New Zealand: Part IV

Last post on New Zealand! Click on part 1, part 2 and part 3 to see my previous posts.

Five Signs You Don't Want to Leave New Zealand:

1. You contemplate purposefully missing your connecting flight and believe you can figure it out later.
2. You feel sad when the amount of time left in your trip is less than the amount of time passed.
3. You research temporary working visa options to extend your stay.
4. You spend your free time practising the Kiwi accent.



5. You stop at every real estate office to look at the listings posted in the window.

After Franz Josef, we took a short detour to Lake Matheson.



The views during this 5 km hike have got to be some of the most beautiful in the world. When the water is calm, you just can't beat the reflection of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman in the lake.



Plus, the view along the path can be quite nice too. This mushroom reminded me of something out of Alice in Wonderland.




Our next destination, Wanaka, was added on to our trip at the recommendation of other travellers. Wanaka has similar views to Queenstown, but is much lower key...at least outside of ski season.

The YHA Wanaka was a great place to unwind. One of the nicest shared spaces and a well-stocked, clean kitchen. They have a nightly movie, making it a great spot to watch the Royal Wedding live.

On the first night our arrival, we visited Relishes Cafe. The place has a really nice vibe, with a large stone fireplace and simplistic decor.

For starter, we order the Warm goats cheese and sweet garlic fondue with char-grilled ciabatta, Kalamata olive and sundried tomato tapenade. Aside from running out of bread before running out of fondue and tepenade, the dish tasted good.

For the main, I order Prawns Fra Diavolo, chilli marinated prawns tossed with a garlic tomato sauce over steamed broccoli and spaghetti. Broccoli probably wouldn't be my first choice of vegetable to put with the dish. But, I was particularly impressed with the generous portion of shrimp. So often, I find restaurants skimp on shrimp. I think I counted 12 large shrimp.

R got a lamb dish. He really enjoyed the lamb and sauce, but was less enthusiastic about the rice pilaf.

The service was mixed. I felt like the server was annoyed with us. It started when we walked in and waited at the door for someone to seat us. When no one noticed us (the restaurant was practically empty), we figured we should just seat ourselves. Then, we were told that we couldn't sit at the table we had sat at because the spot was reserved and that we could only sit at a table with shared seating. All of that would be fine, but I would rather be told that before sitting down (or if that's not possible, put a reserved sign on the table).  It kind of felt like a punishment to be sent to be removed from the tables at the front to the shared tables at the back, when it really doesn't have to be.

The online reviews are mainly positive, so maybe it was just an one-off situation.

Although the air starts to get a bit chillier the further south you go. We had beautiful weather throughout our trip. We decided to take advantage of the weather by walking to and hiking up Mt. Iron. There are other, longer hikes in the area (if you're looking for a full day or multi-day hike.  Mt. Iron provides nice views of Wanaka, the lakes and mountains as you ascend.



The view is so beautiful, photos just don't do it justice.

As an added bonus, the mountain is right by Puzzling World, which would be fun for kids or for adults who don't feel discouraged by their inability to solve any puzzles.



Do you ever have a moment that is so perfect that you feel compelled to remember every detail? Sitting by Lake Wanaka with the warm sun would have to be one of those moments.



The next day, we left for the nearby Queenstown. Everyone who has been to New Zealand speaks highly of Queenstown. Between the beautiful scenery, nightlife, restaurants, extreme sports and winter skiing, many travellers spend a good deal of time there.

R decided that he couldn't go to NZ without risking his life in some way. For me, driving on the left side of the road was enough. But, R decided to take bungee to a new level with the Canyon Swing. The swing starts on a platform on the edge of a cliff 109m/360ft above the Shotover River. Each jumper picks a jump style and rather than a traditional up and down bungee, the harness is connected to the centre of the canyon, resulting in a swing at the end of the drop.



Check out the  multimedia video I took, below.  R is the first jumper in the video. For some crazy reason, R really felt that hanging upside down while waiting for someone else to release the cord would be the least scary. Keep an eye out for the small swinging figures that appear at the bottom of the canyon.



It was quite amusing to watch people after their jumps. You can see them just shaking from the adrenaline. One guy, apparently thinking ahead, brought a litre of milk with him to drink after his jump. Poor guy, the employees toyed with him for 2 minutes as he waited for them to let go of the strap preventing the chair he was in from tumbling backwards. Yeah - that sounds weird -- he was waiting to fall backwards in a chair.

The next day, we took a daytrip to Milford Sound. Located in Fjordland National Park, a 3 hour cruise will take you through the sound with views of spectacular fjords and waterfalls.

We had the option to drive our own rental vehicle, but opted to take a coach there. Really glad we went that route too because some of the roads can be a bit intimidating and it would be pretty exhausting to drive the distance (about 3 hours each way) in one day. Another option would be to fly to the sound or depart by vehicle from Te Anau, which is about half way between Queenstown and Milford Sound.

Again, we had beautiful weather, which is not the norm. It was so clear that we even had a good view of Mitre Peak, which is often hidden by clouds and fog.

What you don't see in this picture is the sandflies that are relentless at Milford Sound, as you wait for the boat to depart. They are particularly attracted to dark colours, so bring bug spray and light coloured clothing.

Here's a map of our route on the last leg of the trip:


View Larger Map

Last step was a quick flight with Jetstar, from Queenstown to Auckland. We were very glad that we had booked this flight because the drive back would be around 20 hours and the gas would be more expensive than the flight. This is an important note -- gas is very expensive in New Zealand....around $2.20NZ/litre. After conversion, that's about $1.80CDN/litre, a good 50-60 cents more per litre than prices at home.  It adds up.

Next up....Australia!

Strawberry Jam & Strawberry Oatmeal Muffins

Nothing like a good power outage to realize how so much of life revolves around electricity. Some crazy wind gusts swiftly took power to much of ottawa and collapsed the main stage at Bluesfest. Hopefully the person (people) injured from the stage collapsing is (are) okay*.



Here's a video of "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick, who was playing the mainstage just before it collapsed.



* Mixed reports about the number injured -- I've heard anywhere from one to five.
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Now back to the intended post....

Growing up, I was a bit of a tattle. But, in my defence, Actorboy (my brother) did a lot to deserve being told on. One, perhaps less incriminating behaviour, was copying. You know - the ever so annoying - repeat everything I say. It would annoy me to no end when my parents would say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Puhlease!!! Let me imitate you for a while and we'll see how flattered you are.

Now, I am older and wiser, so I am okay with imitation. EXCEPT when it comes to my mother scooping my upcoming blog post!

What started out as an innocent phone conversation, during which time I was making strawberry jam, turned into Giz running to the market for strawberries to make her own jam and then post it later that day.

So, let's just pretend that you didn't see this post.

A few weeks ago, R and I went with a couple of friends to pick strawberries at Shouldice Farm. Between making jam, muffins, lunches and freezing, all 16 litres are now accounted for.


I asked Kat from A Good Appetite if she had any good recipes for strawberry jam and she came through with this one:

Strawberry Vanilla Jam

8 c (approx) strawberries (5 c after hulled and crushed)

4 T lemon juice

1 package powdered pectin

1 vanilla bean

7 c sugar

Sanitize 8 - 9 one cup jars in simmering water for about 20 minutes.


Also sanitize lids in a small saucepan.


Crush Strawberries (I used a potato masher after slicing up the strawberries into smaller chunks).


Put crushed strawberries, lemon juice and pectin in a large stockpot or dutch oven. Stir to dissolve pectin. Split the vanilla bean in half.


Scrape seeds into the pot. Add the pods and stir.


Bring to a boil. Pour the sugar in all at once. Turn heat to high and bring to a rolling boil, stirring often. Once it reaches a boil that can't be stirred down, boil for one minute stirring continuously. Remove from heat. Skim off foam.


Ladle into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headroom.



Cap and add neckband. Put jars in boiling water and boil for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit in hot water for 5 minutes. Remove from pot and let cool undisturbed overnight. Reprocess or refrigerate any jars that don't properly seal.

Makes 8 - 9 cups.

Here's 1/4 of the frozen strawberries. We use them throughout the year for smoothies.


I also made some strawberry oatmeal muffins, using this recipe.

Strawberry Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup light olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 pint chopped fresh strawberries
Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups.
In a large bowl, mix flour (used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose), oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, olive oil (used apple sauce) and sugar. Mix in strawberries. Stir strawberry mixture into oat mixture just until evenly moist. Spoon into prepared muffin cups.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.


We took the muffins to a picnic at Mooney's Bay.

Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Lemons and Olives

A tagine is a North African earthenware conical cooking vessel. We'd normally associate Moroccan food with a tagine. A tagine is also the name of the dish that's cooked in the vessel. These tagines go from the very basic to the completely elaborate with a multitude of reasons why each is better than the next. The beauty for me is that you can stove top or in oven cook with it, use it as a serving vessel and it retains heat for a very long time.

I bought my tagine quite a while ago and every time I cook with it I remind myself that I simply don't use it enough. This time was no different. Craving some flavourful Moroccan chicken I decided to make a simple Lemon Chicken with Olives recipe using the preserved lemons I made a few months ago. If you've never preserved lemons, it's just so easy and the result is nothing short of amazing. Check out How To by David Liebovitz



I found an interesting recipe HERE

Ingredients

•1 whole chicken, skin removed, cut into pieces
•2 large white or yellow onions, very finely chopped
•one small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped*
•one small handful of fresh parsley, chopped*
•2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pressed
•2 teaspoons ginger
•1 teaspoon pepper
•1 teaspoon turmeric (or 1/4 teaspoon Moroccan yellow colorant)
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled (optional)
•1 teaspoon smen (Moroccan preserved butter - optional)
•1 handful green or red olives, or mixed
•1 preserved lemon, quartered and seeds removed
•1/3 cup olive oil
•1/4 cup water, approximately
Preparation:
* Instead of chopping, you can tie the parsley and cilantro together into a bouquet and place on top of the chicken during cooking.

Prepare the Chicken
Remove the flesh from the preserved lemon, and finely chop it. Add the chopped lemon flesh to a bowl along with the chicken, onion, garlic, cilantro, parsley, spices and smen, and mix well. If time allows, let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for several hours or even overnight.

To Cook the ChickenAdd enough of the olive oil to the tagine to coat the bottom. Arrange the chicken in the tagine (flesh-side down), and distribute the onions all around.

Add the olives and preserved lemon quarters, and drizzle the remaining olive oil over the chicken. Add the water to the tagine, cover, and place on a diffuser over a medium-low heat.

Give the tagine time to reach a simmer without peaking. If you don't hear the tagine simmering within 20 minutes, slightly increase the heat, and then maintain the lowest heat setting required for maintaining a gentle, not rapid, simmer.

Allow the chicken to cook undisturbed for 80 to 90 minutes, and then turn the chicken over so that it's flesh side up. Cover the tagine again, and allow the chicken to finish cooking until very tender.

Turn off the heat, and let the tagine to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Moroccan tradition is to eat directly from the tagine, using Moroccan bread to scoop up the chicken and sauce. French fries are frequently served with this dish, and may even be placed on top of the chicken.



Notes: I used chicken legs instead of whole chicken - it was great
Black olives instead of green or red - don't think I'd do that again - too salty
Added carrots - nice sweetness to offset the spice

If you don't have a tagine, this dish can easily be reproduced in a large skillet at low temperatures