconfigured to run on the rails. Our group was in a four seater, with John at the helm. There is no steering involved, rather acceleration much like a ride on mower, so the Mad Mower was quite at home. Attention is required to maintain proper distance from other carts, also due to obstacles that might be on the tracks from slips, floods, etc. There is a guide at the front to clear the way if required, and a guide at the back to make sure no one is left behind. Initially we were asked to take the last cart in line to bring up the rear, which actually worked quite well for John to get comfortable with operating the cart on the rails. After morning tea (yep, the trip included morning and afternoon tea stops, lunch, and shuttle back up to Taumarunui) we were moved back up to the front behind the guide.

We signed up for the "20 Tunnel Tour," which had us travelling from Taumarunui to Whangamomona (The Republic thereof), a rather special, remote, little community known for its tongue-in-cheek secession from NZ and formation of a republic, something celebrated annually in the community. Dogs have been elected mayor in some years, but elections are tight contests, rather like Trump vs. Clinton, but with humour and not the hostility.

It was an absolutely amazing journey, and a very long day! The tunnels were built by hand from 1915 through 1945 and made with bricks fired in a village called Matiere. The tour explained the history of many of the various settlements, many of which were large thriving villages historically due to the tunnel constructions and coal mining. Most are now shadows of their former selves, hence the name "Forgotten World." The landscape is spectacular.

Enjoy some photos from the day. There are a number of different options (including pedal bikes that run along the tracks if you're into that), with trips running October-May. Really encourage you to consider this (of course come stay at Struan Farm too!).

Off the beaten track to say the least!




 

Mrs. Preston's Peaches

A few weeks ago John and I travelled north to spend a weekend and catch up with friends in the Kaipara, where John has just finished a four year governance gig.

We had dinner one evening with the Preston family at their Ruawai homestead. Mrs. Preston, the family matriarch, told me about her heirloom peach trees. They don't suffer from leaf curl and the fruit is delicious. They also self seed like mad, she has lots of spare little seedling trees.

You know where this is heading don't you? Two little peach trees have arrived at Struan Farm from up north, John picked them up before he left town. We've decided to pot them up to grow them a bit this year before planting them out in the "peach" area of our orchard.

Not sure what variety they are, but they'll be called "Mrs. Preston's Peaches" from now on!

Picnic at Waikawau

After attending the ANZAC Day commemoration service in Piopio yesterday friends Kris, Bob and I headed off for a picnic at the beach. It was a beautiful day, so I decided to take them to Waikawau Beach. We drove south on the main road from Struan Farm to Awakino and turned right at the sign to Marakopa. This road used to be metal in some parts but is now entirely sealed, at least until you turn off to head to Waikawau where it turns to metal, into one lane and gets "interesting." There's an old stock tunnel carved through the hillside that opens out to a beautiful rugged black sand West Coast beach. It was a fun spot for Kris and Bob on their last day here. 

For me this sort of spot epitomises New Zealand: so near, but yet so far. Close to civilisation, yet wild and remote. We were the only ones there!

An Apple A Day

As advertised, I wanted to share with you some of our apple related encounters while recently down in Nelson. The region is well known as an apple growing area, although many of the old orchard properties have been redeveloped into housing over time. 

Richards' Orchard Fruit Stall in Mapua is always on my flight path for heirloom/heritage varieties of apples, plums, quince, and pears in season.  

This year our trip coincided with the Wakefield Heritage Apple Fair, a fantastic community event. People were able to bring their apples for pressing into juice, or buy freshly squeezed apple juice at the fair as well as apples (and other foods/goodies). Teams of people were working away at various apple presses during the day, something that was really interesting to watch. Richards set up an exhibition of various heritage/heirloom varieties, some for tasting and sale. Entertainment included Morris dancers and a ukelele band, with games and apple bobbing for kids. It was a genuine, special community event.

And yes, the freshly pressed juice was delicious!

I was also able to get more information on a few of the apple varieties we have at Struan Farm, including Akane, Cox's Orange Pippin, Peasgood Nonsuch, Granny Smith, and Monty's Surprise. The latter is the only NZ apple amongst the lot.

As you can see, with the exception of Monty's Surprise, these varieties have been around for quite a long time. Interesting really, at least to me.

I'm thinking there's an apple press in my future, it would be great to be able to make freshly pressed juice with our apples at Struan Farm, especially as our eight trees start to produce fruit in greater volume.
 

 

Road Trip: Across the Street, oops Strait

Yes, crossing the Cook Strait to the South Island came next. Kris, Bob and I took the Interislander Ferry across to Picton from Wellington. Driving the car onto the ferry was a first for me.  Since I don't know my way around Wellington by car all that well, it was definitely an early morning challenge, but we got there without any problem.

It was a beautiful day for the crossing:

From Picton we stopped in Blenheim for a quick lunch enroute to our final destination, Nelson. I'd forgotten that Kris and Bob are serious wine afficionados, and with the route from Blenheim to Nelson packed with amazing wineries and vineyards the driver was asked to detour by just a few cellar doors for tasting: Fromm, Seresin (both an organic and biodynamic producer), Spy Valley, and last but not least, Gibson Bridge. At this time of year grapes are being frantically harvested 24/7 (as are apples), so it's an interesting time to visit the region. A stop at Gibson Bridge was recommended to us by Fromm given our interest in pinot gris; the boutique winery is making acclaimed and innovative wines with this particular varietal.  The owner Howard spent quite a bit of time with us explaining their wines, philosophy and business. I had never heard of them before this, but we're now dedicated fans for sure.

After these pitstops we made it to Nelson, where sunny blue skies reigned supreme for our entire visit. The following day we popped over to Golden Bay, finishing up in Mapua for an early sunset dinner at Jellyfish Cafe on the wharf.

Our real reason for having an early dinner in Mapua was to attend the opening of the Pastel Artists of New Zealand's national exhibition at the nearby community hall. Friend Glen Davenport, and as it turns out friend Anne Bannock, were two of the artists with pieces on exhibition. So after dinner we spent some time browsing and admiring pastel works from across New Zealand.

The remainder of our time in Nelson was spent walking on Tahunanui Beach, going to the fantastic Nelson Market on Saturday, and the Wakefield Heritage Apple Fair on Sunday. 

Apples deserve a separate post, which you'll see next. I might even throw in a quince or two!

 

Road Trip: Lest We Forget

Next stop on the road trip was Wellington, where we needed to overnight before taking an early morning Interislander Ferry across the Cook Strait to the South Island.

I'd heard from several people that it was important to see the Gallipoli exhibition at Te Papa, and with ANZAC Day coming up it was good historical context for visitors Kris and Bob. After checking into our hotel off we went! Lucky for us it was a beautiful day in Wellington.

Developed in conjunction with Weta Workshop, the exhibition profiles a number of individuals who went to Gallipoli, putting their experiences into context with particular events. Putting names and larger than life faces to those events served to humanise them, at least for me, making the exhibition quite an emotional experience.

I managed to maintain my composure winding through the exhibition, reading the various formatted displays about the landing and events, until I saw this: 

A chart of the percentage of each national force wounded or killed on Gallipoli. New Zealand was by far the highest, at 93%. I started crying, couldn't help myself. Fortunately this was towards the end of the exhibition, where there are paper poppies. Visitors are invited to write a note on a poppy in remembrance of a family member or commenting on their reactions to the exhibit. I simply reported that I was in tears from it all.

At the very end of the exhibition there is a screen where the national online cenotaph can be accessed. A museum docent helped me look up my father-in-law, who is indeed listed.

Yes, more tears! The bookshop outside had a box of tissues on the counter, so it seems I wasn't the only one overcome by it all.

In need of a lighter note, we spent the rest of the afternoon on a tour over at the Weta Workshop "Weta Cave."  At the entrance we encountered several trolls who have obviously escaped from our friends at Trollshaw Forest, aka Hairy Feet Waitomo. 

Naughty trolls!

 

 

 

 

Road Trip: Finding Frida

Sorry for dropping the ball for a few days this week. I've been away from Struan Farm, on the road for the past week or so with visiting friends Kris and Bob. I will fill you in on what we've been up to over the next several days.

Upon leaving Piopio our first overnight stop was Palmerston North, where we went to the Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science & History to see the Frida Kahlo photography exhibition. 

Te Manawa is the only stop in New Zealand for this touring collection of recently discovered personal photographs of Kahlo. They had been sealed up in Casa Azul, the house she shared with artist Diego Rivera, upon her death in 1954.

While we all knew quite a bit about Frida Kahlo's art and her relationship with Diego Rivera, all of us learned quite a bit more about her early family life and education, the debilitating treatments she endured for a serious injury sustained in a bus crash, her various romantic liaisons, and her political activities during a turbulent, revolutionary time in Mexico. 

Definitely worth a visit!

The Oystercatchers of Kellys Bay

Yes, travels up north, continued. For some reason Kellys Bay up in the Kaipara near Dargaville attracts a huge number of pied oystercatchers on the beach, something bird watchers visiting the area really shouldn't miss. It's worth the drive out to see them if you're interested in birds at all.

Apparently the locals aren't that keen about the birds, we were told they find them noisy and annoying. A gentleman I bumped into told me the numbers this day were actually lower than normal. He also said they were eating all of the flounder!

 

Tree Huggers

Our recent travels up north this past week included walks in the Waipoua Forest to see the ancient kauri trees, including Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest, the largest remaining kauri tree in NZ, and Te Matua Ngahere, Father of the Forest and the oldest remaining tree.

Thanks to John we took an amazing evening tour into this bush with Footprints Waipoua, learning much about the trees, bush, and local guardians of the forest. While friend Kris wasn't into hugging any of the trees, Bob and I decided to go for it:

And as the small group was led out of the forest in the dark by our guide Billy Boy we were lucky enough to hear the call of a male kiwi (bird, not human). Very special!