WILD FOOD PARTY!!!!



CCU NURSES AND SPOUSES/FIANCES


KRIS WITH THE STUFFED HOG HEAD


SITTING AROUND THE BONFIRE, ARE WE IN MISSISSIPPI?


We were invited to a Wild Food Party on Saturday night by one of the women I work with in CCU who lives out in Kaipoi. We weren't sure what to expect but I prepared some beer biscuits (mom's recipie) and some banana pudding (with green food coloring) and drove 1/2 hour out of town to her place. We could hear the party before we could see it. It was quite a shin-dig (sp?)! Several big white tents were set up in the field behind her house right on the river. They had a band playing and several bonfires. A maori traditional dinner is called a hangi; see Wikipedia definition:
Hāngi (pronounced /hɑːŋi/) is a New Zealand Māori word for a method of cooking in an outdoor pit oven. It is done in New Zealand as an alternative to the barbecue, but often saved for special occasions due to the large amount of time and preparatory work involved.

To "lay a hāngi" or "put down a hāngi" involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing wire baskets of food on top of the stones, and covering everything with earth for several hours before uncovering (or lifting) the hāngi. There are many variations and details that can be altered, but a hāngi produces rich, succulent food with a flavour quite unlike anything else.

Several strange things happened that night: Marion (S.African friend) caught a field mouse in a jar and decided to take him home as a pet...Petra had her first roasted marshmellow(she is 24 years old)...at the end of the party a guy played the bagpipes (Amazing Grace I think). It was fun but weird. The pulled pork was good, but the weirdest thing I had was a chocolate eclair that was labelled "cow dung" (even though I knew it was not dung, the label some how spoiled it for me).

Hiking in the Port Hills


view of Lyttleton Harbor from the top


The Rock Cliff we hiked to the top of


Jonny, Blaine and me (terrible pic of me) at the top


We had a fun Saturday hike in the Port Hills (sort of in our backyard) with Tyler, Amber, and Jonny. It was so beautiful from the top, very windy! Blaine led us "astray" on the way down but it wasn't really much longer. The saddleback trail led up a ridge where we could see the Canterbury Plains/Southern Alps and the Pacific Ocean/Harbor on the other. There was an unobstructed 360 degree view at the top. Blaine was practicing his new photography skills. We just ordered a DSLR camera (don't ask me what it stands for), some fancy new electronic that Blaine has researched. I will bring it back from the States after I visit. I think Blaine will be more excited about getting the camera than he will be to see me!

Happy Mother's Day





Hoping both of our mother's have a special day! We are so blessed to have wonderful, loving moms. We miss you!

Our Weekend Hike


Amber and Tyler (Our California friends)


View from Taylor's Mistake Beach (where Amber/Tyler live)


Our View (again)



We had a fun half day hike around the Port Hills right outside Christchurch. The fall weather has been gorgeous lately. We sat and had a picnic and watched the sailboats coming through Lyttleton Harbor. It was such a fun day and ended by going to Amber/Tyler's favorite Mexican restaurant in Sumner. Cheese dip, beans and rice and enchiladas!!! So good. Then we had a slumber party at our house and watched movies. They will be moving back to the States in August so we have to pack in as much fun as possible!