We just returned from six days on the Coromandel Peninsula, where we rented a condo with Mac's Mom (Barb) and explored a half-dozen local beaches. It was the big initiation for our new toys.... SUP PADDLEBOARDS! We had gorgeous weather and a wonderful experience, so now of course we think the Coromandel is this absolutely stunning region that we can't wait to revisit. Pretty soon you'll figure out why! |
Scallops are hard to find from shore, but we all had one as an hors d'oeuvre for dinner. YUM! The butterfish and red moki I fried in IPA beer batter and did in the Kiwi golden crumb-style fried fillet (double YUM!) The surf clams are WOW! I steamed them in a bit of white wine and water and served them with a creamy linguine. Mac also gathered some rock oysters and I fried those up, too. (Well, the oil was already hot, wasn't it?) Okay, so maybe our dinners weren't super healthy, but we did get to eat the freshest seafood around. Stay tuned for more spearfishing and paddleboarding action after we get back from our New Year's camping trip out to Eastland. We have both been excited to visit to see for ourselves if the fishing is as good as we hear it is. Of course, a lot depends on weather and water quality as always. There will also be shorecasting and flyfishing as options for rougher weather. We are taking it all. Expect to hear about more adventures in the near future! We are also taking GoPro footage, so when I get a bit of down time I'm going to make a video to share with y'all. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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We think they're Rainier cherries. They are so amazingly delicious! The apricot and plum trees are getting really weighed down with fruit too, but they're not quite ripe yet. After watching them grow for months I want to pick them already, but now that I have cherries I can be a bit more patient!
What an absolutely fantabulous weekend! Only in New Zealand. Friday night we drove four hours north to Rotorua, nicknamed Rotovegas because of all the attractions there. The main purpose of our trip was to get me to the Tikitapu Adventure Run (18 km). "Adventure Run" was the right name: the course took us on mountain-bike trails and featured plenty of trail-less running, which involved bushwhacking and tree-dodging up and down hills in the redwood and tree fern forest. There was plenty of slipping and sliding and grabbing onto the ropes provided in the steep sections. Running around Green Lake was such a visual treat, and finishing on the beach beat all! Check out this dorkalicious picture of me as I near the finish line. Mac and I went to three hot springs, two free ones and one private hot springs called Waikite Valley Thermal Pool that allows you to camp there (which is awesome because then you can get up and use the pools at 6am before anyone else!) We went on a couple hikes, checked out the bubbling Mud Pool near Wai-o-Tapu, and Mac went fly-fishing at a few lakes and streams that were known for trout, with mixed success. We left Rotorua with plenty of ideas for return trips...one weekend isn't nearly enough! Last weekend we traveled to the Taranaki region for three days of hiking and fishing. (Monday was Labor Day). Mac fly-fished the Stony River, which used to be a productive and somewhat famous trout stream but has very few trout now since a big wash-out several years ago. We went to another river system that he doesn't want to reveal where--surprise, surprise--he caught the nice rainbow below on a Hair's Ear. We enjoy eating trout so this is not a catch-and-release situation. :)
I am a beginner in the realm of fly-fishing, and with licenses at $140 a head I decided to wait until the cheaper winter season to buy one. Taranaki had some wonderful hiking, but looking through my camera's pictures I realized I did not take one photo of us hiking. I'll post some when I take Mom and Aunt Pam up there next weekend (they are visiting Nov 3 - Nov 20). There are over 70 hikes to do in Taranaki, so I'm sure their glutes will be mighty sore after our trip! I'm going to steal a couple photos from our previous weekend's camping trip out to Rimutaka Forest Park near Wellington so you can see how beautiful the forest is here. Last weekend I asked Mac if he could pretty-please nab a crayfish, some fish, and a few paua at the marine market--in jest. But he delivered! We got to try our first cray, our first local fish (a red moki, which unfortunately I do not have a picture of), and some more delicious paua (abalone). It was a seafood smorgasbord!
Last time we walked into the fishing spot, but this time we rode our bikes on the gravel road (no cars allowed here). Let me say again that our bikes are mega-champs. They are taking a lot of abuse.
We live in a city called Palmerston North (nickname “Palmy”). Check it out at: http://www.manawatunz.co.nz/ Of course, this is a bit ironic because I'm originally from another "Palmy"- Palmer- although we never thought of giving it such a cute nickname! Right now it's spring, and the weather is usually in the fifties and sixties (F). Palmerston North's population is 30% students and I read that 40% of people here are affiliated with education (there are several universities). It is the quintessential college town. When we tell Kiwis where we live, the usual response is, “Why would you move there?” The town isn't known for its charm and it's given only two pages in Fodor's NZ guidebook, even though it's the 8th largest city in the country at just over 80,000 people. But, that doesn't matter-- we really like Palmy for its laid-back lifestyle and its understated natural beauty. Plus, it's close to dozens and dozens of famous and un-famous awesome destinations on the lower North Island, as you've seen in the previous posts. So, there's always plenty to do and see! My favorite attraction in Palmy itself is the meandering paved bike & bridle path that follows the bank of the Manawatu and connects you to many city parks without you ever having to cross a road. Mac and I bought new bikes so that we can really enjoy all the biking in this country. Being able to bike in all four seasons with the same bike and just slightly different clothing feels like a real treat! That's the #1 best thing about Palmy--it's bike-friendliness. There are many bike lanes around the city and I can run all of my errands on my bike as long as what I buy fits in these panniers. Here are my other favorite parts of living here: #2: Growing a year-round garden. Right now I have my spring and summer crops planted in a small ground plot and many planters. Bonus: the backyard of the house we're renting has many fruit trees, including apricot trees, cherry or plum trees (can't tell yet), grape vines, and a lemon tree. How cool is that? #3 Drive to the mountains or the ocean in 30 minutes. Walking on a warm sandy beach....without the crowds...awesome!
The most fun Mac and I had was on our final day on the 65-km ride through farmland and jungle back to the car. We ditched our gear in Raetihi at the hotel so we could go light. NZ mountain bike tracks are superb! We pushed our bikes to the limit-- they are not mountain bikes-- and they did not let us down through deep mud, rockslides, and overgrown sections. There were gorgeous sights to be seen and some peaceful moments to enjoy, as well as enough adventure to satiate our appetites for a while. All the pictures you see show us having a great time because I never took my camera out during the miserable/exhausting periods! ;) Next entry: Something tamer than this. Also, I am almost done with the article on Palmy (where we live), so stay tuned for that entry. :) Typical scene showing the Kaiwhakauka track to Whakahoro. This trail was little used, and I wonder why-- it is is a fabulous 16-km mostly downhill track through awesome forest, except for one strange part through a farm where we were literally riding through cows. Definitely a mountain bike course, though, and a stretch for our bikes.
Last weekend we drove to the neighboring Wairarapa region, which is known for wineries, coastal scenery, and hiking/biking in national parks. The gorgeous weather on Saturday convinced us to abandon our former winetasting plans and take advantage of the natural (and free!) adventures that this region has to offer. We spent the night at the Putangirua Pinnacles campground and hiked up to these spectacular landforms that are featured in LOTR's Return of the King. These are SO much cooler than you can possibly capture in pictures because you can see them up-close as you walk along the dry streambed. In my opinion, a must-do for the North Island! With seas calm, Mac took a dip off the coast near Ngawe, which is known for its spearfishing. However, it's not known for its water clarity. Mac said it was spooky diving with the seals in murky water. Here you can see one checking Mac out from the ledge above him: Everything you hear about New Zealanders being friendly is really true. We have had so many pleasant encounters; I'll tell you about one of them. While Mac was diving I struck up a conversation with a nice older man who was staying at a friend's bach (Kiwi for "vacation home"), and we were both invited over for a cup of coffee. Before long we were drinking homemade white wine, feasting on lunch made with local hare, invited to use the gentleman's boat, invited to go hunting, and invited to stay there next time we were down in the area. It's too much! Mac found a couple lobsters but both were too small by two millimeters--shucks! Rock lobsters here (colloquially known as crayfish or crays) look a lot like Florida lobsters, but have larger pincers. You are not allowed to spear them, but must take them with a noose (not spring-loaded) or by hand. In the videos we've seen of lobster diving here, the freedivers just snatch them with their hands. You check their underbellies first to see if they're females, and then measure the tail. Minimum size is measured by tail girth (at second segment) instead of length, and they have to be quite large to be legal. Mac did manage to collect more paua, and found the other common species (yellow-footed abalone). These have a much smaller minimum legal size. We ate both raw as sashimi with a spritz of lemon juice, wasabi, and soy sauce, and after comparison I think that the black-footed ones are better-tasting. Here are some fritters I made in the style of conch fritters-- yummy!! We visited the Cape Palliser lighthouse, and Christian I was thinking of you as I climbed those 250 steps--remember early mornings doing stairs in the SRC hockey stands? The weather changed from sunny and calm to a horrible "southerly" on Sunday. Mac and I tried walking along the beach at Ferry Lake and had to turn around in just a few minutes after being assaulted by bitter wind and driving rain. It's still "winter" I guess! But, we will definitely return to Wairarapa. We just had a towbar installed on the minivan and bought a bike rack for it so that we can haul around our bikes more easily, and we're excited to check out the coastal bike trail and do the winery bike tour in Martinborough.
Next entry: All about Palmy! We met a very nice Maori gentleman in Taupo who gave us the lead on a place to go spearfishing and shellfish gathering about 1.5 hours south of here, so looking at the weather for Sunday and deciding that the wind was blowing from the right direction for calm and clear seas on the West coast, we set off and managed to find the spot. It's a walk-in only area and Mac was the only spearfisherman in the vicinity as far as I could see. Well, only a few minutes in and Mac already struck "black gold"! That is the nickname for the black-foot abalone around here. They are commonly known as paua, their Maori name. I didn't realize how lucky we are to be ocean hunter/gatherers in New Zealand. There is no saltwater fishing license, even if you're not a Kiwi, and not a lot of competition--there's a lot of coastline! The abalone limit is an incredible 20 per person a day (ten of each species max). Abalone have been so overfished elsewhere that they are heavily restricted; for example, in Oregon you can get one per day up to five per year with a special permit. To buy farmed abalone you can expect to pay $100/kg in the shell. Wow!
Mac has removed the paua from its shell with a wooden spoon, and cut off the viscera. Then he scrubbed the bitter dark coating from the skin; that's why the paua on the right is whiter. You can see the beautiful iridescent colors in the empty shells on the counter; many people make paua into jewellery.
Mac has been reading the book New Zealand Fishes to try to memorize all the good-eating fish and has been trying to get familiar with minimum sizes on all the best-eating fish. Of course these are all in centimeters, so it takes a bit of getting used to! He bought a sticker that goes on the speargun and shows the min. lengths for all popular fish that have size requirements. Stopped at a beach and wetlands preserve on the drive home. That is Kapiti Island in the background. I was struck by how empty the beach was at sunset.
The packraft trip came to fruition! Mac and I floated a Class II section of the Rangitikei River, which I thought would be a fun and easy first trip because it's described as a "family float" and apparently done by canoeists. However, it was a bit more exciting than I thought it would be (but not too much). I am having trouble understanding how this can be a viable canoe trip because of the few sections where the river channels down and creates a series of high pressure waves that would swamp a canoe, and there's no way around them. Plus, the narrow canyons created some serious back-eddies that could easily swing you around and tip you over in a canoe. Maybe a whitewater canoe would be okay? It was great for rafts, though! Fun boulder-dodging and some fast splashy sections made for just the right amount of excitement. Mac biked back to the put-in to get the car (we take turns on who gets to bike back & who gets to hang back and take care of the gear). In the canyon we saw feral sheep and feral goats, waterfowl, and many birds of prey, but I'm not familiar with NZ birds yet so I couldn't tell you what they were. P.S. We did not intentionally buy matching gear, it just happened that way. |
The Campbells in New Zealand
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February 2016
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