travel

Mad about ewe

/ 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.

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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.

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Clifton Station, Hawke’s Bay.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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Bales of wool bound for a local wool sale.

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

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Shearing stalls.

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

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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.

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A helpful identification key for bale stencils.

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

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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

/ 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

/ 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.

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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.

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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.

 

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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.

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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.)

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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.

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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.

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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

/ 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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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.

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

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

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One of the many citrus trees on the property.

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

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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

/ 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.

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

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Tauranga seen from the top of Mount Maunganui.

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Oystercatchers on the dunes.

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Surf school at Omanu Beach.

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Waipu Caves.

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

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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!

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Stormy day at the beach in Tauranga.

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

Scenes from Tokyo

/ 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.

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Tokyo is an often dizzying mix of ancient and modern.

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

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

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

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The legendary Shibuya “scramble crossing,” part one…

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…and part two, taken seconds later.

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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! 

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The enormous lantern at Senso-ji Temple.

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

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

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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. 

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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.

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Street art on a hotel near Tsukiji Fish Market.

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

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

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

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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. 

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

Temples and shrines

/ Elizabeth / 8 Comments

There are few more iconic images of Japan than the ubiquitous temples and shrines found all over the country. Certain places, like Kyoto, have one around every corner, but even in Tokyo’s Blade Runner landscape they turn up in the most unexpected places. The temples are Buddhist and the shrines are Shinto, and in Japan these two primary religions co-exist peacefully. To paraphrase a lovely book I read about pre-Western Japan during our travels, Christianity would have done better here if they’d just installed gorgeous churches next to these temples and shrines. Essentially, these are as much about beauty, calm and aesthetics as they are about religion, and as such everyone is welcome, regardless of their beliefs.

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Nonomiya Shrine, Arashiyama.

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Matsuo-taisha Shrine, Arashiyama.

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Ceremonial sake barrels at Matsuo-taisha Shrine. This shrine is a favorite pilgrimage site for sake brewers to pray for the success of their vintages.

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Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Kyoto.

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The summit of Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine.

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When you approach a Shinto shrine, you first throw a coin into the offering box. Then you ring a bell like the one above to summon the spirits. Bow twice, clap your hands twice, focus on your prayer in your mind, then bow once more.

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Yasaka Shrine, Gion District, Kyoto.

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Most of the shrines and temples have gorgeous paper lanterns that are illuminated at night.

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Osugi Shrine, Inishiki City, Ibaraki. We were taken to visit this shrine by Mitsuru-san, the owner of our second farmstay.

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Though common themes could be seen, all of the shrines and temples we visited had incredibly unique details.

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When you enter temple grounds, you wash your hands and rinse out your mouth from a ceremonial fountain.

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We frequently came across statues with hand-knitted caps, scarves and cowls. A little research indicated that these are Jizo statues, named for the protector of children; he reverently guides their souls into the afterlife. The statues are placed on temple grounds to honor deceased children.

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The main entrance gate at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. The shrine is in a large leafy park which is a wonderful oasis of green in this frenetic city.

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Meiji Shrine, Tokyo. The large drums are used for summoning the spirits.

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Ravens aren’t necessarily malevolent in Japanese culture as they are in Western cultures; this bird is guarding wooden prayer placards at Meiji Shrine.

These varied and beautiful sites were such a joy to discover as we traveled around Japan, and their interesting architectural details and rich symbolism made them a highlight of our month there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here fishy, fishy

/ Elizabeth / 9 Comments

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Tsukiji Fish Market is definitely not dressed up to impress tourists.

It’s our last week in Japan and we’re tackling Tokyo, district by district. We woke up at 4AM to jump on the first train out to Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest wholesale seafood market in the world. We opted not to attend the famous tuna auction, mostly because you have to arrive by about 2AM via expensive taxi in order to queue for the limited tickets available to tourists. Even without the tuna auction, though, the market is pretty spectacular.

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Please stay out of the way…these guys move fast.

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Seafood arrives here from all over the world. Most of the crew starts work between 2 and 3AM each day the market is open.

Tsukiji is made up of two markets – the inner market holds all the wholesale vendors and is off-limits to the public except for between about 5 and 6:30AM for those with tickets to the auction. The outer market is entirely open to the public and contains dozens of small restaurants, plus stalls selling kitchen equipment and other goods.

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Stalls selling kitchen equipment and other sundries line the outer market.

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Of course you can still smoke here…we’re in Japan.

Make no mistake – this is a working market, and tourists are barely tolerated. The market has closed to tourists entirely on a number of occasions, thanks to safety concerns and complaints from vendors, but is currently open. You’re expected to pay close attention to the carts, forklifts, trucks and other machinery moving at high speed around the market, and basically stay out of the way.

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The grittiness of the fish market contrasts with shiny modern skyscrapers.

Tsukiji Market sits on prime Tokyo real estate just outside Ginza, one of the city’s fanciest shopping districts. Land here is more valuable than anywhere else in the world; as such, the market was scheduled to move in November 2016 in preparation for the 2020 Olympics. This was a highly unpopular decision, as many of these stalls (and their inhabitants!) have been in place for decades. In August 2016, the move was postponed; the reclaimed land where the market is to relocate is reportedly heavily polluted, and corruption allegations have been tossed around. Relocating a market of this size is a massive undertaking and it will be interesting to see if and when it actually occurs.

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The fish for sale is always presented beautifully, and of course on plenty of fresh ice.

Tsukiji doesn’t just sell fish, though that’s what it’s best known for. There are stands with fruit, vegetables and exotic mushrooms too. Earlier on our trip I commented about the exorbitant cost of fruits and vegetables here; have a close look at the cantaloupes in the photo below – they’re priced at 1800 yen, or about $16 each. And they’re on sale! You can save if you buy the whole box of six for about $87. At a fancy food hall later that day, we saw melons nestled gently into little presentation crates and selling for about $150, and individual strawberries for $5 each. Perfect fruit are a popular gift here.

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Want an orange? They’re between $3 and $4.50 each, depending on the variety.

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An interesting array of herbs, flowers and other decorative garnishes.

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One of the numerous small “restaurants” that line the outer market. You order at the counter on the right from the chef or his assistant, and eat standing at the long table on the left. Dishes are washed in the gutter next to the street, and no, I don’t think the health department is bothered.

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Ramen for breakfast on a chilly winter morning? Yes, please.

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Indeed we ate ramen, not sushi, at the world’s most famous fish market.

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A quiet moment before a busy day.

Commercial fishing is a challenging topic, especially for the Japanese. On one hand, you have cultural traditions formed over countless generations in this island nation. On the other hand, it’s pretty clear that we’re running out of fish. Consider that Tsukiji Market alone handles over 700,000 tons of fish per year. That isn’t even a comprehensible number, but it’s definitely one that won’t continue. Many wholesalers and famous sushi chefs lament that the size and quantity of the tuna has decreased dramatically over the past twenty years; as oceanic pelagics, these fish can’t be farmed as other fish can. By some accounts, over 90% of the world’s fishing stocks are either fished out or nearly so; it’s estimated that at current fishing rates, fish and seafood will be completely gone by 2048.

This isn’t made any easier by the fact that – at least in the U.S. – we’re constantly told to eat more fish to improve our health. The U.S. imports over 90% of its seafood, much of it from highly compromised environments, so while fish may help your heart, eating more of it has an irrevocable environmental and social cost. And how do you even know you’re eating the fish you think you are? Much of it is mislabeled. Like most of our food system, this industry is heavily compromised too.

An issue as complex as the sustainability of modern fishing isn’t going to be solved in one post. But as always, friends, please spend your food dollars wisely and make your fish and seafood choices consciously and carefully.

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Easy to find the market with landmarks like this!

Japanese farm life

/ Elizabeth / 10 Comments

We spent two weeks volunteering on two very different Japanese farms, one in the wintry valleys of Nagano and one about ninety minutes outside of Tokyo, in the Ibaraki prefecture. We did this through WWOOF, which isn’t well-known in the U.S. but is very popular in much of the rest of the world. Essentially, you work a specified number of hours per day (usually between six and seven, depending on tasks) in exchange for room and board. This is a great way for travelers to get to know a specific area and culture a little better; we obviously hoped to learn a bit more about different ways of farming, too.

Our two farms couldn’t have been more different, and as is the rule with travel in general, sometimes things don’t go exactly as you’d expect. Our first farm was primarily an orchard, with hundreds of apple, pear, plum and persimmon trees. Obviously, in the winter the work has very little to do with fruit. We harvested carrots from underneath the snow, spread rice hulls as mulch in the orchard, and chopped a lot of firewood. Accommodations there were a bit rustic, to be charitable. We slept in an unheated packing shed with a composting toilet (that’s Latin for “hole in the ground”) with no hot water. It was never above 30 degrees there, and we were cold. Really, really cold.

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A haiku: “Sunrise in winter. Today I am cold again. Where is my warm coat?”

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We harvested well over a thousand pounds of carrots from underneath the snow.

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One team pruned the fruit trees, while we followed with a special sealant to paint the pruning cuts so the tree didn’t get infected. 

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Thankfully the farm’s chainsaw was very similar to N’s at home. The farmhouse was only heated by a woodburning stove, so they needed lots of firewood. Basically, we were in Little House on the Japanese Prairie.

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We filled the crates with rice husks from the pile, then spread the husks in the orchard as mulch. 

Our second farm brought us back to life. We stayed in an incredible traditional Japanese wooden farmhouse, built about thirty years ago from just three trees harvested from the owner’s property.

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The entrance to our second farmhouse with traditional Japanese gardens out front.

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A rice field on our second farm. We were sort of in the Nebraska of Japan, which is genuinely intended as a compliment. 

Perfect greenhouse-grown eggplants (aubergines, for our British readers) and cherry tomatoes are the farm’s primary cash crop, although they also grow and process a hundred tons of different rice varieties. Our first task each morning was typically to harvest that day’s eggplants (nasu in Japanese), and if you think that’s easy, try harvesting only the eggplants that weigh above 80g. Without weighing them. There was a bit of a learning curve.

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One of the eggplant greenhouses. The plants are pruned aggressively to keep them producing consistently for over eight months; the technique was completely different from anything I’d seen before.

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Gorgeous Japanese eggplant, or nasu. They’re harvested from the greenhouse every single day to ensure they’re the perfect size.

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Our task one morning was to spray the eggplant flowers with pollination liquid, because in winter it’s too cold for the bees to go to work. The liquid is clear, so it’s colored with blue food-grade dye so you can easily see the flowers that have already been sprayed.

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One of the tomato greenhouses. All of the tomatoes were indeterminate cherry varieties so they produced for months and months.

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Tomatoes were harvested every day too, and we had to be extremely careful to pick only those that were perfectly ripe.

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N found this little one on an eggplant branch while weeding the greenhouse. He’s only about an inch and a half or so.

We’re very glad that we got to experience a side of Japan away from the touristy commotion of the big cities, and we learned a lot – especially about how important it is to keep your farm clean, tidy and safe and how to profitably grow and maintain eggplants and tomatoes in greenhouses. And also that we don’t really want to farm in eighteen inches of snow. That knowledge will definitely come with us to Quiet Farm.

Lost in translation

/ Elizabeth / 5 Comments

We’ve collected a few amusing signs during our time in Japan. Please know that this is just a bit of gentle humor; no disrespect or mockery is intended. We couldn’t write our own names in Japanese much less an informational sign.

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I don’t know what it is, but I want it. Mostly because the workman himself is also handmade.

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Drug dealing? Prostitution? Timeshares?

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Notice the clarification on the last option. If you like to order your food based on gender, this menu is for you. (I do not think this would go over well in the U.S.)

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Very perplexing.

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Really, this is good advice no matter where you are.

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Remember: dehydration kills. Drink something.

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My favorite thus far.