Eating Up the Coast II

The Waterfront is on our way to and from the shops so we probably eat lunch here more frequently. However, I never venture beyond the fish and chips on the menu, and the wine is much more pedestrian. I know. I know. Wine doesn't go with fish and chips, but what's a girl to do? The crowd, for the most part, is much younger here, and I imagine the place gets quite lively at night while we're home by the fire. Probably standing room only in the summertime. Behind me is the view down the beach toward Paekakariki. One of the walls inside is plastered with photos of sunsets. They're all great, and we'll probably have a million of them by the time we leave although, according to A, you've got to take dozens to get one good one.

And speaking of photos.........have I mentioned that I'm on a first-name basis with the guy at the Kodak shop because my new computer is not compatible with my old camera. So much for these May-December marriages.

Note that here the purse is attached to the other hand.

Eating Up the Coast

Oh, mate, you say........is that your house? No way. It's the Rock Salt Restaurant and that's the view across the parking lot where you can walk on the beach and pick up shells and pieces of driftwood and little bits of this and that. I never seem as lucky as the other Gramma who has all kinds of beautiful shells in her collection. She keeps promising to go with me to help me find the elusive ones, but, well, we'll see. So, how good is the food at the Rock Salt, you ask. Who cares. Have you looked at that view? Would you rather look at your plate? Actually, the food is nothing special. However, the wine is excellent, and the owners are extremely nice. Yes, I have been there more than once. My kitchen has a view too, but when I'm in my kitchen, I'm the one cooking!

Coming from America, you would expect gourmet restaurants and high-rise condos up and down this gorgeous coastline, especially since it's a popular vacation spot. Not the case. There are only three restaurants on the water in the area (more on the other two later) and no skyscrapers. Imagine. But then, we're not in Kansas anymore. We're in New Zealand, and they haven't ruined it yet.

And, in case you're wondering........the day was a bit blustery. It is still winter here although the temps are consistently in the 50s day and night. Even so, the wind can be a mighty force, tossing big logs up on the beach like they were tooth picks. Nevertheless, I'm smiling.

I know! I know! The purse doesn't go. I haven't totally lost my fashion sense, but it is fading. Nobody seems to care.

Lights Out

It's really not the food that fascinates him so much although he does love drinking apple juice straight from the box despite his mum's admonishments. Mr. Two likes to play with the light switches on the side of the fridge. On-off. On-off. On-off. I'm sure you all know how that goes. Eventually we settle on something for lunch, and everyone gets on with it. Until the next day about the same time and same place. All the liquids and veggies in the refrigerator are frozen. A lot of tossing and cursing. Darn NZ appliances! Oh, what's this? The temperature controls have all been turned down to frigid? How could that have happened?!?

Not too many days later we get in the car only to discover that the battery is dead. Curses! What a bother. Not even sure what to do. See whether our helpful neighbor is home? Call the service station? Call our daughter with an SOS? Fortunately we remember that our landlord (along with probably everything he's ever owned) has left an emergency battery charger (fully charged, no less) in the garage. Lucky us! The engine starts right up. How could the battery have died with no warning? Oh, wait a minute. Wasn't the world's most indulged grandson "driving" the car yesterday? Along with every other button in the vehicle, he discovered the overhead light (three switches). Off-on. Off-on. Off-on.

I'm sure our children would have been reprimanded. Not that we loved them any less. It's just now that we're older, we know more about what's really important. We know the difference between a serious infraction and an amusing anecdote. We're not so tired - we're retired. We don't have to make or enforce the rules anymore. My God, we're the grandparents. What do we know? And besides our kids didn't live in New Zealand.

Sun Sun Sun

I ask you, how could a body be unhapppy when almost every day ends with a glorious sunset? Sometimes the sky's on fire. Sometimes the ocean is too. Notice that each night the sky is different and so is the water. Moi? I'm pretty much the same. I think it's the wine.

Playing Around

Do these people realize how lucky they are? No matter where they go, they can't escape from these gobsmacking views of the blue Pacific. Of course, it's not always blue. Some days it's gray. Others green. Sometimes it is a color that Crayola hasn't found a name for yet. No wonder we haven't had much incentive to wander too far from home base. We see the Pacific everywhere we look. The first time we came to New Zealand, we spent almost all of our time in Wellington and were greatly impressed with its harbor and hills. We visited the shops and galleries and museums and ate in many first-class restaurants and managed to lug a dozen bottles of hard-to-find NZ wines back home in our luggage. This time we're living like the locals......going to the fish and chips shop, waiting for the new pub to open in the village, walking on the beach every day and complaining about those goshdarn southerlies, listening to the sheep bleating on the hills, buying a newspaper at the dairy, and representing all you Americans as best we can. A very good day is going to the playground with the world's cutest grandson, watching him with one eye ------- and the ocean with the other.

Sonshine @ Sunset

What is that old song about love being lovelier the second time around?

Isn't it great that grandchildren arrive just as we're slowing down? Isn't it great that as we age, we finally have the good sense to appreciate the truly special moments in our lives? This whole New Zealand adventure has been a very special moment...getting to know a grandson who lives on the other side of the world. I love watching his face light up when we come to the door. I smile when he says, "No, Nana do it," as he directs my activities in his busy life. Mark grins when Mr. Curiosity inquires, "What's Ohpa doing?"

I really wish that we could share him with you, but his mother doesn't want him wandering around in cyber space. Lord knows, he gets into enough trouble in his own backyard. Unfortunately, we are not so very different from others in the animal kingdom who must constantly be on the lookout to protect their young from hungry predators.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Friday the thirteenth down under a day ahead of you. First photo is the day before when the rainbow lasted all morning............just moving farther south. Cannot believe how vivid the colors are. Not sure I've ever really seen the violet before. Just pretended like some of those blobs you were supposed to identify under the microscope in lab. Oh........yeah......now I see it.

Photo number two is the eve of. With an ominous sunset like that, who wouldn't be dreading Friday the thirteenth? How could anything go right?

Next photo - next day. The day. Another rainbow. How could anything go wrong? Long blacks from the cafe, playtime in the park with WCG (more about that later), a day warm enough to eat lunch outside by the water, and a walk on the beach in the afternoon. Oh, and fresh blue-eye cod from Pacific Catch for dinner.

So you will begin the day as I end it. I'm posting this about midnight so it will be almost eight AM in Ann Arbor. May Friday the thirteenth be as lovely a day for you on the other side of the Pacific.

A few of my favorites on this site too.

http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/lifes-big-extravagances/

Now We're Cookin'

Amazingly enough this seafood truck parks down the highway actually within walking distance of our place. The fish is incredibly just-caught fresh and so delicious. Of course, some of the names are unfamiliar (tarakihi is available all year round), but I haven't met a fish I didn't like. People always asked how Sam (the chef at my former favorite restaurant in Three Oaks, Michigan) managed to get such fresh, delicious seafood, and Denise would say in a matter-of-fact tone, "Oh, he got his start driving a seafood truck in Chicago so he has contacts." Now I know what that's all about. I can be a chef in my own kitchen with very little effort. And, of course, there's always the barbie.

http://www.nzww.co.nz/storyprint.cfm?storyID=3685151

http://www.eatnz.com/blog/

Check the Salsa Verde in the eatnz blog - he shops at Pacific Catch too.

All the food in New Zealand seems fresher and cleaner than in the US. Maybe because a lot of it is local and doesn't have to be shipped long distances. I have noticed that there are also fewer additives. More flavor in the food itself. And the eggs........they have these vivid yolks and sit out on the shelves in the supermarkets, on the racks in the cafes, on the bench in the kitchen.....never in the refrigerator. What's up with that?

We are eating winter foods which probably make you groan just imagining such heavy dining while you're all experiencing those high temperatures.

http://laughinggastronome.blogspot.com/

However, when the sun shines and the temps rise a few degress celsius, people rush to the dairy for ice cream cones.

http://www.winosandfoodies.typepad.com/

It's always summer on the coast. Hard to even imagine summer last night with the wind howling and the surf in a frenzy of activity, not knowing which direction it was going. Circles are good sometimes. And those gazillion stars are calmly looking down on it all.

Maybe you've seen this zine. It's actually from Australia, but that's just across the way and the photos alone send me to the kitchen with renewed zest (not a pun!).

http://www.donnahay.com.au/CurrentIssue.jsp?sectionid=816

Cheers.

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road

Speed limit is 100.

Who even looks at the speedometer? If you can't tell how fast you're going using your inner sensor by now, you shouldn't even be driving at all.

And what's so difficult about driving on the left?

http://www.maui.co.nz/new-zealand-rv-rentals/road-rules

Of course, there will be no attempts at parallel parking, but then, I don't bother with that in the States either. I did park the car in the above photo without running up over the curb although there might have been a little nervousness from the passenger seat. I'm not sure that I would be comfortable shifting gears with my left hand but automatic is OK except when you forget that the lever on the left is the windshield wipers ---- not the turn signal.

The roads in our area get busy on weekends and holidays because we're a vacation destination, but usually the traffic is not so bad....especially by US standards. Most people here in the South talk about the congestion in Auckland. The streets do seem narrower, but maybe that's because I'm driving on the wrong side of the road.

http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/roadcode/about-signs/main-types.html

For all of you Michiganders.......that's a Ford I'm driving - but it ain't made in Detroit!

Under the Rainbow

I know! I know! It's fireworks on the Fourth - not rainbows, but, hey! the 4th of July is just another day in NZ. After all, they still celebrate the Queen's birthday here. What's so great about all that independence BS?
Speaking of independence...are we all celebrating because Scooter doesn't have to spend any time in jail? No use trying to keep the pardon hush-hush. There it was under a fairly large headline on page B3 of The Dominion Post July 4 edition. Of course, that tidbit was way overshadowed by news of the British bombings and the Aussie connection.
Are those protesters still up on the PO corner, or have they given up? I just read Frank Rich's The Greatest Story Ever Sold. Too bad we've already bought and paid for that. In fact, we're still paying.

http://www.frankrich.com/greatest_story_ever_sold.htm


It is school holiday so many Kiwis are headed for warmer climes for a week or so, and just like in the States, the malls and movie theaters are clogged with teenagers.
The fireworks should be the best ever (aren't they always?), and what could be better than a country that gives you a day off in the middle of the week to celebrate its birthday?