Ukulele dreams

Last night we saw these guys, the wonderful, hilarious and slightly crazy (in the make-you-laugh, wholesome-delicious way) Wellington Ukulele Band. Here they are, the nutty peeps...

Yes. The lovely Oamura Opera Theatre has had its revamp and enter Ukulele hilarity (and a good dose of musical talent and singing excellence of course) for the opening night of Oooooooooo, the Opera House re-opening festival! So there we are being entertained up in the circle, looking down on these masters of musical comedy. Curtain. The End.

But no, off we go to another musical venue. The Penguin Club! "Its hot, its so damn hot" their words not mine. The Opera House's Alter Ego.

A place I've been meaning to visit since I arrived here, a renowned music venue that has hosted many a famous musician in its time. Not something I'd expect in sleepy old Oamaru but last night it was kicking off. Open mike night. A mixture of eclectic local characters jamming around on stage. A couple of beers and local watching took place. Enter Ukulele's. Amazing. They got the Ukuleles back out after some encouragement and were away with an Artic Monkeys tune.

A great night out in Oamaru. Never thought I'd say that! Good times.

Tales of glut and chutney

Luscious apricots, fat juicy strawberries, lovely looking rhubarb, plums a plenty, wild passionfruit ripe and dropping to the ground, apples steadily growing, their time drawing near. That's Moeraki now, in summer. Fruit coming out my ears right now. I do love it. Preserving, pickling, freezing summers bounty to be enjoyed later in the year.

When I am an old lady you will walk by my little cottage and be mesmerised by the smells wafting out from my little kitchen. Sweet smells of jams and chutneys which I will sell to passers by and give away by the dozen to friends and family. I will be the holder of the areas most renowned secret chutney recipe, as discovered by accident one hot summer in 2034. People will come from miles around, not knowing what was drawing them to my little cottage by the sea, but leaving happily, jam in the bag tea in the belly.

Til then I am busy pitting endless apricots. I say endless, but yesterday I finally pitted the last apricot from the last crate (7 crates in total). We were so happy a Mexican wave spontaneously happened, Hana, Sue, Simon, Andrew...."Er Andrew, are you looking for the Mexican? Earth to Andrew" (still waving into the distance). At Fleurs Place we now have: Apricot jam, jelly, chutney, compote, coulis, sauce, sorbet, icecream, creme brulee, roasted, stewed, and frozen. A Mexican wave of congratulations and relief. Enter Fleur looking slightly cheeky. Bad news....Another box of apricots arriving tomorrow, a gift from an old Central Otago buddy of hers. Phew I think, I can deal with just a box, after all those crates. But no, not a normal box, a fruit pickers BIN. Meaning 150kg at least... more sauce?

Anyone got any jam jars?



I gave some apricots to my lovely neighbour Rayleen. Shes making fruit salad jam today and will be bringing me a taste! Delightful.

Chutney of the week - Rhubarb and Orange. Fresh, zesty, delicious. The best way of using up those old stalks of rhubarb at the end of their season. Recipes are for sharing (apart from the one i discover summer 2034), so let me know if you want this one.

the hills the hills, run to the hills

I do love a good hill it has to be said. With all the contours and valleys, sometimes they remind me of the wrinkles of a puppys skin...and sometimes not. The hills in the picture are the Danseys of Danseys Pass, although who Dansey was and what he did pass I have no idea.
They were gorgeously stunning, 60km of gravel road through mountains, an odd odd pub slap bang in the middle, nothing else for miles.
Hills like that remind me why its good to open my eyes and look.

So only 2 weeks of work left, and it still seems like an eternity to go. So a change of mind is necessary, a few more hill viewings, some proper dog walking...It always amazes me how much your state of mind affects everything - hard things are easy when you are relaxed and happy. I'm really excited about travelling on, to the point where i'm anything but relaxed...want to be travelling now! Thats the great impatient in me coming out. Off for a walk.....

Eternally Optimistic?

The world seems to be in financial chaos. I seem to be very much on a plus when it comes to money. That meaning that I have just about enough to get me home the way I want to get home. And then. Well onwards and upwards isn't it?
I keep reading about financial recession and downward spirals and doom and gloom on the job market without feeling any actual effects. Maybe I'm lucky. Maybe I'm just a travelling gypsy-type without financial commitments greater than an ability to set myself up in the next place. Maybe there'll aways be hospitality jobs going. I can see that this crisis is very real for much of the world, and worse to come, but it always was a system based on stupidity. Had to topple sometime. Hopefully in the calm after the storm (whenever that comes) the bigwigs of financedom will look at the whole and not encourage people and countries to borrow more, more, more.

I just seem to be working more, more, more. Its not that its more hours now than at the beginning, just that my energy for it has waned as the times gone by. I've learnt that my body can only take so much work work work. A balance is required for that level of constant energy output and seen as theres only so many hours in the day (8 of which are required for sleeping) its been pretty impossible. All great things have their downsides, this job has been the hours. Unsustainable for my body, but do-able for 5 months. I don't think I've ever been as physically weak as I am now, and that's hard to deal with when I still want to be as strong, if not stronger and more capable, than all the men! Going to yoga puts it all in perspective and reminds me how much respect and time you have to give to looking after your body and mind. You can't simply be running on all cylinders all the time without replacing that energy or maintaining the equipment. So 3 more weeks to go for me, and i am trying to make the most out of it. Trying to find the energy to really enjoy my last few weeks in Moeraki, as sure as sure can be I will miss the place horribly when I go.