Week Two

These past few weeks have been great. Quite an adjustment, but definitely a learning experience i am thankful to have. We have had a variety of different cultures down here, with very different eating styles. They call New Zealand, a mini America, twenty years behind. I can see why. The cookery is more based on old school English/ British as opposed to our French influence. Sauces, spices and big flavors are a huge no-no..... i am slowly introducing that here. It has been interesting to adapt to this ordering system. We eat from the land, only local grocery. We talk to our produce people daily and ask what the freshest of vegetables, fruits and dairy is and our seafood purveyors for the catch of the day. Our chicken and lamb is picked up daily and the venison, hare, duck, and pig are from our ranch. I have been involved in the entire process. Amazing! When the animal is killed, i go down to the hunting range and pick it up and take it back to the chiller to break down and hang.. to age the animal. I feel like a rancher. I even get to drive all the work trucks around and feed the animals. Our pigs are so happy to see me with the slop buckets and all i can do is feel bad because i will be cooking them in a week or two. I got over it.

I have met some great people. Jane and Kris, Daughter and Mom, they work with the horses and also waitress and host at night. On my days off, i have gone into town with them and they have showed me the ropes. We took a tour of Taupo, lots of little shops and cafes' and then to all the little touristy sites. New Zealand is quite famous for it's honey, so went to the honey hive and did a honey tasting, yes... like a wine tasting. it was pretty cool. We went to Huka falls. They are rapids that stretch from here to Auckland. Very beautiful colors and amazingly fast moving water. The dam is released three times a day because of the amount of water. After our hike around Huka, we went to explore the prawn farm (shrimp) and eat at the little cafe'. We were too late to fish for prawns, but it was funny to see people at those little watering holes with tiny fishing rods.

Later, we met up wit Jane's partner, Trent to go fishing in Lake Taupo. It was a great view of the town and amazing to see the depth of the water. The locals say the lake is bigger than Singapore. We also strolled around to the carvings. Tribal artwork, etched in rock, took the Maori tribe three years to carve. their tribe is a large part of this culture. Language and cuisine. We have several Maori Indians working for Poronui and all have wonderful stories. They still hold a tribal supper once a month in various towns. Their food is buried and roasted in the ground for hours. Pig, potato, corn, etc. It is quite a big deal. The ladies invited me next month to attend with their families. Jade and wood carvings are also a huge deal here.

I am back on with new group of people at Poronui. I prep all day for the lodge, Eve cooks for the Lodge guests and i am cooking for a family in the Owner's Lodge. It has been a very busy few days. My whole dinner has to be ready by 4:30 in time for the lodge guests to return from fishing then, i race up to the Owner's cabin to cook for that family. I am learning a lot about time management. There is a lot of driving around in a day and a need to be three places at once. It is quite a rush actually. Other than that i will be taking my days off when they come and hopefully get to see a bit. I do love it here, but already missing my friends and family. Please let me know how you all are doing.