A Taste of Home

It's been awhile since I posted, but things have been busy in addition to the thesis. I ended up having to go back to the U.S. unexpectedly, and then coming back and moving house, and all of that took a lot of time and energy. But I am settled back into the rhythm of working seven days a week and hoping to be on the last stretch of the thesis journey this year.

The good part about being in the U.S. was the food and company. I miss the variety of restaurants and the cheapness and meal deals. And walking into Target's pantry section was both horrifying due to all the sugary, unhealthy stuff, but also so exciting and colorful. I made sure to take photos of a lot of the food so I could share them and remember the tour of my favorite stuff and new things I tried. It is good for the budget that Christchurch doesn't have affordable eating-out and not much to tempt me, but also lame.

First meal in the U.S. - Mexican!

strange to see bleached eggs again, and they don't taste as good

wall o'Oreos (America is doomed...)

I love Belgian waffles

French-toast style Belgian waffle

Denny's Pancake Breakfast

Olive Garden - unlimited breadsticks and salad

Olive Garden fettuccine alfredo

Olive Garden's new cookie butter cake was delicious.

Ravioli with sausage and bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip

Blueberry coconut pie - yum

Costco pumpkin pie (didn't make it through it all... :( )

Had to get the classic Eggo waffles. Taste exactly the same!

Airport restaurant's Clam Chowder

Note the carb-o-licious / dessert theme in most of these foods... There were some other things to note as well. Apparently games now have to list the materials they are made out of (so if you're gluten-free, you won't lick it??...). There are robots at airports. I tried out the Amazon Locker delivery service and it was easy and convenient.

Coming back to New Zealand, I noticed that CookieTime has finally realized the wonder of butterscotch in cookies.

Finally, seeing the snow-covered Southern Alps is always a treat. It's a perk of coming in during daylight hours.

 

Hutt Valley and Ferry Back to Picton

On the drive from Napier to the ferry terminal in Wellington, we enountered a sign for a model railroad and cheese shop. We took the exit and traveled down a road to someone's family farm. A lady came out of the house and gave us some samples of Cwmglyn Farmhouse Cheese, which turned out to be award-winners at some London cheese event and were also served to Prince William and Kate and their little boy, George, when they were in New Zealand. We bought a $20 block of the full cream cheddar which was very tasty and were on our way.

In the Hutt Valley, we stopped at some Lord of the Rings sites, including the first one that has been marked -- Rivendell. They left a smaller-scale stone arch to commemorate the time spent filming there. We stood on the spot Legolas had gotten his promo photos for the movies. It was well worn!

Rivendell was set up here.

Fords of Isen

Where Gandalf and Saruman were walking in the Gardens of Isengard

After passing so many dairies which almost all have signs for CookieTime cookies, I finally looked up their company history online and discovered that the founder essentially pirated the Nestle Toll House cookie recipe from his time spent in the U.S. and marketed it to New Zealanders. This explains why one of my students asked me how I got my chocolate chip cookies to taste just like the CookieTime ones!! It's a little upsetting that people think these are a uniquely New Zealand cookie. The guy just cut the chocolate pieces into large chunks so they're "chocolate chunk". (It is hard to find actual chocolate chips here also.)

not my picture - I have yet to try one of these

The ferry was a bit rockier this time, but it made better time and arrived over half an hour early. We checked into Picton's Villa Backpackers Lodge hostel, which as promised online served us warm apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's hard to beat that kind of hospitality.

Last look at Wellington before boarding the ferry