Rugby time

As a crucial part of my New Zealand cultural experience, I have now attended a rugby game of both the Dunedin 'Nude Blacks' and the world-famous New Zealand All Blacks!  A few weeks ago, the All Blacks were having a game at the stadium in Dunedin against South Africa.  One of the local club teams has a tradition of playing a game completely in the nude on any day when the All Blacks are playing in town.  To get in the rugby spirit for that night (and at the insistence of dad), Elizabeth and I decided it was necessary to check it out.

To be honest, nude rugby was probably one of the weirdest things I have ever witnessed.  Rugby is a very contact sport, and both teams were very naked.  And of course, as the ''nude blacks'', they started with the traditional haka dance.  It made for quite a spectacle, and thousands of people of all ages came out to watch.  Quite a cultural experience!  Don't see things like this in the States.

Later that night, Ryan and I donned our black clothes and headed off to the stadium for the real game of the day.  On the way into the stadium, we bought a couple of All Blacks flags to wave and show our support during the game, and of course as souvenirs.  They started off with the world-famous Haka, which was amazing to see live.  (If you don't know it, you should probably look it up on youtube.)  I hadn't seen much rugby before, but I was amazed at how quickly it went by!  Though there were some times during the game when it came close, the All Blacks eventually pulled out the win.  It was so fun to claim the All Blacks as 'our team' and celebrate the win in the streets on the way home with the 20,000+ other people all there to see the game.  The national spirit in the stadium and in Dunedin that night was amazing.  I guess I've never really been into sports much in the states, but it was really fun to be apart of it here.

The haka

The scrum

This is my favorite part, when they hoist one of the players up in the air to catch the ball after a throw in

During half time, most of New Zealand's olympic medal winners came out onto the field and were interviewed and enthusiastically applauded

Waving the flag after a score

Celebrating the All Blacks win at the end of the game

Greenstone Track

As the end of the semester nears and I've gotten increasingly busy, I realize that I've also gotten increasingly bad at doing blog posts.  School has really picked up, with all the internal assessments just about due, and with every spare moment I've been trying to take advantage of what feels like too little time left in Dunedin.  But I'm sick of working on my final lab report for my soils class, so I'll take this moment to tell you about last weekend...

A few friends and I had been hoping to do the Kepler Track (one of the Great Walks) this last weekend.  But, when we went to the DOC to buy hut passes, we learned that the avalanche danger had increased and it was not safe for us to do the track, at least not without ice axes and crampons.  So at the recommendation of the lady at the DOC office, we decided last minute to do the Greenstone Track.  It also was a loop, but would take us 4 days instead of 3.  There was significantly less elevation gain (which is why it was still safe) but we thought that this also meant it wouldn't be as nice.  We didn't realize what a surprise we were in for!

We left early Friday morning and drove the almost 5 hours to the carpark, starting the track a little after 1.  Just from the drive it was already clear what a beautiful place we were in!  The track begins by working its way up the Caples valley, with beautiful meadows tucked between snow-capped mountains, where our hut the first night was located.  The second day, we passed through the mountain range over the McKellar saddle to the Greenstone valley.  Then the 3rd and 4th days were spent making our way back down the Greenstone valley and completing the loop to the carpark.  And every day was full of the most incredible views!  Most of the time in the valley we followed rivers, with stunning clear blue-glacier water.  On the day when we went over the saddle, we passed through probably 4 different types of forest, each more beautiful than the next.  And we were fortunate to have the BEST weather possible - sun every day, warm enough for a light shirt and just a bit of sweating on the uphills. :)

As I don't think I could ever do the beauty of this landscape justice using words, here are just a few pictures...

(You can click on them to make them bigger, which I recommend, but you also can't see my comments that way)

Even on the drive in, the views of the rivers and mountains were beautiful.

Happy to be hiking in the valleys in New Zealand!

This was up the Caples valley on the first day.

A typical view through the trees across the valley

There were some pretty crazy trees, and we spent some time standing in awe of them.

Claire trudging up another hill, just before arriving at the first hut.

Even all the way out here, seeing sheep is not uncommon!  Farmers lease the land along the trail, and there were sheep and cows wandering around next to us much of the way.

Morning sun on the mountains, the 2nd day.

This bridge wasn't on the track we were doing, but we all took turns going out to see...

...this stunning view! Perfect!

One of my favorite parts was hiking through this wonderful mossy the 2nd day on the way up to the saddle.  It reminded me of Washington, my home!

Good place for an apple and water break, don't you think?

Lovely friends at the saddle!  (Morgan, Brenden, Claire, Meredith, and me, left to right)  We took a well-deserved break here to enjoy the view, eat lunch, and toss the frisbee :)

Oh just some more mountains.

And a little glacier stream.

McKellar Hut, 2nd hut.  Very new and very nice!  Apparently if you're here during peak season there's even flush toilets, which seems pretty plush to me for backcountry backpacking.

Getting excited about geology, near this huge past rockslide that we walked through.

Tussock in the Greenstone valley on the 3rd day.

Sunrise from the 3rd hut, last day. Good view to wake up to :)

About to set off for our final day of tramping, looking a little bit sleepy still

Even more lovely mossy mountain streams

4 days later and back at the sign, a little bit grimier but still in good spirits!

We made a stop in Queenstown on the way back for our beloved Fergburger... Best tofu burger I have ever had.

On the drive back from Glenorchy to Queenstown (which as a side note I've been told is the most scenic drive in New Zealand, and I believe it) we had to drive through a pack of sheep just casually being herded through the road.  The car in front of us was being too timid so I had to take charge and just basically push my way through the sheep to get them to move.  Claire helped as well by barking like a dog to scare them out of the way....wish I had a picture of that part.  Only in NZ!

A Week on a Farm

I spent this last week living and working on an organic farm in the Eastern Bay of Plenty on the North Island for mid-semester break with Ryan.  It was such an incredible experience, and made a huge impact on the way I see my food and how I hope to live in the future.  Ryan and I decided we wanted to spend the break on a family farm because we thought it would be an awesome way to get some of the cultural exchange we miss out on in the University Flats at Otago, as well as an opportunity to learn heaps about organic farming.  It certainly did both those things, but Mike and Claire's farm is more than just a traditional organic farm - it's a really magical place.  Also, their emphasis on biodynamics (taking into account influences of the planets on growing cycles) and soil health set apart their growing styles and the exceptional quality of the products they produce.

The main house

Cabin that we stayed in

View from the outhouse

The farm we went to is a family's market garden farm.  Their main cash crops are garlic, sweetcorn, and limes, but they also grow more other types of crops than you could imagine, as most of what they eat comes from their garden/farm.  Claire manages the farm and does most of the decision-making in regards to that.  One of the things she emphasizes most in her garden is the importance of soil health, by naturally balancing nutrients and the soil food web.  Her husband, Mike, who's from Boston and spent a lot of time growing up in Maine, is a carpenter and sawmill, and helps out a lot on the farm as well as doing a lot of fishing and hunting for the family.  What struck me most about this family over the course of the week was how amazingly self-sufficient they are.  Sure, they do buy some staples such as flour and peanut butter and butter from the grocery store in the nearest town, but all of their fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, and seafood - probably about 70% of what they eat - they either grew or raised or gathered.  After just a week with Mike and Claire, I feel so passionately that this is the way that food is meant to be eaten.  I don't know if it gets much more local than this!  

Claire currently has two pigs that she's raising.  In about a month, the black one will be turned into sausages.

They have about a dozen chickens, from which they get fresh eggs every day

Garlic in the ground

Little vegetable garden near the house - kale, lettuce, celery, carrots, parsley, and more!

While I'm on the topic of food, can I just mention how well we ate while we were there?  Not only was there an abundance of fruit and vegetables and fresh salads made from their garden, but we tried 4 new types of seafood that they caught in the week we were there.  The first day, Claire and her son Dan went free-diving (and Ryan and I went along to watch) and they got a good haul of Kina (sea urchins) and Paua (the ones with the pretty shells).  From the kina, they just eat out the roe, which I thought tasted interesting and kind of enjoyed, but I can see that it's probably an acquired taste.  They absolutely loved it.  The paua meat, however, was really awesome even on my first try.  Apparently it's been called the steak of the sea...but I liked it quite a bit more than steak.  We also had some new kinds of fish that Mike caught one day, as well as some crayfish that we got to go out in the canoe to help catch.  Crayfish was awesome!  Like lobster but sweeter, richer, and more meat in each one.  I always finished meals feeling a little bit too full but oh so happy.  Ryan and I cooked a few dinner as well, including a carrot soup with carrot top pesto, beet feta salad, and pumpkin basil salad.  It was so fun making food with carrots and beets we had harvested earlier that day, as well as seeing how many of the other ingredients came from their garden!

Dan going free-diving

Kina, or sea urchins

Shucking the paua

Collecting the cray at sunrise (Mike and I are in the canoe)

Like a lobster roll, but so, so much better

In exchange for all of our delicious meals, Ryan and I did 4-5 hours of work on the farm each day.  And as would be expected on an organic farm, a big portion of it was weeding!  I didn't really mind weeding that much, though I was a little tired of it after the first few days.  Luckily, we moved on to pulling up some veges, planting potatoes, and other more exciting things.  I also spent one morning with Claire at the new community garden, helping children plant potatoes for the school.  It felt so good to get outside and actually do something, and I feel like I learned so much from all the hard work.

Freshly weeded strawberry plants

Now that's a carrot!

'barrow fulla carrots, beets, and spring onions (only some of the ones picked)

After working all morning, we had the afternoons off to play and explore the area.  Some days we stayed on the farm, just exploring or baking or playing games (at least on one rainy afternoon), and a few days we went on walks or bike rides to explore the area.  Although it's pretty hard to get anywhere in such a rural area without a car, we were able to borrow some bikes, and we went on a couple awesome rides.  

Late afternoon cribbage and tea

We biked to the beach

On the Motu bike trail

Probably the biggest highlight of each day was the evening bath.  In addition to heating the houses with wood stoves, they have an outdoor wood stove that heats water for a bath that sits out in one of the gardens in the upper paddock.  After a hard day's work on the farm, there isn't much better than a hot bath overlooking dusk on the bay, with beautiful stars above.  Oh, and after having just eaten a delicious farm-fresh home-cooked meal.  Mm, perfection.  

Staying with Mike and Claire was an amazing experience.  I loved seeing how they lived, learning about how they farm, and eating so well for a week.  A great spring break!  I hope to spend a week on a different farm in NZ at the end of the semester to see another type of New Zealand farming.