A Tasty Weekend

A couple of weekends back, we drove to Hokitika, on the west coast, for the annual Wild Foods Festival. Pete was tired, as he had just come back from school camp, but had four hours of driving ahead. He kindly volunteered to drive the first leg to Arthurs Pass, which is about half way between Christchurch and Hokitika. After an extremely quick toilet stop we changed drivers and I took over the wheel.

After only another 30 km, just past a bend, and thanks to my alert co-driver Darren, I managed to perform an emergency stop in time to avoid an accident scene. Luckily, the driver immediately behind managed to swerve around us but the one behind him drove into our rear end and knocked us forward a little. Luckily, there were no injuries, and as far as we could tell, with the help of our torch, there was only small cosmetic damage. The tow bar had taken the brunt of the force and had been pushed up. The bumper was also damaged but the fuel tank was okay. After exchanging details with the other driver we continued our journey, with poor Pete driving, again.

Tiredly, we made it to Hokitika around 10.30pm. Time for a beer!

The next day we had a good cooked breakfast, a few beers and then made our way over to the Wild Foods Festival venue. Like the name suggests, one can try many wild foods, so I guess you are kind of puzzled why we attended this festival. After all, we are not the most adventurous of eaters. Well, not only can one try different 'delicacies', but large amounts of Monteiths ( a Westcoast beer) can be consumed. Perhaps that was the real attraction. Not wanting to be party poopers, we did try things we would not normally eat, like snails, worm truffles, mussels, possum pie, rabbit sausage, etc.

Do not be fooled, this photo shows Pete and Jen trying out a garlic covered snail, not an ice-cream as the banner behind suggests.
Vegies were catered for, too, although I still do not like sausage!Darren tried a tasty titty. Pete was not fooled by this name. As soon as Darren found out what he was eating (cows udder) it swiftly was spat out!We did not understand why Dutch food was considered a 'wild' food, but all I can say: Oliebollen are great!After the festival had closed we finished the day off chilling out on the beach with a crackling camp fire to keep us warm.

It is fair to say that apart from the prang, we had a great weekend and have already pencilled in another trip to the 'coast' next year!

Shamrocks and Icing

It seems that the further away from Ireland one is, the more patriotic one gets. So, even if one's only Irish links are a taste for the black stuff, one still participates in ‘true’ St Patrick’s Day fun.St Patrick’s Day at work saw me enter a themed cake competition. The cake had to be green, but I was told certain plants would not be allowed! D@mn, how else does one get a green cake??? Good old food colouring solved the problem. I managed to make a normal sponge cake. The bottom layer was a green sponge, the middle part was white cream and the top layer an orange sponge. Thanks to Helen the cake was decorated with orange icing and a nice green shamrock.When I got to work on Friday, the competition looked strong. Bending the rules slightly, were a rainbow with a pot of gold, a hat, the map of Ireland, a pint of Guinness, and many other green cakes. I did not think I was in with a chance after seeing how much effort went into some of the cakes. O well, I did have fun making it.

The judges took a long time, tasting and conferring but eventually the winners were announced. Unfortunately, I only just missed out. Apparently too much orange! But where am I from??? Anyway, it was a shame that I missed out on a $50 voucher at Warners Bar, but at least I received a bag of green sweets instead.

Kiwi School Camps

I've always enjoyed residential trips. It's good to see the kids in a different light and trying out new things. The best thing, though, is not having to do any classroom planning or marking! After being on some great trips, I have a selection of interesting memories: kids falling into the Grand Union Canal, kids swallowing minibeasts through filterless pooters, kids injuring themselves doing imaginary skate jumps down slopes, etc. Therefore, during my interview, when I said I would be happy to go on school camp, I presumed that it would be similar to the ones I had been on in Britain. Ones where you have your own room, food is cooked for you and transport is organized. Perhaps, I should have realised that it would be different here as it is called a 'school camp'.

My first surprise, was that on the first day of term (an inset day) I discovered that my class would be going on camp during Week 5. That's inconvenient, I thought, but not a big problem. It meant that upon returning home on the Friday, I would immediately be driving over to Hokitika, on the west coast, for the Wild Foods Festival weekend.

The next surprise was that we were actually sleeping under canvas. Still, that was not a big deal as I enjoy camping and its back to nature aspects (dodgy hygiene, sleeping in a tent amongst trodden in leaves and grass, etc.).

We would also be taking all the food and equipment we needed with us. I was told that years ago teachers had to budget for this and organize it. Thankfully, the food is now taken care of by the cookery teacher and all camp equipment lives in a school trailer.

The biggest surprise was that we would not be travelling by coach, but that I would be organizing parents to transport us in their cars. I also needed to ensure that we had trailers to take the food and gear. Okay, I thought that’s a hassle but I can deal with that. It was whilst organizing the transport and ensuring all the other administrative tasks were done (medical forms & lists, permission slips, etc.) that I really appreciated how many non-teaching tasks, in Britain, are done for us. I must have spent hours doing all those things so I am sending a belated thank you to all the secretaries and classroom assistants that have done that for me in the past.

Our camp is at the head of the bay

Purau Bay camp is in a lovely waterside location just a 45-60 minute drive from the school. It is actually a camp/caravan site that is open to the public. We were allocated the corner of the campsite furthest from the owner’s house and away from the public.

Lots of cricket was played during free time

Luckily we had beautiful, sunny, warm weather for our kayaking, climbing and other activities. The kids had a great time but I was not so pleased with their first night nocturnal activities. I must have been awoken at least five times by chatter and the sound of foot steps pattering around the camp. I was less than pleased and just bellowed from my tent which only served to wake up the rest of the camp!

Off climbing to the rocks that can be seen in the picture

On the final day, I made sure that all the tents were taken down early and bags packed promptly, so that after our final activity we would get away on time. We made it back to school safely and on time so that I was able to make a quick getaway to Hokitika for the Wild Foods Festival (read about that trip soon). All in all it was an enjoyable and successful camp.

Beer, Burgers, Friends & a Celebration

Saturday 3rd March saw us finally throwing an engagement party. Some may say that it was just an excuse to invite some friends around and have a good time, but what's wrong with that?

It was a beautiful warm, sunny day so the afternoon was spent preparing food, putting up decorations and sipping Pimms. For once, there was no need to erect a gazebo and spend another barbecue huddled under it. It seemed that we had to do that at every summer barbie we held in Redbridge. A brave, and is it turned, out correct decision.

The plan was to feed our guests with delicacies from the barbecue. Unfortunately, the chef kept getting distracted from his duties as he kept chatting to friends. It may also have had something to do with the large brown bottle in his hand. I do not think our guests were that bothered about the meat being served rather late, or if they did they did not say anything!

We were spoiled that evening. Some people turned up with pressies; not what we expected at all, as we specifically told people not to. Anyway, the gifts were all great, and will be much used (especially our picnic rucksack).

As normal, after a party, lots of food was leftover. As we had indulged enough the day before (and Pete’s hangover did not let him eat at all) we invited Nicola and Carl over for, to help us eat our way through the leftovers. They are friends of Helen and were on their last day of visiting NZ before flying back to Sydney, to continue their Working Holiday on the 'Western Isle'. They came armed with a lovely bottle of Moet & Chandon and a punnet of strawberries. The kind of food a backpacker travels with, not! Considering we had not met before, we hit it off, exchanging travel stories, etc. As they missed Helen by just one day (she only flew in on the following Tuesday) and because both Nicola & Carl loved NZ, they hope to be back in July, to try their hand on some Down Under skiing.

The next big weekend will be the Wild Foods Festival at Hokitika, straight after Pete gets back form school camp. Stay tuned for that next post.

Lazy, Summer Days

After waiting so long for summer weather, it has finally arrived. Just in time for autumn! The last few weeks have been dry and warm. Last week, Christchurch even had its hottest day of the year - 32°C. Typically though, it was a school day but we are hoping that the fine weather continues. It would be great to have an ‘Indian Summer’ so that we can continue to enjoy the sun and warmth.

An almost empty New Brighton Beach

So how does one spend warm sunny days in Christchurch? Well, one could stroll around the botanic gardens, enjoy wedges and fine ales on the Dux de Lux courtyard, walk around the Port Hills or laze on one of the beaches. We like all these options but currently prefer the latter. So for the last couple of Sundays we have been to New Brighton beach, as it is the closest one to us. The first weekend we slightly overcooked ourselves but what do you expect when we had been sun starved? We went again on another lovely, sunny Sunday, even though there was a strong easterly wind blowing off of the sea. That’s not good in Christchurch as the easterly wind is a cool one and can make sunny days feel chilly. Anyway, the main reason we went was because I wanted to go surfing.I was warm and snug in my wetsuit, whilst in the water, but poor Chantal, on towel minding duties, was exposed to the wind. Ever the chivarous gentlemen, I offered Chantal my tee shirt whilst I played in the surf. When I say surf, I mean in the shallows where the waves have broken, as I am still learning. I can't believe Chantal did not take any photos of me standing. Anyway, I had a great time (probably my best session ever) but Chantal looked rather sand blasted when I returned.

Just a few hardy souls and surfers brave an easterly on the beach!

We also did a spot of strawberry picking, one Sunday morning. We managed to pick 6 kg, in no time at all, so it looks as if we will having strawberries as dessert for the foreseeable future.

P.Y.O should be E.W.P.Y.O (Eat whilst picking your own)

Chantal plans to make strawberry jam at some point but considering she does not eat it and I normally stick to Marmite, we will probably end up giving jars of the stuff away.

Well, that is some of the things we have been doing to enjoy the sun, but next week I will be on school camp so now doubt the weather will change!