My favourite vegetable...

Has to be Garlic. Soooo yummy roasted whole, rubbed onto bread, fried with kale. And also very satisfying to harvest and pretty to plait.

I've been doing lots of gardening over the last week at a community farm just north of Dunedin. It's been a fantastic week of discovering new things about gardening, such as comfry being a fantastic mulch, apart from for potatoes who prefer pine needles, that some people like to garden using lunar calendars which indicate when a plant is drawing energy into its roots or pushing energy into its leaves/fruit, how to make a wormery, that radishes provide a good growing mulch for brasicas and that guinea pigs are the best lawn mowers, and that buttercup and convulvula are by far my least/most favourite weeds depending on how you look at things.

This is the view from the garden on a misty morning -


Many exciting new discoveries have been made in the kitchen as well - the most peculiar by far being that marmite and strawberry jam make for a very tasty mix! Crazy I know. I was skeptical at first too, but just try it... (I also hear that they are bringning out a new flavour marmite in the UK made from Guiness - is this true?) People seem to love marmite here even more than they do in the UK - I've not been to a house yet that doesn't have at least one jar.

Other kitchen discoveries are date and cabbage salad - yummy I promise just try it! And the best ever vegan chocolate brownie recipe ever made with raspberries picked in the garden.

The place I'm staying is an intentional community called Volco (short for voluntary co-operation) that was set up well over 20 years ago. There's about 8 residents and a fair few more people who contribute their time and energies to the garden and other stuff too. It's been really interesting to see how the folks here make things work. Everyone seems to be very thoughtful about how they are interacting with others which makes for a very interesting time. Lots of creative play going on - including this mother oven -


Dunedin itself is a great little city. Sister city to Edinburgh so they say. It even has an Arden St, Princes St, The water of Leith running throught the Botanic Gardens etc etc...

Here's some pictures from the Botanics - this is a crazy fly eating plant - the picture should technically be the other way up, but I quite like it like this...


And a beautiful raindropped rose from the sweet scented rose garden -


I had an awesome time on Saturday night celebrating the Chinese New Year here. There were dragons and singing and all sorts of food stalls and bits and pieces going on. Then fireworks at midnight (typical though that as soon as I got my camera out it all finished... humphh). This all conincided with freshers week shenanigans - so lots of very young looking people running around doing silly things, making me feel very old, but I also got IDd 3 times making me feel ridiculously young - I think it was the pigtails and wooly cardy that confused them.

And the charity shops here rock!! Look NEW SHOES! Well, now that I have a car I may as well fill it with something!

Here's some piccies of the Otago peninsular, which is pretty. The boat house with an interesting colour choice is actually at Portobello Bay (Scottish namesakes continue).

Ich bin Roz, ein lustiges Madchen aus England

I've been at Curio Bay now for a week working at the Dolphin Surf backpackers and doing some serious repairing and relaxing after Dusky. It is surfers paradise here. Porpouise Bay is a vast half-moon shaped bay encircling fantastic waves and 18 playful Hector Dolphins - the smallest dolphin and very rare.

Surfing lessons -


My best experience here was my first ever surf lesson one morning. Not much surfing was done (I think I managed to stand up once - I don't remember standing up but someone said they saw me so...!) but it was so amazing feeling the rise and fall of the huge waves and having the dolphins come join us, watching geese fly overhead and turns diving. I was a happy little Roz part of the huge ocean and animal world.


It is amazing to see the beach so empty all the time - but funnily enough have bumped into Venetia, to mum of Katie, an old school friend. I know the population of NZ is small and not that many people come here, but it was a hell of a coincidence!!

Rare things flock here. There is the yellow eyed penguin that nests on Curio Bay and can be seen at the crack of dawn/dusk waddeling and jumping up and down the beach to its nest. Happy feet indeed.



Then there is the petrified forest - only slightly scary after dark and a few silly ghost stories. A fossilised forest from way back - its awesome the way that the rocks look just like logs that were too wet to burn in the fire.

My day usually starts pretty relaxed here - wake up early and read on the deck (confusingly pronounced dick by the locals - much embarassment and laughter....!), watch some dolphins and the surf. Clean from 10ish til 12ish. Lunch then hang out wandering on the beach, weaving flax, watching the tide turn, exploring lovely waterfalls...



Or spokey caves...

Or watching the sunset over Stewart Island... (it is worth downloading this image and looking at the silhouette of Stewart Island in more detail)


I've met some really lovely people. Ana from London has been my cleaning buddy for this week - she's full of hilarity. And Clara is my new cleaning buddy and German teacher. Nick and Tomo run the hostel and are very chilled out and easy going. It's nice working in this hostel - the atmosphere is great so you get to know everyone that stays.

The town/village here is tiny - apparently only 11 people live here all year round! Outnumbered by the local population of two of the most rarist animals in NZ! But a fair amount of tourists come through, especially Germans for some reason. My German is improving daily.

This is a lvely beach near Nugget Point -

On to the bright lights and big population of Dunedin next. That'll be a shock to the system!

So long Curio Bay





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Here's some more pics from the Dusky that accidentally got onto this one - confusion with computers...

The weary wanderers kiss the boat Lake Hauroko speedy little boat rushing over the waves

When there's nothing left to burn... drink rum?

I survived the Dusky Track!! Yes it was wet. Yes it was muddy. Yes it was cold. Yes the sandflies were bastards. But it was fun, and I may well do it again (you may call me crazy).

Day one started with a helicopter ride from Tuatapere to Supper Cove (which was named by Cook when he came in there for Supper one night). My first ever ride in a helicopter. Tis a great thrill and you get fantastic views - though it was a little leaky when the rain starts!

The further we headed over the mountains into Fiordland the more and more the cloud thickened and turned into rain, making things look a little ominous. But when we landed at Supper cove the rain had stopped. The sandflies on the other hand were quite abundant, and so we all dived into the hut for some lunch, and spent the rest of the day in there avoiding the rain and sandflies.

There was one little ray of sunshine that day, which produced this lovely rainbow.

Then the next morning we set off, feeling intrepid and adventurous, for Loch Maree hut. The tramping was pretty tricky underfoot and quite invisible had it not been for the odd orange path marker and our guides Graeme and Brian. When it came to crossing the much anticiapted 3 wire bridges we were all relieved to have something straight and simple to walk along!


Lonely Planet says that the Dusky is the least populated of all Fiordland walks (possibly all walks in NZ), with an average of 500 people doing it a year, so when we finally arrived at Loch Maree we were quite suprised to find out that we'd be sharing the hut with 14 other people. A hut meant to sleep 12 actually fitted in 21 people - it was a cosy experience! But it made for a nice atmosphere in the hut with lots of stories swapped about tracks and troubles and travels.

That night the rain poured and poured and by the morning the next section of the track had become totally flooded and unpassable so we all had to spend another night in the hut contemplating raft building techniques, stretching out rations of food and learning new card games. In the brief spell of sunshine that day I also went for one of the best swims I've ever had in Loch Maree. We found a huge log that was floating by the side of the Loch and managed to punt if out into the loch and use it as a diving board. Great fun - very refreshing!

The next morning started off with a chest deep wade across the still flooded path. I was amazed at how much the water level had gone down from the previous day (roughly 2 meters) and still we had to wade! Then a steep climb up towards Lake Roe hut. Unfortunately when we got above the tree level the relentless cloud didn't lift meaning we missed some spectacular views. It was also quite amazing how much the temperature dropped as we hit the tops of the hills, and I was very relieved to be greeted at Lake Roe hut by a cup of tea thanks muchly to Chris and Ben.

Man it was cooooollllllld in Lake Roe Hut! I still haven't decided whether I prefer warm hut and sandflies or cold hut and no sandflies. That night we tried desperately to warm up the hut with what little dry wood and coal there was so as to dry up our boots and clothes a bit for the next day, but the stove was rubbish, so in the end we just drank rum!

The low point of the trip was definitely the next morning (!!!) after having a not great night sleep (even though I finally had a mattress instead of the floor), the prospect of putting on the frozen blocks of ice that had taken over my boots was not pleasant. But it was done, and after half an hour of walking I started to feel my feet again.

In my hour of need I learnt a great/terrible joke:
one Catholic, one Buddhist, one Jew debating when life begins:
Catholic: surely it is when the sperm fertilises the egg - this is where it all begins.
Buddhist: life does not begin but works in cycles: before I was a man I was a ladybird and before that who knows.
Jew: No, no, no. That is all wrong. Life begins when the kids leave home, the dog dies and you retire.

And then the sun came out. That afternoon's walking was lovely, with lots of birds chirping about us in the sunshine, including one incredibly friendly Robin (not red breasted like its British name sake, but similar in character) who landed on Brian's boot. Alas the wee beasty didn't stay long enough for a picture.

Our final night was spent in Halfway hut, where there is a fantastic but very brisk swimming hole, and plentiful firewood, and much scroggin sorting. Then an early start the next day to get to Lake Huroko for the boat. And after a fairly fast paced walk we were all pretty glad to see the boat. I wasn't going to kiss the boat but it sure was a nice site. This is a nice picture of our guide Graeme enjoying the boat ride back.

Finally arriving back at the pub in Tuatapere I had already started thinking of the next Dusky adventure. Graeme, the guide, has offered me a place on his next Dusky in May... very tempting.