Happy New Year! (Opua, Bay of Islands, New Zealand)

January 1, 2013

May all of your dreams come true in 2013 – may this be the best year yet for all of us!

opua-fireworks-show-1 opua-fireworks-show-2 opua-fireworks-show-3 opua-fireworks-show-4

With about 15 minutes remaining in 2012, we left the boat and walked a little ways up a nearby hill where we were treated with a great view of the Piahia-Russell fireworks show.  Special!

(We’re on the other side of the date line so we welcome the new year a day earlier than America.  Spoiler alert: so far, 2013 is great!)

New Zealand Discovery #10: Pavlova

December – May 2103

New Zealand’s specialty dessert is pavlova. A meringue shell is baked to be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, then topped with berries and whipped cream. It’s especially popular in the summer and, like pumpkin pie is the standard American holiday dessert, Pavlova is the standard Kiwi holiday dessert. It’s delicious, and I’m surprised it’s not more popular in America. –Cyndi

Usually pavlova would be served on a plate, but this restaurant does a version in a glass like a parfait. (New Zealand)
Usually pavlova would be served on a plate, but this restaurant does a version in a glass like a parfait. (New Zealand)
And here is Mc Donald's version of pavlova: soft serve with meringue nuggets and passionfruit sauce. (New Zealand)
And here is Mc Donald’s version of pavlova: soft serve with meringue “McNuggets” and passionfruit sauce. (New Zealand)

New Zealand Discovery #9: The Kiwi Burger

December – May 2103

Our first clue that New Zealand’s burgers are different came in Samoa, which was once a New Zealand territory and still does many things the Kiwi way. Here, we found that it’s standard to use a slice of beet on a burger.  We figured we’d give it a try, and discovered that the flavor and texture of beet is wonderful on a burger. It’s slightly sweet, which is great with the savory meat.

When we got to New Zealand, we found that not only is a slice of beet the norm, but a fried egg is often on the burger, too. So basically a New Zealand burger will have all the regular stuff:  meat, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, and maybe dressing, but there will also be the thick slice of beet and a fried egg. The end result is yummy!

Here’s a picture of a Kiwi burger from Mc Donald’s, who do a really nice version of it. –Cyndi

A (half eaten - yum) Kiwi Burger from Mc Donald's.
A (half eaten – yum) Kiwi Burger from Mc Donald’s.

New Zealand Discovery #8: Pukekos

December 2012 – May 2013

These birds are the size of large chickens, cobalt blue and black with a flash of white under their tails. They have long legs and large red beaks with a red crown on top of their heads. They are called Pukekos, and they are all over the North Island. They can be found hanging out in pastures among herds of animals: cows and pukekos, sheep and pukekos, horses and pukekos, goats and pukekos, or if it’s merely a grassy area, just pukekos.  You can really see the dinosaur in these birds—if it weren’t for their plumage they’d look like small velociraptors roaming the countryside.

They aren’t well known outside of New Zealand, but in New Zealand there are restaurants and business named after them, and their likeness are always featured in gift shops, maybe more than any other bird. You just can’t have too many pukekos! They are beautiful birds, but not very friendly as they couldn’t care less about people. If you get too close, they head off quickly, even flying if they feel they must. Maybe someday we’ll get to befriend one—I wonder if they’d like leftover fish and chips? -Cyndi

New Zealand Pukeko
New Zealand Pukeko
A Pukeko with a large red crown on its head.
A Pukeko with a large red crown on its head.
A Pukeko wandering up the side of the highway.
A Pukeko wandering up the side of the highway.
A gift shop Pukeko display.
A gift shop Pukeko display.
Pukekos galore!
Pukekos galore!
A stuffed Pukeko.
A stuffed Pukeko.  (I’m pretty sure this one will end up living on Legacy -Rich)

Bird Watching and Walking (Bay of Islands, New Zealand)

December 31, 2012

The bird watching has been great here.  We’re so happy to see familiar seagulls after missing them in the tropics.  There are also a bunch of birds we don’t know.

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This morning, we walked along the disused railroad tracks near our marina and ran into these two:

Rosella Parrot

The Eastern Rosella Parrot comes from Australia and is found in the northern part of New Zealand’s North Island. They seem kind of shy and this is the closest we’ve been able to get to one – maybe 15 meters away (yes, we’re on the metric system now – that’s about 50 feet to you yanks!).

white-faced haron

This white-faced heron was enjoying some peaceful fishing from a disused train bridge until we came along. They are found all through most of Australasia (thank you Wikipedia!).

By the way, speaking of Wikipedia, did you know you can download the entire thing and take it with you when you go cruising? It is about a 7GB download and decompresses to about twice that size and this doesn’t include any pictures. It was really handy to have along on the trip. If you want to know how to do it, Google “downloading wikipedia.” You should find something involving wikitaxi. That’s how we did it.  -Rich