Food Post II

We have really enjoyed the food in New Zealand. All types of fruits and vegetables grow well here, so whatever is in season is reasonably priced and of high quality. With all of the sheep and cows, there is no lack of meat, which is also good and reasonably priced. Fish is a big part of the diet, and we've tried many kinds that are not available in the United States. Food that is shipped in, such as processed food, is really expensive, but the local stuff is priced right.

The Kiwi

Originally known as the Chinese Gooseberry, the Kiwi was rebranded by New Zealand farmers for marketing reasons. We've been eating a lot Kiwis. Here is a Golden Kiwi.

Does Rachel enjoy Kiwis? Of course she does.


Lamb

Lamb is ubiquitous in New Zealand. For instance, Subway Sandwiches offers a lamb sub, and, as mentioned in the eariler food post, there's even lamb flavored potato chips.

Rachel is a good name in New Zealand because it means lamb (well, technically "ewe"). Rachel, how does the animal you were named after taste in New Zealand?


Fish and Chips

After hanging at the beach, and working up a huge hunger, what could be better than a big greasy serving of fish and chips? Nothing, that's what. The fish in this picture is gurnard which is a white fish similar to cod and common in New Zealand.


Rachel was so hungry when this picture was taken that even spicy food, the only food that Rachel does not like, would have gotten a thumbs up

Canned Goods

Any similarities between Wattie's Baked Beans, and Heinz English Baked Beans are merely a coincidence. Wattie's is the big name in processed food in New Zealand. From what I can tell, they take popular canned food from abroad, adjust it to New Zealand taste-- which means making it sweeter-- and market it as made in New Zealand. Interestingly Wattie's is owned by Heinz. This means that Wattie's Baked Beans is a knock-off of a popular English food, which is owned by an American company. Globalism is alive and well here in New Zealand.

Rachel loves beans in all of their forms, English, New Zealand, or otherwise.

L&P Soda

If New Zealand had a national soft drink (or, as it is sometimes called here, "fizzy drink"), it would be Lemon and Paeroa Soda, otherwise known as L&P. Their slogan is, "World Famous in New Zealand." As the name implies, it is a lemon flavored soda, made with effervescent mineral waters in Paeroa, a small town on the North Island, not too far from Auckland. It's not as sweet as most soft drinks, and the lemon flavor tastes real.

Does Rachel like it? What four year old doesn't like soda?


Kumara potato

The kumara is incredibly important in New Zealand not only as a food, but also as a cultural artifact. The kumara arrived here with the first Maori canoes, and was an essential staple from the day they landed. The modern kumara is a close relative of the original kumara. One of the great mysteries is how the Maori, and the Polynesians before them, acquired the kumara. Being a member of sweet potato family means they are a New World vegetable. Polynesians and Maori trace their ancestors back to Asia and the Old World. Did early Polynesians sail to South America, or was there some ocean based trade route that people of today do not know about? it's doubtful that we'll ever know for sure.


They are delicious, like a meaty firmer sweet potato, with a skin that cooks up nicely.


As is evident from this post, much of New Zealand cuisine is derived from Britain. Its saving grace is, that unlike Britain, the climate here is hospitable to growing just about anything. A fresh avocado, a plum, or a macadamia nut doesn't require a great deal of kitchen technique to be made scrumptious. A piece of fish, or meat, if it's good enough, just needs to be tended to and not overcooked. Nothing fussy, keep it simple, and let the ingredients shine. That's when New Zealand food is at its best.

If I Could Walk With The Animals

The last couple of days have been all about animals. On Thursday, we finally made our way to the Auckland Zoo, and on Saturday we had an incredible trip to the wildlife island sanctuary of Tiritiri Matangi.

The Auckland Zoo is much more relaxed about human/animal encounters than zoos in America. Here's Rachel feeding a giraffe.



The Emu, native to Australia, are basically free to roam around and mingle with visitors. Rachel looks nervous, like the emu might attack her.


Tiritiri Matangi is a wildlife sanctuary and scientific resource center that has been reforested with native plants, scrubbed of all invasive mammals (except humans of course), and repopulated with many species of New Zealand native birds that are on the verge of extinction.

With the exception of a few small bats, New Zealand had no mammals until the arrival of the Maori. Birds, with no predators to eat them or their eggs, ruled the roost; they were at the top of the food chain.

When the Maori arrived they were not alone. They brought with them the Polynesian Rat, which was a Maori dietary staple. The Maori feasted on the larger birds too, particularly the Moa, which they hunted to extinction. The Moa, having never encountered a predator, made for easy prey. Meanwhile the rats ate the easily accessible bird eggs (many species of birds nested on the ground since there were no threats such as rats or snakes) and competed with the birds for food. Although this was bad news for the birds of New Zealand things would get worse. Much worse. Soon (in evolutionary time) Europeans would arrive and bring cats, Norwegian rats, possums, pigs, and their own song birds. This spelled doom for many native species, and pushed many more to the edge.

Luckily places like Tiritiri Matangi have been set aside to help the birds that survived. Many of these species unfortunately, are still close to extinction.

One of the worlds greatest song birds is the Tui. Its range of notes and ability to communicate is simply amazing. Ornithologists have speculated that because New Zealand bush cover was so dense, bright plumage did not enhance a bird's ability to communicate or to be amorous. Birds made up for this with their song. No bird better exemplifies this than the Tui.



Here is a short sample of the Tui song.





The Kereru is New Zealand's only native pigeon. Although they can fly, they prefer to hop from branch to branch. The density of the native New Zealand bush made hopping much easier than flying.



The Takahe was once thought to be extinct, but in 1948 a small number were found in the Murchison Mountains. Through breeding programs, there are about 300 Takahe today.


This Takahe's name is Greg, pictured below with his baby. The Takahe have low reproduction rates, on average one clutch a year with two eggs. The male and female split parenting duties, and juveniles will stay with parents for up to two years



Like the Moa, the Takahe is a fearless and curious bird and easy to hunt. Its inquisitiveness was too much for Rachel. And no, Rachel did not feed the bird potato chips.


A bird similar to the Takahe in stature and build is the Pukeko. Both the Takahe and Pukeko are members of the Rail family. Unlike other native species though the Pukeko had done well since mammals have come to the island. Unlike the Takahe the Pukeko can fly.





Tiritiri Matangi also has Blue Penguins. Blue Penguins are the smallest members of the penguin family.


They also come ashore and leave under the cover of night. This makes them hard to see. Stone nesting structures have been built on Tritiri Matangi for the penguins to nest. There are lids on top of the nest and open them and look down on the birds nesting.



How could there be a blog about New zealand birds without mentioning the national symbol, the Kiwi. Kiwis are incredibly hard to spot in the wild; they are shy animals that only come out under the cover of darkness. This elusiveness may be one of the reasons they were not wiped out. Rachel and I saw kiwis on display at the zoo, but did not see any on Tiritiri Matangi since we didn't stay over night.

Another Holiday...

But surprise! This one is not observed with a separate day off, much to our chagrin.


This Saturday was Treaty of Waitangi Day. It marks the day that 500 prominent Maori chieftains signed the treaty of Waitangi, a treaty that would govern the orderly transfer of land from Maori possession to English possession, and in the process make New Zealand an English colony. In modern times Treaty of Waitangi Day has been treated in much the same way as Columbus Day; with store sales, and a sense of colonial guilt.

The Treaty of Waitangi was named after the river by which it was signed. Interestingly, Waitangi means lamentation in Maori, and is exactly how both Kiwis of European ancestry and Maori feel about the Treaty. As historian Michael King wrote, "...the document would turn out to be the most contentious and problematic ingredient in New Zealand's national life."

It is clear that that the Maori chieftains had a minimal understanding of what the treaty entailed. It was hastily put together, and since the Maori had no written language until about twenty years before the treaty, they had to rely on trusted Anglican missionaries to decipher what it meant. That the Treaty was written in different languages, one of which was newly minted, also proved to be quite nettlesome. For instance in The Maori version, The Chieftains were to give up governance, but in the English version they ceded all of their Sovereignty to The Crown.

Since most of the Missionaries, The Maori's most trusted advisers, were Anglican they felt the best safest path for the Maori would be under the protection of the Crown. They most likely were right. Before the treaty, there was no orderly transfer of land from Maori to settlers. This left a tremendous amount of room for swindlers and hucksters to operate. There was also a private firm in London, the New Zealand Company, that was formed to colonize and annex New Zealand. In addition, the French were starting to be more prominent in the South Pacific and it was rumored they had their sights set on New Zealand . In other words, the vast resources of the islands were becoming clear, and more people were interested in exploiting them.

In the eyes of the Missionaries, who were genuinely interested in what was best for the Maori, it was a matter of choosing which option was the least worst. The swindlers cared little for the natives; it became clear the New Zealand Company only cared about exploiting New Zealand's natural wealth; and considering the tumultuous history of the former French colonies the Missionaries probably made the right choice.

After the treaty, New Zealand went from a Maori island where European settlers needed to be accommodated, to a place of European settlement that would carve out a place for the Maori. Like most native populations, the Maori population was stressed as more Europeans arrive. The number of Maori decreased, and their culture became in danger of extinction.

In fairness to Kiwi Europeans, they recognized the peril the Maori faced, and helped them save their culture. Today, Maori phrases such as "kia ora" (hello) are prominently displayed, and children learn Maori language in schools.

One of the greatest displays of Maori culture is the Haka, a traditional Maori war dance. The All Blacks, the New Zealand national rugby team which this nation is crazy for, performs one before their matches. It is a good example of how New Zealand has embraced Maori traditions.




Maybe if the Minnesota Vikings incorporated a Haka into their pregame rituals, they might be able to finally get back to the Super Bowl. More posts with Rachel pictures soon, I promise.

Anniversary Day....

Or yet another holiday.

We've been told that New Zealanders bunch their holidays to take advantage of the summer weather, and so far we have no reason to dispute that. To us over-worked Americans it seems like there's a holiday every other week. This weekend was Auckland Anniversary Day. It is observed throughout the Auckland Province, even though Provinces don't exist in New Zealand anymore. As with most holidays, the more the merrier I guess. Plus, those that observe the holiday get Monday off.

Anniversary Day commemorates William Hobson's arrival in New Zealand. He was dispatched by the crown to be the first Governor of New Zealand, and negotiate a land swap with the Maori. Six days after his arrival the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, and at least as far as Great Britain was concerned, New Zealand became a colony. Even though William Hobson was a distinguished member of one the greatest Navys ever, his true skills were in negotiation; if there was dispute or minor quarrel he was the man to call upon.

These days Anniversary Day is a chance for Auckland to show what makes it special, a chance for the city to strut like a peacock with full plumage. Of course when you strut with your feathers out there's a chance you can get wet, as happened to Auckland this weekend. Even though it rained most of the weekend, we were able to dodge the raindrops just enough to see some really cool stuff and have a ton-o-fun.

Aucklanders claim that it's the City of sails, and judging from the magnificent boats, there's no reason to dispute them.



Bungee jumping is everywhere in New Zealand, people even bungee jump from the Harbor Bridge in Auckland. It's safe to assume that is is the closet any of our party will come to bungee jumping.


New Zealand has great seafood, and Aucklanders love their fish. Kiwis are also highly skilled at the art of face painting.




Auckland City Council flies in street performers from around the world to ply their trade during the festival. Rachel was able to get into the act.


Here Rachel learns the important lesson of not accepting money from strange men. Too bad she had she had to learn it on the street.


Rachel Had to carry the bowling ball that was to be dropped upon the performer's stomach while he laid on a bed of nails. Obviously Rachel's not a golfer.