Interlude: N takes the wheel

March 13, 2017March 10, 2017 / Elizabeth / 3 Comments

Most of the time, Finding Quiet Farm is all like this: blah blah you should cook more at home blah blah compromised food system blah blah me droning on and on about God knows what. But not today, lucky readers! We’re in transit between countries right now, so N is taking the wheel and you get to enjoy a commercial break of his absolute favorite photography subject: cars.

Old cars, new cars, rusty ones and shiny ones…he loves automobiles. And he loves taking photos of them, too. N was the photographer at a high-end dealership in Colorado before we retired; he photographed their inventory as well as their social media and print advertising campaigns. He also had the opportunity to drive amazing cars, some worryingly expensive and unacceptably fast. So behold: an extremely limited portfolio of some of his favorite photos and magazine advertisements.

2017 Audi R8.

2016 Porsche GT4.

1973 Porsche Carrera.

2016 Porsche GT3 RS.

2017 Audi R8.

1961 MGA.

1968 Triumph TR250.

2017 McLaren 540C.

2017 Audi R8.

1970s-era De Tomaso Pantera (modified).

2017 Audi TTS.

Three-image composite featuring the 2017 Audi A4 and the Denver skyline.

2017 Porsche 911 launch advertisement.

5280 Magazine advertisement featuring the 2017 Porsche 911.

High Gear Magazine advertisement featuring the 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo.

A walk in the woods

March 10, 2017March 11, 2017 / Elizabeth / 5 Comments

Any time we stop at a campground or visitor information booth in New Zealand, we face brochure racks stocked with dozens of flashy, full-color advertising cards for every adventure imaginable. Sky diving! Bungee jumping! River rafting! This country’s tourism industry caters heavily to the adrenaline junkie, and many of the young backpackers we’ve encountered seem more than happy to shell out hundreds of dollars pursuing their long-held dreams of jumping into, and out of, various modes of vaguely dangerous transport.

NJB_1733

Gnarled old trees on the walk to “The Snout” in Picton.

N and I, however, are sage and sensible in our advanced years, and we choose quieter, calmer, less aggressive activities. Like walking, for example. For all its jumping and rafting and diving, New Zealand really is perfect for people who just want to put on a pair of sturdy shoes (and perhaps lug thirty pounds of camera gear) and walk.

NJB_1984

Boardwalk into the bush near Tongariro National Park.

The country is absolutely overrun with well-maintained tracks, perfect for a few hours or for multi-day treks. While we’ve only ever gone out for day trips, all of our walks have been more than worth the time and effort, and a great way to see the country slowly. The photos collected here truly emphasize New Zealand’s incredible natural diversity.

The Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park.

All of New Zealand is volcanic, but thermal activity is highly concentrated around Rotorua, roughly in the center of the North Island. The Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park allows visitors to see volcanic activity in a close and colorful manner.

NJB_2151

Wai-O-Tapu’s famous Boiling Mud Pool in action.

NJB_2268

This is not Colorado’s EPA-poisoned Animas River; rather, it’s a sulfur pool at Wai-O-Tapu.

Abel Tasman National Park, on the northern edge of the South Island, is rightfully famous for both its kayaking and its extensive coast track. We only spent a couple of days here but loved its beachy-desert feel.

NJB_1488

View from the Abel Tasman coast track.

NJB_1491

Tropical waterfall in Abel Tasman National Park.

NJB_1709

Lumberyard and harbor near Picton. Timber is New Zealand’s most important agricultural export.

IMG_20170226_130837035 (1).jpg

Pro tip: while foraging may be all the rage, don’t ever, ever eat mushrooms you find while hiking unless a mycologist can confidently identify them.

On the way to Picton’s “Snout.” Most of the walking tracks we encountered varied between open country and tropical forest.

NJB_1323

Huka Falls, near Great Lake Taupo.

Huka Falls is apparently New Zealand’s most-visited natural attraction. We’re convinced this is because it’s located about ten feet from the parking lot.

New Zealand has a wealth of diverse plant life, but ferns are ubiquitous.

Kiwis are rightfully very proud of their country, and the fern emblem is seen everywhere, most notably on the All-Blacks’ uniform. Recently, the country even tried to change its flag to incorporate the iconic fern image, though the referendum failed.

Whakarewarewa Forest, Rotorua.

Like many island nations, New Zealand has fought for hundreds of years against invasive non-native species. The most destructive example is the possum, introduced in 1837 in an attempt to start a fur trade. Now there are thought to be more than 30 million – and they eat more than 20,000 tons of vegetation every night. The Redwood Forest pictured above, however, is an example of a non-native species that hasn’t spread ferociously. These trees, native to California, were planted in Rotorua in 1901 in the hopes of expanding the country’s timber industry. Unfortunately (for the timber industry) but fortunately (for the island’s native trees), only six hectares of the original twelve hectares survived, and the wood produced is far too soft for use in construction. They love the rich volcanic soils in this sheltered grove, but they can’t grow beyond this particular area.

The hardest hike we did by far was the legendary Tongariro Alpine Crossing, considered New Zealand’s best one-day hike and also one of the best in the world. It’s only about twelve miles from start to finish, but it ascends more than 2,000 feet and descends more than 3,000, and it’s tough, even for these Colorado hikers. We started before dawn – both to beat the crowds and the midday sun – and completed it in about six hours.

The beginnings of sunrise on the Tongariro Crossing.

Looking west at the ominous shadow of Mount Ngaurahoe, more famously known as Mount Doom.

This photo of Mount Ngaurahoe emphasizes the area’s stark volcanic landscape.

The weather shifted frequently while we hiked the Crossing, from bright sun to low enveloping clouds. It’s easy to see why Tolkien’s books were filmed here!

The Emerald Lakes of the Tongariro Crossing.

Thank you, New Zealand, for your beauty and your hospitality. We’ve loved our time here and look forward to returning. Onwards to Cambodia!

Happy hour

March 6, 2017March 11, 2017 / Elizabeth / 5 Comments

Between filming Hobbit movies and grilling lamb chops, New Zealand also manages to make some pretty decent beverages. Wine represents a hugely important component of New Zealand’s agricultural exports; craft beer has always been second fiddle to wine here, but the microbrew industry is definitely on the rise. We obviously wanted to be as fair and open-minded as possible, so we made sure to taste just as much beer as we did wine during our time here.

Hops are the flowers of the female hop plant (Humulus lupulus), and they’re used primarily as flavoring and stability agents in beer.

All of New Zealand’s hops are grown in the Nelson region on the South Island. As the craft beer industry has exploded around the world, hops have become a much more lucrative crop.

The tap line-up at Hop Federation, Riwaka.

Rule No. 1: when photographing for your blog, find a friendly, amenable bartender.

A beer tasting board at McCashin’s.

In the U.S., at least, New Zealand is most known for its sauvignon blanc, specifically from the Marlborough region at the top of the South Island. Walk into any American wine shop and you’re almost guaranteed to find a bottle of Cloudy Bay, the wine that basically introduced the rest of the world to New Zealand wine. Central Otago pinot noir, however, is also starting to make a name for itself, as are a number of other unique varietals. Like other New World wine regions, New Zealand has more freedom to experiment with its grapes and winemaking styles than the Old World with its deeply entrenched rules.

Brancott Estate, Marlborough.

NJB_1691

Harvest is about three weeks away for these merlot grapes.

NJB_1946

These fruit crates are seen everywhere in New Zealand; they’re used for apples, plums, pears and of course wine grapes too.

NJB_1699

The vines and the mountains in Marlborough.

NJB_1695

Cellar door at Forrest Wines, Marlborough.

Wine tasting in New Zealand is easy and accessible; cellar doors are signposted and tastings usually cost between $5-$15 per person. Many regions, such as Hawke’s Bay, have numerous cellar doors close enough to tour by bike, and of course there are dozens of tour companies happy to drive while you drink, too.

NJB_1527

Neudorf Winery, Nelson. The vines are covered in netting to protect the ripe fruit from hungry birds. Many of the wineries have lovely gardens where you can enjoy a glass of wine and a picnic.

NJB_1945

Wine moving from tank to barrel at Moana Park, Hawke’s Bay.

Surprisingly, most of the lower-end bottles ($8-15) you find in the grocery store here are actually from Australia or South Africa, because New Zealand makes more money exporting its wines – especially to China – than it does selling them at home.

NJB_1924

Old barrels put to good use as decor at Church Road Winery, Hawke’s Bay.

NJB_1948

Finishing our picnic at Moana Park with their 2004 Colheita Port.

Mad about ewe

March 2, 2017March 10, 2017 / Elizabeth / 7 Comments

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the humble sheep in New Zealand. The famous Captain Cook first introduced sheep here in 1773; meat and wool, as well as numerous other byproducts, quickly formed the economic background of this young nation. Even today, New Zealand is well-known for its lamb and wool, and the oft-cited statistic that New Zealand has a lot more sheep than people (about 27 million to 4 million) still holds true, although the animal numbers have fallen dramatically in recent years. The worldwide introduction of synthetic fibers understandably had a massive impact on the wool industry.

NJB_1837

One of the great joys of travel – especially on road trips – is stumbling upon something amazing that wasn’t in the day’s plans. We were on our way to camp on the beach at Clifton, in Hawke’s Bay on the east coast of the North Island, when we drove by Wool World. My head immediately filled with visions of a slick, American-style theme park devoted entirely to sheep, hopefully with a petting zoo, roller coaster and extensive gift shop. The reality was far different, and much better.

NJB_1891

Clifton Station, Hawke’s Bay.

NJB_1846

The dogs are coming…

Clifton Station (ranches in the U.S. are stations here) was founded in 1859 and has been run by the same family since. It encompasses about 2,000 acres on the east coast of the North Island. Despite the signage outside advertising shearing and herding demonstrations, Wool World is now only open for large groups of pre-booked cruise ship passengers. We got lucky, however, and walked up while a station hand was treating lambs in a gated paddock near the road. These lambs had just been taken off their mothers and were headed out to munch on fresh new pasture; the abrupt change in diet causes their delicate little lamb tummies to go a bit haywire, so they’re essentially given a pre-emptive antacid.

NJB_1865

The station hand gave us free rein to walk into the old shearing barn, built in 1886 and still in use today. This barn is true living history and it was incredible to see the pride that this family takes in their property, their animals and their way of life. Places like these are becoming more and more rare, and recognizing the past is especially relevant because modern agriculture is changing so quickly. The opportunity to see this space will be one of the highlights of our trip to New Zealand.

NJB_1880

Blade shearers in 1893 with shedhands and shepherds. The records indicate that 25,000 sheep were shorn in the shed that year.

NJB_1876

Horse-drawn wool bales headed to the railyard for transport to Wellington or Napier.

NJB_1877

Bales of wool bound for a local wool sale.

NJB_1848

Not much has changed in this woolshed since the late 1800s.

NJB_1853

Shearing stalls.

NJB_1871

Belt-driven machinery allowed multiple sheep to be shorn at one time.

NJB_1860

Wool bales are stenciled with their station origin, destination, pack year and grade. Low-grade wool (and the sacks) were often used on walls for home insulation.

NJB_1873

A helpful identification key for bale stencils.

NJB_1861

Ye Olde Spinning Wheel. Avoid at all costs, princesses.

NJB_1843

If you should ever have the opportunity to see a herding demonstration, do not miss it! Watching the shepherd and the dogs run the sheep is truly remarkable.

How to campervan in New Zealand

February 27, 2017March 11, 2017 / Elizabeth / 9 Comments

When organizing this impulsive trip, we gave a lot of thought not only to where we would go, but also how we’d get around once we got there. We planned on mostly using public transportation – trains, buses, ferries and so on – instead of renting cars, but in New Zealand, we wanted to rent a campervan. And we are so pleased that we did.

NJB_1153

If you’re British, you probably get the inside joke of the license plate.

New Zealand is roughly the same size as Great Britain or Japan, but holds just over four million residents in comparison with Britain’s 64 million and Japan’s stunning 127 million. This means, of course, that there is a great deal of open country – and because food and accommodation might be few and far between, a campervan is the perfect way to explore. (It’s also called caravanning, but that’s usually only when you’re using a regular vehicle to tow a caravan that has no engine of its own. That’s commonly known as fifth-wheeling in the U.S.)

New Zealand is so friendly and welcoming to campervans; we’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of vans of all shapes and sizes during our time here, proving that it is one of the most popular ways to see the country. There are campgrounds everywhere, from basic and rustic to luxurious; most of these have small motel rooms as well as powered and non-powered sites plus places for tent campers. Amenities vary, but almost always include common showers, toilets and kitchens, and there is often a pool or hot spring too.

NJB_1319

Fernland Spa, near Tauranga, offers private open-air hot spring pools. The pools are filled from the spring, then drained into the nearby estuary, cleaned and refilled after every use, eliminating the need for chemical treatments.

The greatest advantage of campervanning is definitely the flexibility. We drafted a rough itinerary before we arrived, mostly based on N’s year living here back in the early 2000s, of places he wanted to revisit or had never been. But once we got on the road, we loved being able to stay in a place longer or leave early if it suited our plans. Had we booked all of our accommodation at B&Bs and hotels in advance, there would be none of this.

IMG_20170227_152617942

One of our very favorite campsites right on the ocean in Clifton, Hawke’s Bay.

The other biggest draw, especially on a trip of this length, is the ability to save a lot of money by cooking most of our own food. While I’m not making anything fancy, I am cooking simple, delicious meals appropriate to the summery weather and what we discover on our travels. We’ve been in a lot of agricultural regions, and many farms and orchards have unmanned honesty stands on the side of the road. Signs advertise what’s available, you select what you want and put your money in the box. We’ve bought just-harvested tomatoes, dried figs, zucchini, new potatoes, tons of fruit and anything else that catches our fancy. We’ve eaten a lot of local lamb, plus fresh sausages from the butcher, and it’s refreshing not to agonize over my meat purchase for endless minutes: all of the meat is pasture-raised in New Zealand, and none of it comes from a CAFO. Even tiny grocery stores in dusty little towns have a great selection of local meat. Just being able to make our own coffee and tea saves so much money rather than buying to-go drinks every day.

NJB_1485

On the menu: local venison and merlot sausages, grilled potatoes and onions, fresh tomatoes with olive oil and salt, and a simple cabbage coleslaw.

As in the U.S., there are various membership programs you can join that offer discounted rates at particular campgrounds; we’ve used an invaluable (and free!) app called CamperMate to navigate our way to parks in a particular region. Freedom camping is also popular and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: sleeping in a designated area for free, but without any services like showers and sometimes not even toilets. This is often not popular with local residents, however, because there have been many cases of freedom campers basically turning a lovely local spot into their own unserviced campground, and therefore freedom camping is heavily regulated and often banned outright. We’ve freedom-camped a couple of times, but it’s not always ideal for a variety of reasons.

NJB_1344

Camping by a gorgeous river near Tongariro National Park.

If you want to travel New Zealand by campervan, do your research; it’s essential to understand exactly what size and style of vehicle you’ll be renting. If you plan on doing any freedom camping, you’ll need to be certified self-contained, or CSC. The CSC sticker allows you to stay in more remote sites where other vehicles wouldn’t be permitted, and there are definitely rangers patrolling who will issue stiff $200 fines if yours isn’t displayed. You should also know that renting a campervan isn’t cheap; when we were first researching, we were stunned by quotes of nearly $8K for our month here, and after that you still need to pay for campgrounds unless you freedom-camp exclusively. There are also diesel taxes, tolls, and hefty charges for the ferry if you want to travel between the North and South Islands.

NJB_1446

Semis at sunrise on the Interisland Ferry en route from Wellington to Picton.

For our American readers, remember that New Zealand drives on the left; unless you’re very comfortable with handling larger vehicles, you’ll absolutely want to book in some practice time in a safe area before you hit the open road. And finally, New Zealand has basically one major north-south motorway; all of its other roads are relatively small two-lane roads, especially compared to our massive flat, straight American highways. Journeys here are measured by time, not by distance; you can’t read “Auckland to Wellington, 658 kilometers” on the map and assume that will only be an six-hour journey – it’s closer to ten. It takes a lot longer to get to places here than you might expect, and the driving can be challenging and tiring with a lot of hills and narrow, windy roads. Driving a campervan in New Zealand isn’t for the faint-of-heart – but we’d argue that it’s by far the best way to see these gorgeous islands.

P.S. A million thanks to my amazing, incredible partner, who grew up driving on the left and took on the challenge of this journey with literally no help from me whatsoever. I will never be able to make him enough coffees to thank him!

The realities of travel

February 23, 2017March 11, 2017 / Elizabeth / 8 Comments

Friends, join me in the Trust Tree for just a moment and let us speak honestly. Let us speak honestly about the realities of travel, or Everything Is Not Always As Perfect As It Seems. As you are all well aware, we live in a manufactured world, where fake news and social media dominate our feeds and our brains. And the truth is…well, not everything is as it seems. This is especially true when it comes to travel.

NJB_1438

No, camping next to an airport won’t be loud at all. Why would you think that?

When you see beautifully Instagrammed photos of your friends and family sunning and sipping fruity cocktails on some pristine white sand beach, you might think, “What jerks! Why are they on vacation and I’m slaving away in this hellhole?” But what you don’t see in that perfect photo is the tortuous four-hour ride in a rickety school bus over gravel roads to get there, the thousands of sandflies currently attacking them, and the bar bill where those cocktails were $25 each.

What a stunning beach! Is there a backstory?

Travel is not always glamorous. In fact, unless you travel at a pretty high level (which we do not), travel is actually rarely glamorous. And this is where in a normal travel article I would pleadingly claim, “But that’s where the best experiences happen! You know, when everything goes wrong!” Rubbish. The best experiences happen when you accept that many, many things are going to go wrong, or at least take ten times longer than you thought they would, and you learn to deal with it anyway. That’s what good travel actually encompasses. Before we left, I clipped the following unattributed quote and pasted it in my travel journal: “I’ve always felt that lowered expectations are the key to a great holiday.” This has proved relevant on more than one occasion during our travels.

NJB_9531

Kyoto’s futuristic train station.

Allow me to provide merely one example: N and I wanted to do some laundry. Simple enough. We’re each travelling out of one large backpack, so doing laundry every week to ten days (unless we’re on a farm in Japan wearing all of our clothes at one time) is adequate. One Saturday, we decided to do our laundry early the following morning as we had to leave our campsite by 7AM, and the museum we wanted to visit that day didn’t open until 10AM. Three hours should be more than enough, right? So we do what every modern traveler might do: we Google “24 hour Laundromats in Wellington” and find two likely candidates.

FullSizeRender (1).jpg

This backpack has served N well since he first ventured to Honduras more than fifteen years ago.

We wake up Sunday at 5AM and get ourselves together. By 5:30 we’re on the road, but our GPS has decided that it’s taking the morning off for reasons unknown. We have a vague knowledge of downtown Wellington from walking the previous day, but the Laundromats we’re heading for are definitely not in the touristy areas. So we opt to troll a few downtown hotels, waking up sleepy front desk staff and asking for old-fashioned paper maps. When we finally get one, it just reaches the outer edge of the area we’re headed for, meaning we’ll have to wing it from there. (Oh, and if you’re wondering why we didn’t just use GPS on our phones? When your American cell service provider swears that you’ll have “really fast unlimited data in over 140 countries,” THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY AND TOTALLY LYING.)

NJB_1441

The interisland ferry from Wellington on New Zealand’s North Island to Picton on the South Island. The photo was taken at 5:15AM; travel isn’t always about sleeping in.

So. Now the sun is just coming up, and I’m trying to use a paper map (remember that you always have to be in the map to navigate) to guide N through the narrow, twisty, turny, windy streets of Wellington (much like the hilliest parts of San Francisco) in a campervan definitely not designed for such silly Fast and the Furious games. We just make it to the first Laundromat when the GPS decides to show up for work. And the Laundromat is out of business.

No worries; onto the next Laundromat. It’s open! We grab all of our laundry and load up two of the tiny washing machines. Seeing that we’ve put our clothes in and are clearly ready to start washing, the young couple next to us asks if they can just pay us to use our KeyCard because the minimart next door where you buy them doesn’t open until 8 and it’s only just after 7.

Sometimes travelers need a little guidance; Japanese train stations helpfully provide that. We could have used the assistance in Wellington.

Wait, what? What’s a KeyCard? We’d loaded up with coins, which shows you how long it’s been since we used a Laundromat. No, it turns out that this Laundromat doesn’t use coins (presumably because the machines have been broken into repeatedly) and instead uses a KeyCard that we don’t have and can’t buy. Remove all laundry from machines and climb into van, dejected.

Search for next Laundromat on non-working but unlimited data; it doesn’t open until 9AM. We find a supermarket parking lot where we can sit comfortably for about an hour; of course, the area we’ve chosen is the site of an annual charity run attracting about 15,000 runners to the waterfront. We may actually be blocked in unless we can find an alternate route across the city. We are making poor choice after poor choice and our quiet Sunday morning is quickly imploding.

IMG_20170217_223915397

Race volunteers chalked encouraging messages along the course in Wellington. We definitely needed them too that day.

A few minutes before 9, we manage to make it to the day’s third Laundromat. It’s open! They accept actual money! We’re in! (And we’ve been to more Laundromats in one morning than in the entirety of our previous fifteen years.) We load in our laundry, then spend the time canvassing the neighborhood for potable water taps, clean public bathrooms and free Wi-Fi. Truly, when you’re campervan hobos like we are, these things matter. (And please note that we’re trademarking Campervan Hobos as our band name.)

Two hours and fifteen minutes, 30 kilometers, many wrong turns and $20 later, we have fresh, clean laundry. If you’ve been keeping track, it took us over six hours – six hours! – to wash and dry one large load of laundry, and we accomplished virtually nothing else during that time. And that, my loves, is often the reality of travel. So the next time you look at some glossy photo on social media and find yourself filled with envy, just remember the sandflies. And don’t forget your KeyCard.

Going nuts, vol. 1

February 20, 2017November 12, 2017 / Elizabeth / 4 Comments

When roadtripping in New Zealand in a converted 1999 Ford Transit van with less-than-ideal brakes, there are few things that your partner – who is gamely doing all of the driving – enjoys more than you screeching “Hey! Fresh avocados!” or “Stop! They’ve got pick-your-own strawberries!”, thus forcing him to make dramatic unplanned stops and U-turns, typically on dusty gravel roads with no turning room whatsoever. No, seriously, he loves this! Sometimes, however, you get your act together enough in advance that you can actually plan a visit to a farm, and so it was with our stop at Cathedral Cove Macadamias.

NJB_1177

Cathedral Cove is located on the Coromandel Peninsula, east of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island. Macadamias, named in 1857 in honor of Scottish-Australian chemist John Macadam, are native to Australia and grown commercially in many of the world’s tropical regions, including Hawaii, South America, Australia and New Zealand.

NJB_1178

Cathedral Cove’s storefront and open-air tasting parlor.

South Africa now produces most of the world’s macadamias, although Hawaii is credited with “introducing” the nut to consumers, specifically with their ubiquitous and smartly-marketed Royal Hawaiian chocolate macadamia boxes which have been given as gifts by travelers returning from Hawaii for decades.

NJB_1182

A few of Cathedral Cove’s mature macadamia trees.

Macadamia trees are propagated by grafting, and they start producing in abundance at about seven to ten years of age. Once established, the trees can produce for over 100 years. They are higher in overall nutrition than any other nut, and they are also typically the most expensive, with the exception of the treasured pine nut.

NJB_1187

These macadamias will be ready to harvest in April or May. After they’re hulled, they’ll be dried for about six weeks before they’re ready to consume.

NJB_1190

Hulls from the previous year’s crop are used as mulch in the orchard, ensuring that nothing goes to waste.

At Cathedral Cove, the macadamias are processed entirely by hand from start to finish, and they’re also completely organic. The macadamias are sold fresh and roasted, and pressed into oil and made into butter, brittle and other value-added products. In addition to macadamias, Cathedral Cove also grows avocados, figs, apples and a variety of citrus fruits.

NJB_1173

At the little storefront you get to eat as many macadamias as you crack!

NJB_1181

Macadamia oil, best used as a simple, flavorful drizzle over salad or grilled bread. It also works wonders as a hair or skin moisturizer!

NJB_1215

Fresh figs that were sadly not yet ready to eat when we visited.

NJB_1191

Cathedral Cove is organic, so no chemical pesticides or herbicides are used in the orchard.

NJB_1188

Bees are absolutely integral to a successful orchard. As at most of the farms we’ve seen, maintaining a healthy pollinator population is essential to a healthy ecosystem.

NJB_1204

We bought avocados to eat with heirloom tomatoes from the farmers’ market…it is summer here, after all.

NJB_1199

Look closely…New Zealand’s most vocal yet least seen creature, the cicada, is hiding here.

NJB_1205

One of the many citrus trees on the property.

NJB_1213

Definitive proof that “drinking wine” actually qualifies as “eating fruit.”

NJB_1203

Meet Willow, one of Cathedral Cove’s organic lawnmowers.

Because macadamias are so delicious (and so precious), they’re best used as a showcase ingredient. As with all nuts, lightly toasting them in a dry pan will bring out their flavorful oils, but tread carefully – nuts burn very quickly. For storage, place in an airtight bag or container in the refrigerator or freezer as the good fats in nuts cause them to turn rancid quickly. Always buy nuts from stores with high turnover (of product, not staff) and whenever possible, smell them before purchasing – rancidity is definitely noticeable. Should you find yourself with a wealth of macadamias, try this. Or maybe this. Or just eat them lightly toasted and salted, perhaps with a gentle dusting of curry powder.

Many thanks to Cathedral Cove Macadamias for welcoming us onto their beautiful property!

Chapter Two: New Zealand

February 16, 2017March 11, 2017 / Elizabeth / 4 Comments

Haere mai and welcome to Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud. We’ve gone from Japanese winter straight into Kiwi summer! We started our journey in Auckland as most international travelers do, where we picked up a campervan and drove north first, to visit an area where N taught diving long, long ago. We’re about halfway through the North Island right now, with the intention of making it just to the northern tip of the South Island before we have to turn around and come back. To say that we’re in a different world than Japan would be an understatement.

NJB_1240

Our sunrise view at Whangamata, where we freedom-camped on the beach.

NJB_1308

Tauranga seen from the top of Mount Maunganui.

NJB_1262

Oystercatchers on the dunes.

IMG_20170213_202358521

Surf school at Omanu Beach.

NJB_1146

Waipu Caves.

NJB_1147

It’s easy to see why many fantasy movies have been filmed in these prehistoric forests.

IMG_20170208_134451056

New Zealand is home to an unusual number of “wild” chickens, seen here hiding from the rain at a picnic spot near Haruru Falls. Are they dumped in the woods by people who don’t want them? We have no idea, but we’ve seen (and heard) a lot of them!

IMG_20170213_190441035

Stormy day at the beach in Tauranga.

Next up for us: Lake Taupo and (hopefully) the legendary Tongariro Crossing!

Interlude: Cows love Skittles

February 11, 2017March 11, 2017 / Elizabeth / 15 Comments

Friends, we interrupt our regularly scheduled light and fluffy travel programming to bring you a brief interlude on cows. Cows and Skittles, to be precise. If you are here just for fun travel adventures, please feel free to tune out now – this one is about food politics.

Perhaps some of you noticed a little story that a couple of papers ran recently about a Skittles spill on a Wisconsin highway (although I’m painfully aware that there are one or two more significant American news stories to focus on right now). To summarize, a truckload of red Skittles missing their signature “S” spilled onto the road thanks to a rain-saturated cardboard box. When the local sheriff’s department came out to investigate, they discovered that the candy was on its way to be used as cattle feed. Maybe it’s fake news? Now that so much of what we read contains “alternative facts,” it’s hard to know what to believe. (You can read versions of the article here, here and here, and I’m sure there are plenty more.) Feeding food waste to cattle is apparently common practice in the U.S.

Stone Barns-06

Bessie here actually prefers M&Ms to Skittles, if you want to know the truth.

Back in 2012, the severe drought that swept across the country caused corn prices to skyrocket, and that’s reportedly when the trend of feeding excess food to cattle really accelerated. In some cases, cows were even fed candy that was still wrapped, although a professor of animal nutrition seemed mostly convinced that the wrappers would pass through the cow without issue. I’m in no way a vet or other animal expert, but I imagine that plastic really can’t be good for an animal’s insides – even one as large and tough as a cow.

But wait, you might say. Skittles are mostly just corn syrup, which is just corn, right? And that’s what the cow would be eating if corn prices hadn’t risen so much, so really, what’s the big deal? It’s actually not the Skittles that bother me – it’s all the other stuff we don’t know about. Consider that the only reason we now know that these Skittles were intended for cattle feed is because they spilled. Had they not spilled, we’d still be shoveling our CAFO hamburgers in, none the wiser. This story indicates that a lot of other mysterious food waste goes to our cows, including but not limited to stale baked goods, peanut and almond shells, and orange rinds. Probably harmless, yes, but do these ingredients affect the integrity (what little there is) of the meat? Could a severely peanut-allergic person have a reaction to beef from a cow fed on peanut meal? I have no idea. And I also have no idea what is in our food.

Stone Barns 074

My point is not that the Skittles themselves that are inherently bad (although they are). It’s that you didn’t know they were there. How can anyone make an informed decision about what they eat when they don’t have all the information? How can I implore my cooking students to read the label of every food item they buy when I know full well that label is inherently misleading? I also resent the implication that feeding Skittles to cows saves them from the landfill and is therefore virtuous. In a country that wastes over 40% of all edible food produced, I’m fairly certain that the quantity of Skittles we’re talking about here is negligible enough that the landfill excuse doesn’t hold up – greenwashing at its finest.

Some time ago, a friend who shops very consciously received a recall notice at the bottom of her grocery store receipt indicating that the big-brand chicken she’d purchased weeks earlier had been recalled. Since she deliberately never purchased big-brand chicken, she knew this had to be a mistake – yet when she contacted store management, she received a boilerplate customer service response that didn’t address the issue. Follow-up calls and emails went ignored, leaving her to assume that of course she had purchased that chicken – labeled as organic and packaged under a “clean” name – even while trying so hard not to. Plus, organic and conventional chicken were both part of the same recall, so how can one trust that the organic product really is? And that leaves us here, stumbling around the grocery store in a panic, reading labels frantically and generally feeling like a failure all the time because we no longer have any faith in a system designed to protect us from fraud and mislabeling.

These stories are compelling on many levels, but my takeaway is this: unless we’ve grown, raised and processed food ourselves from start to finish, we no longer can have any faith that we’re buying what we think we’re buying. I know plenty of people who wouldn’t feed their kid Skittles (concerns over Red 40 high on the list) but would certainly offer a lean beef stir-fry with plenty of supposedly organic vegetables and arsenic-free brown rice. Yet these same people, who are working so hard to get it right, are getting it wrong. Again and again, because they cannot trust that they’re buying and consuming what they think they are.

Stone Barns 070

I’d love to end on a positive note, so I’ll leave you with this – if you want to trust your food, grow your own. Start a small garden. (If you’re in the Denver area, support a locally-owned business and go here for everything you need to get growing.) Raise backyard chickens. Get a beehive. Join a CSA. Know what you’re eating and where it came from, and be willing to ask questions. Also: eat less meat, and spend more money on it, and know who raised and processed it. And please, let us know your thoughts on this story. We’d specifically like to hear if you feel confident about label honesty and accuracy (including organic vs. conventional) and what exactly is in the food you buy.

chickens2

Scenes from Tokyo

February 8, 2017March 11, 2017 / Elizabeth / 8 Comments

For our final week in Japan, we tackled the world’s largest metropolitan area. Tokyo has 13 million people in its center and about 33 million when the surrounding areas are included. Even with our travel experience in cities like Paris, London and New York, this city is a bit overwhelming. It definitely takes a couple of days to get oriented and to feel comfortable, and even then it can still knock you for six. Below please find some of N’s favorite photos from our week.

NJB_0327

Tokyo is an often dizzying mix of ancient and modern.

NJB_0404

Shrines and skyscrapers, kimonos and street fashion: a constant study in contrast.

NJB_0803

Welcome to one of the world’s most efficient (and clean) public transport systems.

NJB_0504

Installed in 1958, Tokyo Tower bested the Eiffel Tower by thirteen meters. One can imagine the French were none too pleased by this.

NJB_0794

The legendary Shibuya “scramble crossing,” part one…

NJB_0796

…and part two, taken seconds later.

NJB_0839

We went to a traditional Shinto wedding! Well, not really. We visited Meiji Shrine on a Saturday and it’s an extremely popular wedding spot. Now N can legitimately claim that he is an international wedding photographer!

NJB_0393

The enormous lantern at Senso-ji Temple.

NJB_0406

Even amidst all the chaos and neon, peaceful places exist.

NJB_0686

It is virtually impossible to convey the visual impact of Tokyo at night.

NJB_0663

A Nissan 2020 concept car in a showroom in Ginza district. The high-end area is famous for new product launches for everything from cars to fashion to electronics.

NJB_0588

Even when Tokyo infuriates, it also manages to delight. These steps at Akasaka Station are actually TV screens with a constantly changing display. Stumbling (sometimes literally) upon public art like this is one of the joys of travel.

NJB_0386

Street art on a hotel near Tsukiji Fish Market.

NJB_0516

The Rainbow Bridge connects Tokyo and Odaiba and is illuminated in different colors according to season or holiday.

IMG_20170203_225724442

There is actually a pedestrian walkway along the Rainbow Bridge! It takes about thirty minutes to cross the bridge on foot.

NJB_1018

Iconic Mount Fuji…with Tokyo’s haze, it’s more difficult to see than one might expect.

NJB_1070

N waited for days to take these skyline photos from the SkyDeck at Roppongi Hills. It’s the only observation deck in the city that isn’t enclosed by glass; as such, it’s frequently closed due to high winds.

NJB_1127

And with this, we leave Japan behind. See you in New Zealand!