This place is amazing.  Arthur Avenue is like Little Italy minus all of the tourist stuff.  Here it’s all authentic, and the sandwiches at Mike’s are something worth driving for.   Bring a cooler and buy some sharp locatelli, tasty italian suasage, fresh made ravioli, and baked-to-perfection bread and you’ve got almost all of the ingredients for your next meal back at home.  Add some of Mom’s homemade sauce and you’ve got a meal that has been more than 30,000 kilometers in the making.

What a week!  Two big storms provided the bookends for what was a perfect week of sunny weather.  Hurricane Bill passed by when we first arrived and sent some massive surf towards the coast (see the small person standing in front of that wave?).  While the authorities kept everyone out of the water for the first day or so, the storm provided a great opportunity for the aspiring surfers to catch some waves.   We managed to do a much better job catching waves than we did catching fish.  While we weren’t fishing or surfing we filled our time swimming in the incredibly warm water, eating massive amounts of delicious food, playing games on the beach, napping, sipping the occasional beverage, and just enjoying quality time with good friends.

Alas. the week has come to a close (we didn’t win the $333 million lottery so we had to leave) and we’ve returned to the Hipple household to plot out our next moves.  In true beach lover form, we watched a surfing movie the night we got back from the beach house and then returned to the coast the next day to get back in the water.  From here the job and housing search is ramping up and the vacation is almost over.

Perhaps we’ll get a call from the Amazing Race.  Perhaps someone reading this will want to hire two hardworking people who love to travel, take photographs, write and have fun.  We’ve had a lot of practice.  We’re good at it.  Hire us.

We screeched into Michigan with brake pads nearly gone, headlights barely functioning, and stomachs craving egg sandwiches and broccoli casserole.  The Smith family house was exactly what we needed and Jeff and Jackie kindly welcomed us and all of our dirty laundry with open arms.  By the time we left Michigan our brake pads were replaced, headlights rewired, clothes cleaned, and tummies full of delicious food–thanks Jackie and Jeff!

Of course, it wasn’t all work.  We spent plenty of time “Up North” at Higgins Lake cruising around on the boat, tubing, kneeboarding, and water skiing (which I discovered is the cheapest way to get a high powered enema).  We also managed to squeeze in a few days at Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan.

With the end of our trip looming overhead, we also started to think about the inevitable–finding work.  So, in the midst of all the fun and games we managed to apply for a job of sorts.  In the spirit of adventure and up-for-anything attitude that has led us halfway around the world, we tried out for a TV show–The Amazing Race.  Our cousin Alex told us that we would be awesome for this show, and then by a stroke of luck there happened to be an open casting call in Michigan just days later.  It didn’t matter that we had never heard of the show or watched it.  We figured we’d trust our family’s advice and just go for it.  Stay tuned for an update on the job search!

We also had a chance to stop at the “World Famous” Mangonui Fish Shop for some delicious fish and chips.  It’s funny how things work out sometimes.  Ever since writing that post about the fork, we can’t seem to get away from them.  Joanie landed a few forks at the fish shop amd then we went snorkeling a few days later and one of the first things we saw was a fork in some seaweed.  Spaghetti has been much more enjoyable lately.

Another huge highlight was catching sight of our first wild kiwi (the bird, not the mulleted rugby type–seen plenty of those).  At Trounson Forest Park we strapped on our headlamps and took a night walk in search of the elusive kiwi and were treated to a fleeting glimpse of a dark blob scratching through the forest floor.  You can see the picture here.

We also found another massive eel on the same walk–they spend around 70-80 years in freshwater before returning to the sea to mate and die!  Finally, we topped off the wildlife mania with a visit to some ancient kauri trees.  Wow!

As exciting as all of that was, I think the highlight for us may have been a visit to the Kauri Museum on the west coast.  We felt as if we had landed in the Deming, New Mexico of New Zealand.  Deming, of course, was the sight of the coolest museum of our New Hampshire to California road trip, and the Kauri Museum was similar in many ways.  When you’re inside the museum you can’t help but wonder where the heck am I?  From the outside you just have no idea how big the place is.  And, like Deming the museum is lucky to have a dedicated staff of volunteers and is filled with tons of artifacts from the local region.  The Kauri Museum, however, does have a theme to it–kauri trees and logging–though there is also plenty of other stuff thrown in (no braille editions of Playboy however).  The best part is that a group of older guys who like to tinker with machinery have fixed up old sawmills, milking sheds, etc. so you can see these things actually working.  And all of the mannequins running these machines look just like the guys who fixed them up.  The attention to detail was incredible.  The dentist’s office patient had blood in all the right places–mouth, shirt collar, vest, gauze on the table–there were even mud smears from his gumboots on the chair’s footstool.  You won’t see that in the Smithsonian.

Where to next?  With just a couple of weeks left we’ve been feeling a desire to get out of the cold, under a roof, and back to our favorite place in New Zealand.  Any guesses where that might be?

We use our forks for everything.  Cut, mash, pile, scoop–you name it, we do it with our forks.  Inevitably, when we sit down to share a meal with someone they eventually can’t help but ask if we ever use a knife.  And, we’re usually not the first Americans they’ve called out on this.  Here in British influenced New Zealand people deftly use knife and fork for eating.  There are times that we feel a bit barbaric because of this.  And, when we do attempt to use knife and fork in the “proper” way it feels a bit more than awkward.  But, I am offering no apologies.   I’m here to defend the fork!  If this is the real reason why the founding fathers declared independence then good for them!  In my book there are two things that knives are really needed for–steak and butter.  For everything else a fork will do just fine!  If one tool will do the job then why bother with others?  And really, is it necessary to use a knife to arrange mashed potatoes?  Plus, if you’ve got both hands occupied with utensils, how are you supposed to reach across the table to grab another slice of bread and stuff it into your mouth?

Of course, the only times we have used forks are when we’re at someone’s house or a restaurant.  Since November we’ve been travelling with only spoons and haven’t bothered to pick up a fork along the way.  If only the Kiwis could see us camping–what would they think?

One of the things that we wanted to do during our trip to New Zealand was learn how to make cheese.  We couldn’t have picked a better place than Cwmglyn Farm under the care of Biddy and Colin Fraser-Davies.  Simply put, this is cheesemaking at its finest.  Each wheel of cheese is made from one cow and a cheese connoisseur is sure to have their favorite cow.  Molly and Emily, the two winter milking cows, are treated to Huggie wipes of their udders, and a snack of molases while Biddy and Colin tended to the milking each morning.  The care that they took for their cows was evident in the quality of milk, cheese, and butter that Biddy produced.  As Biddy assured us, healthy well cared for brown cows will produce delicious cheeses and she is right.  We consumed more delicious dairy in the last week than we have in the last 4 months!  On the morning that we helped with cheese making we were very excited to learn that as Biddy would say “the cheese almost makes itself”.  Needless to say with the ease of the process now evident, (although I’m sure Biddy’s skill and experience made this process seem easier than we will find it!) we are excited to try this out when we have a home and kitchen- hmmm?.   For the details on cheese making Biddy and Colin’s website is a great place to start complete with step by step directions.

Another exciting part of Cwmglyn Farm is the model railway that Colin has created.  We thought we had an idea of what playing with trains was all about when Jackson was in his train phase a few years ago, but this takes it to a whole new level!  Colin has created and assembled one of the largest model train layouts in New Zealand–you’ve got to see the pictures to really understand what that means, and even then the pictures don’t capture it all.  The sprawling tracks and surrounding towns of the layout take up a 16 meter by 10 meter shed–built specifically to house the railway.  Once a month, Colin and 5 or 6 of his friends actually run the trains on a timetable and we were lucky enough to witness the railway in action.

In addition to learning a bit about the cheese making process and experiencing the model railway, we were happy to have the company of such great people.  We need to say a huge thank you to Biddy and Colin for welcoming us, teaching us, bearing with us when the quiche we made for dinner was not done until 7pm, and giving us a cozy little space to stay in complete with a woodstove and my absolute new favorite thing, an electric blanket.  If you’ve never owned an electric blanket it should certainly be the first item on your birthday or Christmas list.  Sadly, we left the electric blanket and farm behind in search of more adventures.

Joanie here for my first blog attempt!  We’ve barely had time to write about what we’ve been up to, let alone New Zealand culture.  It may come as no surprises that New Zealand culture shares most things in common with that of the US.  One thing we have come to understand though is that Kiwi’s get their Vitamin D a bit differently- not from the sun, but from the coffee they consume.  Coffee- Vitamin D? Yup.  There seems to be a plethora of cafes (1/NZ resident I think) serving various types of milky, espresso coffees from flat whites and short blacks to lattes and mochas.  There is, however, no such thing as a regular cup of coffee which we have come to find out is referred to as filter coffee and seems to only be available for brewing at home.

While coffee beans are readily available at any New World, Pak’ N’ Save, or Countdown, they are nowhere to be seen in the multitude of cafes.  In fact, if you walk into a cafe and want a regular black coffee you may well get instant.  Yup- instant.  Seems there is no in between- no plain old filter coffee and no half and half either.  If you ask for half and half you will get a questioning stare.

Back to the grocery store- Kiwi’s have their fair share of caffeinated products to choose from, including coffee with milk in a squeeze tube- just add water, available in a canned variety as well.  Sorry to say we have not had the opportunity to test out this Nestle product yet.

Speaking of dairy, what’s up with Kiwi ice cream?  So many cows and so little quality ice cream.  Yes, they’ve got Hokey Pokey and as a lover of honey I can appreciate the honeycomb chunks, but where is the ooey gooey chocolaty, caramel, nutty yumminess we find at the Granite State Candy shop in NH or the Dairy Bar in MI?  One thing is certain, we will miss the fancy coffees (which we indulged in daily during our stay at The Pailion), and we are craving a massive (Kiwi’s love that word) waffle cone served up New England style from Goldenrod.

Colac Bay is a beautiful gem of a place on the south end of the South Island.  The surfing is great, the moon rises over the ocean, and the locals are incredibly friendly.  Julie, the owner of the restaurant (an an incredibly generous hostess) had asked us to stay through the Easter holiday to help out when things got busy.  We didn;t know what we were in for.  Easter is a HUGE deal here.  The nearby town of Riverton hosts annual horse races over the Easter weekend and things get busy at the Pavilion.

Through our first week at the restaurant we worked on lots of odd jobs–gardening, scrubbing decks, refinishing chairs and tables, and doing lots and lots of dishes in the kitchen.  The big project, however, was the renovations to a small room off the side of the restaurant to transform an old storeroom into a new bar.  This project was the definition of a community effort.  We felt as though we met most of the town as we helped with the renovations and through the restaurant.  The restaurant staff was great, and we ate gourmet lunches and dinner every day.  A huge thanks to our two chefs Dan and Rina for all the good food.  We also owe a huge thanks to Mary, maker of incredible desserts among other things and the most perfect Pavlova in New Zealand.  We got to know Mary’s boys Ricky, Nigel, and Bevin as well through the bar project, and we enjoyed a rauckus evening hanging out with them, playing music, and laughing an awful lot.

It was a big push to get the new bar ready for Easter weekend, but everything fell into place and the Foreshore Bar was packed on the weekend (And check out the vintage surfboard hanging from the ceiling courtesy of Don!).  People know how to have a good time in Colac Bay.  One thing we loved about our nights hanging out with everyone is that there’s lots of singing and music and it doesn’t matter how talented or untalented you are–just sing!  Easter in Colac Bay is really a three or four day party and we just happened to be around for it.  Woohoo!  I spent a good portion of the weekend driving the restaurant “courtesy coach” back and forth to Riverton to bring people to the races, bring people to the bar, drive them home from the bar, etc., while Joanie took a few turns as bartender/waitress when things got really busy.  In all it was an awesome two weeks.  There’s so much more to tell, but we just don’t have the time.

We did get a chance to go to the Riverton Races on Eater Monday, and Julie generously gave us two “sponsor’s tickets” which meant we had free beer and food all day at the races.  We got off to a great start at the track, picking a $50.00 winner on our first bet (We need to thank our Irish friends JP and Sorcha who inspired us to pick Celtic Dreams in that race).  From there it was a mixed bag of winners and losers, but we left with more money in our pockets than we came with.  We’re ready for Belmont when we get to NY!

A.  The incredible mountain scenery.

B.  Waterfalls at every turn.

C.  Quiet nights camping under the brilliant southern skies.

D.  Eating massive chocolate bars.  (This one cost $2.00 US)