Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is not a New Zealand holiday, but it's one of my favorites so I decided it would be a New Zealand holiday this year. So I picked a date, invited some friends, and made a menu. When I asked one of my friends if he'd like to come, he looked at me like I'd just asked a silly question and said "of course I'll be there, there'll be lots of food there. America's got it right, having a holiday about eating. NZ should adopt that."

The menu was slightly non-traditional in that we didn't have turkey. We had planned to but when I went to the supermarket and saw that a 10lb turkey would be $70, I thought I'd look for a cheaper option since there were 15-20 people planning to come. Next I thought I'd buy a ham, but it turns out ham was even more over-priced than turkey. So we had yummy oven roasted chicken! In other respects I'd say it was a pretty normal Thanksgiving menu. Everyone said the dinner rolls I made tasted like traditional Maori bread, which was cool :)  I made a pumpkin pie and a butterscotch pie. Pumpkin is used as a vegetable here, and pumpkin pie is a foreign idea so this was the first time my kiwi friends had tried it. The general opinion was that it's quite yummy :) For a traditional NZ dessert, we had pavlova. Not sure how to best describe it...it's sweet deliciousness. I'll use a picture and recommend that you try it if you get the chance. Deviled eggs is another menu item my kiwi friends hadn't tried, but the recipe has been requested several times :)

Despite a bit of rain in the early afternoon, our randomly selected Thanksgiving day was quite nice. It was warmer than I'm accustomed to but it was nice to not have on too many layers. The evening was like any proper feast should be, lots of food and laughter with friends/family.

About half the food

Dessert, before the cheesecake and pavlova arrived

pavlova

Taranaki Garden Spectacular

Every spring there is a local garden festival. I'm not entirely certain on the required criteria to be a part of the festival, but I did have the pleasure of seeing two lovely gardens. The festival was over two weekends. Various locations in town and the surrounding rural area were open to the public for viewing. I performed at Hurworth Cottage and a local winery both weekends of the festival.

Hurworth Cottage is a settlers cabin that was built in the 1850's. It is a part of the local historic society now and has been restored to excellent condition. It is open on the weekends for viewing, and has a lovely garden/yard surrounding it. I performed there with the orchestra both weekends of the festival. It is the New Plymouth orchestra's annual fundraiser to perform there in small groups while selling tea/coffee and cakes. It is positively delightful to have a cup of tea and a yummy treat while sitting in the garden listening to a string quartet. Or brass ensemble. Or piano solos :) I performed with a french horn player, with a violinist, and some solo piano sprinkled here and there to fill time. I found it just as relaxing and enjoyable to perform as I did to sit and listen to the other musicians. Somehow playing in a garden made me feel sophisticated :)

Coming up the drive

The Cottage

The garden, taken from the corner of the porch

One side of the yard/garden

The living room in the cottage

The second weekend I also had the pleasure of performing with a cellist at a winery. It is a lodge used for company retreats and also has a wine shop where it hosts wine tastings and small community events. It was another delightful piece of paradise in New Zealand. I hadn't performed with a cellist prior to this, and other than a slight technical difficulty (we had the keyboard plugged in but were missing the amp to actually get any sound, so we had to wait for it to arrive), it was a lovely Saturday afternoon full of French, English, and German classical music.

The Lodge

The backdrop to my garden gigs :)

Food

Since I've had four months to adjust to any major differences and sample some of the local fare, I thought I'd should some thoughts on what there is to eat in this lovely place. There aren't tons of differences and it is quite possible to find most "American" food. There is also plenty of Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Indian food. Unfortunately there isn't much Mexican food, but if you are willing to pay $4 for a very small jar of salsa and $5 for 6 tortillas, you can create your own Mexican feast :) There are some local yummies though, and I've found a few things which I quite enjoy.

Meat pies, yum yum yum. As an American, I think of pie in terms of apples, chocolate, lemon meringue, coconut cream, cherry, etc. etc. etc. and the occasioanal Shepherd's pie. In New Zealand, there is a much wider range of options. You can find yummy meat pies at supermarkets, gas stations, convenience stores and bakeries. They are usually mini-pies, probably about four inches in diameter. There is black pepper steak, steak and cheese, mince and cheese, steak and mushroom, mince and onion, and other yummy options. The potato-top pies have a ground beef mixture with mashed potatoes on top. You can buy them already warm for about $3 and it's a perfect afternoon snack :) You can also buy them in bulk, frozen, to keep at home if you can't be bothered to go the store!

Potato Top Pie

Mince Pie

"Friendly Helpful Employee: 'Welcome to Burger Fuel, what can I get for you today?'      
Hungry Customer: 'Hi, I would like kumara chips please'."
Burger Fuel seems to have the most legit burgers in town, and kumara chips are their tasty sweet potato fries. A common topping for your burger, along with gerkens (pickles), tomaaaatoes (NOT toe-mate-oes), lettuce and cheese, is beetroot. I have tried a burger that had beets on it and it was surprisingly yummy. While beets aren't my favorite food, I have nothing against eating them, but I must confess it never occurred to me to put it on a burger. I think I'll stick to beetroot-less burgers from now on, but I did give it a go :)

Steak pie for lunch, burger with beetroot and kumara chips for supper. What about breakfast? How about crumpets? Best description I can give is that crumpets are an English muffin pancake. The bottom looks like a pancake, the texture is fairly similar to a pancake, but the top looks like an English muffin. Pop it in the toaster and when it comes out put some butter and syrup on it and there you go. They're pretty tasty :) If you prefer normal toast, a topping option is Marmite or Vegemite. I've been told you like either one or the other but not both. So far I have tried Vegemite and once was enough. I haven't tried Marmite yet but have been told it's milder. Vegemite looks deceptively yummy, it looks like chocolate peanut butter. But oh it's not. It's a bit bitter, and to me was very salty. So not really what I want on my toast :) If you go out for breakfast, a common item on the menu is sauteed mushrooms. Not sure how they make them but they are very yummy with some sausage and fried eggs.

Crumpets

One thing that is disappointing to my taste buds is tomato sauce. If you're out and order french fries (I mean chips) then you'll get tomato sauce with it. It looks like ketchup so you happily dunk your fry, anticipating the flavor combination of ketchup and french fry and then BAM! You're eating tomato sauce with your fries. You'd think I'd have learned after the first couple times but I still get fooled nearly every time. I guess I just always hold onto a little bit of hope that somebody somewhere will have the sense to serve ketchup and not tomato sauce :)

If you'd like a tasty local beverage, try some L&P, Lemon and Paeroa. It's soda made in NZ, rather similar to sprite. You can even find white chocolate with L&P in it. It's like eating chocolate, but also eating pop rocks at the same time, crazy :)

One item you will not find here is biscuits and gravy. You will get an amusing reaction if you ask a kiwi whether they like biscuits and gravy. Biscuits here are actually cookies. And it seems they normally only use brown gravy, so you can see the train of thoughts going "wait...biscuits and gravy...a cookie with gravy on it??? Yuck!!!" I've done my best to describe it but since they don't really have biscuits (the American kind I mean), it's somewhat hard to accurately communicate. I reckon I'll have to make some up at some point and see how they like it.

There is a traditional Maori dinner called a Hangi, which I have not had an opportunity to try yet. But whenever I do I'll be sure to share :)

Final thought. When in NZ, don't say "I cut up a kiwi to go with lunch." If you do it means you are a cannibal. Say kiwifruit, it makes those around you much happier!

Green kiwi fruit

Golden kiwi fruit

Whakatane

Last weekend was Labor Day so I took an extra day off to get a 4-day weekend and went for a weekend adventure with one of my friends. We had planned to go to the city of Napier because her older sister lives there, but when that fell through we had to pick somewhere else to go. So I asked where she'd like to go and she said "Anywhere!" Not helpful, since I was of the same opinion. So I pulled out  my trusty North Island of NZ map, made a quick note of where I have been and then thought "OK, Whakatane, haven't been there, that's where we'll go." PS, that is how most of the trips I've taken so far has been determined. I see a place with a cool name or I close my eyes and point and see where my finger lands, then I go there. So far so good :)

But anyway, so Whakatane. For those of you who wish to be culturally aware, the "WH" is pronounced like "F."

It's a beautiful place. We stayed at a lovely hostel run by a couple who wanted to do something different. It was by far the nicest I have ever stayed at, and for an incredibly reasonable price. Our hostess was delighted that we noticed how she color coordinated the rooms, and we were thankful for the comfortable lounge room to relax in after a day outside.

Whakatane is a small town, so was easy to quickly get a feel for where everything is located. The best breakfast was at the Bean Cafe. Best smoothies are at Poppy's Cafe. The grocery store was just around the corner from the hostel and Pizza Hut was just around the corner from the police station. And it's a beautiful place to be outdoors. We spent most of one day biking/meandering down the water front, finding beautiful seashells and people watching and enjoying the fact that it was both warm and sunny all in the same day.

Our other full day there was devoted to hiking. There was a lovely trail (which we'd mistakenly thought we could bike on day 1 and quickly found out otherwise) which led to Ohope Beach. So we packed a lunch, grabbed some water (and sunscreen) and off we went. It was a delightful hike, up a mountain, or probably just a really big hill, and around the the top of it so we could see the town and then the bay and then we came to this lovely little cove thingey where we found more seashells. As we continued on from there it was only a short way further to Ohope Beach. We had a picnic and walk along the beach before making the hike back.

I'll let you look at pictures now because it's easier than trying to describe what we saw :)

Island in the distance is possibly Whale Island, not positive

He just about let me walk up to him :)

Ohope Beach

Work in NZ

My visa is a Working Holiday visa. So, while I’m getting plenty of time to travel and see wonderful places and have exciting adventures, I do have to work a bit, since I have yet to figure out how to make the bills pay themselves.

I was here for about 6 weeks before I began working. I spent that time traveling, researching my options, and determining what I wanted to do. Once I chose to settle in New Plymouth, I began looking for a place to live, and a place to work. I’m renting a room in a lovely house with a big kitchen, and I now have a piano, so all is good on that front.  The job situation sorted itself out pretty quickly as well.

My first job in New Zealand was at a coffee shop, a place called Muffin Break. It turned out to be a good find because it was quite flexible, and shifts could be scheduled on a weekly basis. Although I have acquired full-time work elsewhere, I still fill in occasionally when help is needed and it’s nice to be able to save a bit of extra cash for upcoming travels. It’s also a good opportunity to interact with the locals. One day I was serving a young lady who seemed to be in her mid-teens. As she was about to leave, she asked if I was from America. When I said yes, she began jumping up and down and saying “oh my gosh, you’re really an American, that’s so cool, I can’t believe it, hey bro she’s an American, I just met an American, oh my gosh, this is the best day EVER!!!!” However, most people don’t have such an enthusiastic reaction to meeting me. One day an older gentleman made me repeat everything I said to him at least twice, if not three or four times. As he was leaving I heard him grumbling about “those darn Americans coming here to take over.” Just last week when I was putting in coffee orders with my co-worker who was running the coffee machine, a lady waiting for her coffee heard me talking and said “Oh my, how nice, there’s someone here who speaks another language!” 

To supplement the casual work I was doing at Muffin Break, I worked a couple days a week for an insurance broker. They were in the process of moving to a new office and needed extra hands for organizing, sorting, cleaning etc so it worked out to be a good short-term arrangement.

About a month ago I began working full-time for a company called PowerCo, which supplies electricity for the North Island. I have the pleasure of handling the scheduling and processing of all incoming projects, which can be anything from trimming trees that are too close to power lines to replacing entire substations. My co-workers are great fun, many of them are linesman or electrical engineers who are retired from the field.

I've also had the pleasure of doing a bit of accompanying. Yes, I've been busy, but it didn't all happen right at the same time J It’s my fun money, because it’s a fun way to earn it, and since it’s extra cash I can save it for going somewhere fun. It’s also been a good way to get out in the community a bit and meet some of the local musicians.

I have found the work environment to be more relaxed here than back home. Something that I noticed right away is the importance placed on taking breaks. The attitude is that you aren't paid more for working through your break so you may as well take it. In addition to the 30 minute lunch break, the entire office takes a 15-minute tea break in the morning and another one in the afternoon. Some people drink coffee, but tea, especially Earl Grey or English Breakfast, seems to be the favorite. Best part about the tea breaks is that the break room is pre-stocked with tea, coffee, hot chocolate, sugar, milk, cups, saucers, spoons, a fancy coffee machine that I can’t work, cappuccino mix, cookies, and a dishwasher, all supplied by the company. Far as I can tell it is a built-in operating expense. I think it’s a fantastic way to keep up employee morale. On busy days the break might get shortened down to 10 minutes, but it still happens. Another wonderful unspoken rule is that when you've worked your shift, you go home. If your work isn't done, that’s ok because you have tomorrow to finish it. I've been told the idea behind it is all that you go to work so you can live, not live so you can go to work. This means you go and do your best and when the day is done, that’s it, it’s done until you have to be back. This rule can of course be set aside when the need arises. There have been a couple storms since I was at the electric company and that meant longer days to ensure customers had power turned back on as often as possible, and so we could sort out what had to be repaired where and when and how soon. The company’s response to this was to treat all staff to tim tams, and a barbeque.

My co-workers have asked for a comparison of my work experience here compared to my experience at my job prior to coming to NZ. They were surprised at the difference in approaches, and thought it was ridiculous that I’d even consider working through a break. It’s their mission to ensure I do not work through breaks J I have definitely come to appreciate the laid-back approach to things here. Naturally things in the coffee shop are a bit different from the office, but even there, when your shift is done it’s done, doesn't matter if things are busy or not, you get to go home and whoever hasn't finished their shift will handle it. 

Forests and Beaches

The New Zealand countryside is wonderfully varied. The beaches are lovely, some with white sand and some with black. The mountains are endless and breathtaking. There’s farmland and forests. One lovely sunny day I visited a national forest called Manginangina. It was a forest of Kauri trees, one of New Zealand’s native trees. They can easily grow as tall as 65 feet, and have a circumference of 50 feet (assuming I did the conversions from meters correctly!). And they can live up to 2000 years!! There is a trail through the nature reserve that takes you to a rather young Kauri tree, where you can see it, hug it, photograph it, talk to it, whatever floats your boat. It’s only about 800 years old. Legend says if you hug make physical contact with a Kauri tree you will have good luck.

Later this same day I got to drive down 90-mile beach. Our bus driver drove off the road right down to the beach, and we drove alongside the water for about 30 miles. The beach is only 65 miles long, and it is not clear how it came be named 90-mile beach. One theory is that the name comes from the days of cattle herding when the distance along the beach plus the distance to the destination for selling the cows came to 90 miles. According to our guide, another theory is simply that it’s an awfully long beach and 90-mile has a better ring to it than 65-mile.

I think that it is probably good that I haven’t tried to drive here yet, as I’m certain I’d be distracted by the scenery J

Farmland

Pride Rock? :)

Mangonui Wharf

Musical Adventures

My first week in New Plymouth I went past the historic cathedral, St. Mary's, and made a mental note to check it out when I had time, thinking it'd a fun tourist-ey thing to do. Little did I know that it would open the door to the world of music in New Plymouth.

It was sometime near the end of August before I had the opportunity to visit. I managed to plan well that day and had my camera with my to confirm the trip :) Upon entering the beautiful sanctuary, in addition to a colorful pipe organ, the architecture, and various cultural and decorative items, I noticed a lovely Yamaha grand piano. Naturally I had to check it out. When I got closer, I noticed a sign which advised the piano was available for use to local pianists as long as you contacted the cathedral's music director to make arrangements.

I promptly emailed the director, crossing my fingers for a positive response. I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that of course I could practice there, and while on the topic of playing piano, would I want to play in an upcoming benefit concert. I said of course so the practicing began :)

This past Sunday was the "Musical Extravaganza" at the cathedral, a fundraiser for the Taranaki Bible Society. Myself and 6 other soloists/groups performed a variety of styles and pieces. It was an important moment in my musical career for more than one reason. I hadn't performed as a soloist in over two years, so my nerves were making themselves known, but after it was finished, I was pleased to find I haven't completely lost my touch. This was also the first concert I have performed in that was publicized, with my name included. I also had the pleasure of opening the paper this morning and finding a review of the concert, which included comments on "Pianist Denise Wood, recently arrived from the United States..." Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it was a special day because I felt as if the New Plymouth community embraced me. One of my goals in coming to New Zealand was to find a place where I could live; not be a tourist but become part of the community. As people greeted me after the show and asked when I might be performing again, I felt I had achieved that goal.

In addition to solo work, I've become a member of the New Plymouth Orchestra, at least for the upcoming fundraising tea-day and Christmas concert. I have been accompanying vocal lessons as school exams approach. Most recently I have been asked to accompany a vocalist visiting New Plymouth to perform and give master classes.

When I picked New Plymouth, I knew that it was by the ocean, and that there is a mountain close by, and that I know a couple people who live here. Now that I'm here I have discovered a close-knit community and lots of opportunity for involvement in music and the arts. It's a lovely place that is quickly coming to feel like home.