Napier

We've been asked a lot about whether we are a bit bored coming back to NZ.  The answer is no - we have adapted very well.  We are now getting excited by planting leeks, building compost bins, and eating our first zucchini from our garden.  Seriously, it is all good fun and I think we have a good balance of home life, family and friends, work and getting out and about.  The philosophy of having 'one blog moment' a week is a good one as it keeps us learning, experimenting and enjoying novel experiences.  The past few weeks have been a bit of a mixed bag concerning weather - it has even snowed in Queenstown (that southerly wind does have a bite to it).  We've sat in the sunshine in the rose garden having a coffee with Jill and Graham, visited Cheryl and Marty in Eketehuna in the aftermath of a fierce windy storm (started sorting out some of Mums special belongings), found a dress for Mike and Becks wedding.

Wellington anniversary weekend saw us cruising up the east coast to Napier.  We left work early afternoon to miss the worst of the traffic and had a good run up, stopped in Dannevirke (where we watched peahens enjoy a sandbath, roosters cosying up to us for a bit of our afternoon tea and we played hide and seek in the trees), had dinner at Hastings (where we admired the art deco buildings - can't wait for art deco weekend) and then arrived in Napier (Jan's place).

In the evening we had a nice walk around the harbour, while catching up with lots of news and the next morning hopped on our bikes to take a trip round the wetlands and along Westshore.  We really enjoyed getting back on bikes, having a picnic lunch in the sunshine and breathing in all that good kiwi fresh air.  We saw some more migratory birds and learnt a bit about the spoon bill which should have been in the wetlands but decided to leave home for the day (isn't that always the case!).  They are quite cute birds (from the pictures) and have bred in NZ since the 1950's.  Here's a photo of the bird we didn't see and some photos of some we did see.


http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/spoonbill.html

Sunday morning Jan suggested we visited the Farmers Market which was set under trees and had a variety of natural produce (rule is has to be grown within 30 kms of the market place).  We bought some chamomile tea flowers (the stall owner said they were Egyptian flowers which is a bit more than 30kms away but I won't tell), some mini tomatoes (red, yellow, black), a black capsicum (turns out to be green inside) and some more plants for our vege garden - horse radish, yam (grows on top of the ground) and a plant called Good King Henry. Also had coffees and iced tea in the sunshine. On return to Wellington we couldn't quite recall what the farmer had told us about 'Good King Henry' so we 'googled it' and found that this lettucy looking thing grows 30 cm tall, can be eaten raw or cooked (raw in moderation as they are highly acidic), and can be used to clean sores, boils and abscesses.  It's also a gentle laxative and is a diuretic. It can be used to heal coughs in sheep and although has iron, vitamin C and minerals best to stay away from it if you have rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity.  Don't think we'll be eating but I had already planted it and needless to say it is thriving!!  This week we've eaten our first green scallopini - its a bit hairy and nothing like those you find in the shops and cos Harry put it in a quiche (there is only one of edible size at the mo) it is a bit hard to tell what it tastes like.  Then it was onto Te Mata Peak where we had lunch looking over the valley at a table sitting in the middle of long grass and no chairs.  We were going for a walk to the Redwood Forest but decided to leave that for another day and drove up to the top of the peak instead.  Wonderful views from the top, and then good views from the winery below which we enjoyed over a glass of wine. It was evening dinner at the local thai place (busy and we could see why) and then on Monday home via Eketehuna.  A great weekend.