“Alive without breath, As cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

I have tried my best today, to find just the right "Fish of New Zealand" poster. I found several that I attempted to copy into this post, but none of them came out as large or as clear as I wanted. After trying for a while, I remembered W. C. Field's good advice, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it."

Therefore, I'm not going to bring the poster to you, I'm going to bring you to the poster. Please, if you're interested, click on the link below and look at some New Zealand fish.

http://www.seafood.co.nz/types-of-fish/

If you weren't interested and didn't click, reconsider now, before you go on any further because the photos on the link are by far the best pictures you'll see on today's post. You can even touch each fish on the link with your pointer and it will appear that there is water rippling around it. A pretty cool little plus in my opinion. Go ahead. I won't go any farther with this post until you're ready...

...OK, well, I hope you all have been to the link and learned a little about the fish that swim in our waters. You might have read that the fish shown there are by no means all the fish that are eaten here. I am going to show you some pictures I took of some of the fish I've tried. I regret now that I have documented so few compared to all of them we've tried.  

The first two I'll show you are red snappers and are the number one game fish here. 

You're going to need to look closely to see the next fish. Taken together, they are known as Whitebait. This term is used to describe fish in several parts of the world, but in New Zealand, it describes the juvenile form (about 2" long) of five species of fish of the family Galaxiidae.

These run up rivers from the ocean in spring and are harvested by netting.  I have seen fresh whitebait for sale in fancy fish markets for as much as $119.00/kilo. I buy frozen packages of them for $7.99/200 grams.  The most common use for these fish is in fritters. That's just beaten eggs and flour, whitebait and salt/pepper. Fry them into little patties. Very good. And yes, you use the entire fish; head, bones, fins, scales and guts. (and tiny eyes)

Can you see their little eyes looking up at you?

Here's one that I got excited about when I saw them for sale at Henderson Seafood. I first heard about flying fish when I read Kon-Tiki, by Thor Heyerdahl, as a kid. In fact, I just started re-reading it today and found that the author mentions flying fish on the very first page of the book. His 6 man crew sailed a raft from South America to the Polynesian Islands. (they landed on an uninhabited atoll) 

In his account, flying fish would often land on the deck of the raft which was only inches above the water line. One of the duties of the cook first thing in the morning was to gather all the flying fish that had come aboard during the night.  **

I thought that it tasted very mild. Thor and the boys enjoyed them too. Of course, they used them as bait as often as they ate them.

Here's one that I thought tasted just a little more 'fishy.'  Not bad fishy, but somewhat noticeable. They tended to break up too with only the lightest cooking so I'd had to give the interesting looking piper fish a B- on his report card. These little guys have a long list of alias. They're also called garfish, ihe by the Maori, or 'halfbeaks.' They're about the size of smelt.

This one has a rather interesting bit of history behind it. In 1769 Maoris living on the east coast of the North Island gave several casks of pickled John Dori to Captain Cook, who was on his first voyage to New Zealand at the time. The Maoris, then and now, know it as kuparu.

John Dori are very widespread across the globe and all have a large 'eye spot' on their sides that supposedly confuses their enemies.  

These fillets, which are usually sold here with the skin on for some unknown reason, cooked up very nicely. Good flavor and texture.  

I think I'll expand this post to include all sea food. There are so many interesting things to show you. Here are some tuatua and prawns. 

I boiled the prawns in sea-salted water and cooked the tuatua in the steamer above the prawns. They were both delicious with garlic butter.

Henderson Fish Market had both of them in big tanks. I rushed them home and we enjoyed them as a treat for lunch on Valentine's Day, the day Jeanne and I met 44 years ago. 

I enjoyed putting this post together.  I think that I'll continue showing you some fish and seafood you may not have heard about before. 

** I learned something recently about the Kon-Tiki voyage that I didn't realize. Two of the crewmen aboard the raft signed an agreement with the U. S. Army Quartermaster to eat no fresh food at all during the voyage. They lived entirely on field rations, tins of food and emergency rations that the U.S. wanted tested. (well, they claimed they did)

Can you imagine how dreary that diet must have been, especially when you had to smell things like flying fish frying in the morning?

My suggestion is that you find the book at the library and read it. It's the perfect escapism literature for snowbound folks.                                -djf

"Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother rather than all major credit cards." Robert Orben

Today's offering will be a bit of a hodgepodge.  A bit of this and a bit of that, with an odd thought thrown in for good measure.

• 'A bit of this' is about cards
• 'A bit of that' are some quotes from Robert Orben
• 'An odd thought' relates to trying to find a cool glass of water.

'This' ...

A day or two before I left for New Zealand the first time, I went through my wallet and cleaned out everything that I didn't think I would need here. I kept one credit card, my driver's license and another ID card, but everything else got piled together. A big rubber band then condensed what I had obviously thought were the most important parts of my life into a tight little bundle. Which I stuck into a bottom drawer and haven't missed yet.  

I was surprised at the thickness of the stack of stuff I was leaving behind. (I also understood why my wallet had become uncomfortable to carry.) 

Now, after living here for better than 2 years, I have started to re-accumulate some cards. Here is the range of plastic that serves my needs now.  

The Kiwibank Visa card is what I use almost exclusively for every sort of shopping.  It draws each payment instantly from our savings account at the bank. It's fast, and I don't have to sign anything. At a store, I push a button for the type of card it is, put in my 4 digit pin and I'm out of there. 

The AThop card is what we use to ride the buses, trains and ferries.  You pass it over the reader at the beginning of you trip and at the end, and are charged accordingly.

The driver's license was surprisingly easy to get. A very simple eye chart test, a short form and about $80 is all it took. There is no Triple A here, it is AA and is a bargain at about $70 for a year's protection on the road. 

I'm proud of having a blood donor card again. I had asked a number of people how to go about finding a site to give blood and I couldn't get any clear answers. Finally, Allie heard about an opportunity to give at a local sports arena.  It turns out that the blood collection team sets up there 4 times a year.  Allie, Jeanne and I are all now in their system and will be regulars.  We took the boys with us this last time and I think they were very favorably impressed (albeit slightly squeamish about the needles) with the whole process. (free orange drink and cookies) 

The museum card gets me into the museum for free since I'm a resident.

Allie gave me a gift card for the shoe store and I still have a few bucks on it. 

Jeanne's cards are below. 

 

Jeanne says:   When my sister Dianne was visiting, I used my "I AM" card, as always at the War Memorial/Auckland Museum, while she had to pay $25.  The Museum has a natural history section, including dinosaur skeletons, and what I like best: the skeletons of the huge, wingless and now extinct moa. I think the most interesting part is on the geology of the islands, including volcanoes.  There is even a little trailer house you can enter and experience what it would feel like if you were inside your home and a volcano erupted in the harbor. Rangitoto Island is in the harbor, and it is NOT an extinct volcano.....good information to tuck in the back of my mind.

I got a library card almost as soon as I arrived, and Doug and I use it practically every week.  We can go online and order books, which arrive at the Henderson branch in a few days.  An e-mail lets us know when they are ready for pick up, and e-mails also remind us when our books are due.  The Farmers and Millers cards are for some very nice clothing and department stores.  They are not charge cards, but they accumulate points that can be redeemed at future purchases and also qualify the buyer for instant discounts.  The One Card works the same for the grocery store Countdown.

Finally, I am a "Loyal Nandos" customer.  "Nandos" means delicious barbecue chicken basted in hot peri-peri sauce.  Dianne and I enjoyed a lunch of chicken with medium and mild peri-peri, coleslaw and light fluffy dinner rolls after spending a morning at Kelly Tarlton's Undersea World.  You get a free meal when you've gotten 10 stamps. This is my second card. Practically every shop offers them, for services (roller skating, hair cuts), food, clothing, shoes, and every other imaginable product.  (Buy ten, get one free.)  I didn't get out all the cards I have.  My purse is about maxed out on places to put them.  Allie says I am a true Kiwi now because of all the cards I have collected. The Nandos card is shown because I thought Dianne would like to remember that windy, rainy day in November.  -jmf

'That'...

I don't know if any of you know the work of Robert Orben.  He was a comedy writer for many years, most of his career actually, but finally became Vice-President Gerald Ford's speech writer and continued after G. F. became President. I like many of his quotes and comments and thought that you might enjoy a few of them too. (You may have noticed that I often like to include a quote, at least marginally associated with the subject, at the beginning of my blog posts)

"Older people shouldn't eat health food, they need all the preservatives they can get."

"There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all."

"Never raise your hand to your children - it leaves your midsection unprotected."

"Sometimes I get the feeling the whole world is against me, but deep down I know that's not true. Some of the smaller countries are neutral."

Maybe some of you will want to research him a little more.  I like his tone...

'Odd thought'

What you are looking at here, is my shadow falling across the cover over our water supply line in the front yard. The handle of the on/off valve is a little hard to see because of the grass stems, but it lies at most, 8 inches or so below the surface of the ground.  

Because we had a water leak happen not long ago and had to have the line dug up and a fitting replaced, I discovered that the rest of the water line lies only about 18 inches below the surface.  

There is no need of course for the water lines to be buried deeper since we never have any frosts that could freeze the lines.  In the summer then, when the temperatures climb and the ground warms up, so does our water supply and it is impossible to get a cold, refreshing glass of water from the tap. We need to keep a carafe of it in the fridge. (We don't have a fancy fridge with built-in water) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amDo-KqUjpA

You've heard of perma-frost that affects the far north of course?  Well, we have perma-warm.  It's rather nice in some ways.  When we fill up the boys' splashing pool, they find it comfortable to jump in immediately.                                                         -djf

"Our Town"

You've been seeing photos of all sorts as long as we've been here of course, but this time I thought that I'd show you just pictures of Henderson. This is what we see in our daily life and where we walk and shop, etc. 

This post then, is called, "Our Town." and is presented, in a way very loosely modeled, on the play of the same name by Thornton Wilder. (I have a video starring Allison as the Stage Manager in the Our Town production at a dinner and a play event that her senior class put on back in 1995. What a treasure that is.)  

"The name of the town is Henderson, New Zealand--just across the international date line: latitude, 36.8811 degrees south, longitude 174.6312 east. The day is February 5th, 2015. The time is several hours after dawn."

"Well, I had better show you how our town lies..."

"Up here is main street"   (actually Great North Road, looking northward. At the top of the hill, we turn left on to Swanson Road, then left again on to Sturges Road, and then right on to Harvest Drive. Home is about 2 kilometres, 1.2 miles, from this corner. )

  (Great North Road looking south)

(The courtyard of our Westcity Mall, that lies along GNR)

"Way back there is the railway station." (Bus Stop is on the side walk, train platform is raised in the background, next to the ivy-covered wall.)

(The bus stop and train station from the other direction.)

"Catholic Church is over beyond the tracks"...(Our Lady of Lourdes is in Glen Eden, about ten minutes drive from our house or 3 stops by train...sorry for the low quality of the photo.

Our Lady of Lourdes side view. This shot was taken on Christmas Eve 2014. There are nine 'communities' represented in the Church...Maori, Kiwi, African, Samoan, Tongan, Filipino, Asian, Indian and Fijian.)   

"Here's the town hall."  (this sign is located on the corner of the WestCity Mall carpark on Railside Avenue.)

"And the Post Office." (The post office, called 'Postie' here, and the Kiwibank are combined.  This branch, where we do our business, is on the lower level of the mall)

"Here's the grocery store." (We commonly shop at two, mostly Pak'nSave. You see two practitioners of "Falun Dafa." This is a Chinese discipline for mind and body... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong ) 

"And here's the drugstore."

"Public school's over yonder." (Summerland Primary.  Both boy's new classrooms for this coming year lie behind the building on the far right of the photo.)

(First electric trains are going to come along in about 5 months. This is the new electric model that I saw being tested on our line at Sturges Road a few days ago. For now, it's noisy diesels)

(Our favorite, a sushi place, Ko & Ki's.  And the boy's too. This is our favorite place for a treat after going to the library or on another errand.)

(Here's one of those treats.)

(Our public library)

(Here are some stores that we shop at constantly.)

(The Great North Bakehouse is my favorite because of the nice lady who runs it. We limit ourselves to only stopping here occasionally.)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed walking around our town and seeing a few of the things we see almost every day. I wish I could have included the sun and the wind and all the folks walking past on the footpaths.)

"Hm. . . . Eleven o'clock in Henderson. You get a good rest. Good night."

THE END                                                -djf

Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.... W. C. Fields

No, this post is not going to be about W.C. Fields, but I couldn't pass up his comment when I saw it, since this post is going to be about food. Not anything that I've cooked, this time, but street food that I found at the Friday night fair that is held each week in the underground carpark in Henderson. 

Unlike the foody travel shows on TV that you might have seen, I didn't buy and sample each item I'll show you. I had already eaten an early dinner at home, and I didn't want to spend a couple of $20's.  

I did buy one hard-boiled egg cooked in tea and spices though for a dollar, and some plums to bring home, but that was it.  

This is a view down one of the aisles at the fair. The fair starts at 5:30 pm and this was taken just about 6 I suppose. As you can see, the place is already jumping. I found that if I show up around 7 pm, it is so packed that it's elbow to elbow, too hot from all the grills and not as pleasant.  

So, lets get down to looking at some possibilities for a snack. Who doesn't like meat on a stick? There are lots of choices here...

These selections are fairly cheap, any 3 sticks for $5.

Sorry, my photographic skills are not evident in this next picture. The three items listed on the sign are garlic prawns, mussles, and squid tentacles.

Then there is the meat that goes into combination meals with an egg and the chopped up meat on top, and rice and some veggies down below in the bowl.(next picture down)  Not a bad price for a fast meal.

All this meat has made me thirsty, let's find a cool drink.

The girl working this booth looks unhappy with her job. It's true she didn't have any customers, at least not when I took this photo, but maybe that's because she was charging $5 for a coconut and everyone knows that you can buy the same thing at any fruit market around town for $1.99.

It's just not worth $3 to have someone knock a hole in the top and add a straw. 
Besides that, there is a thin layer of very tender, very delectable coconut 'meat' along the inside of the shell that can be scraped out with a spoon. I think it would be a shame to buy a 'drinking coconut' and then throw part of it's goodness away. 
Judging from the empty spaces in front of her booth, most people agree with me. 
Here is a photo from back in 2012 that shows the 'meat' inside.

Here's one of my favorites. They're called Khao Tom at an Asian market I frequent, but this version is a little better because they are grilled over charcoal just before they're given to a customer. It adds a little smokiness to the flavor too from the charring leaf. I'm sorry the photo is slightly out of focus. This is made by wrapping a length of banana in sweet, sticky rice and wrapping that in a banana leaf and steaming it. 

Khao Tom are delivered on Tuesday and Friday mornings to the Da Hua Market across from the Mall and since I shop in the morning, I often buy them while they are still warm from the steamer. 

Here is an in-focus photo I took of some Khao tom in 2013. These have taro inside instead of banana so the filling doesn't show up like banana would. (The sugars in the banana tend to turn it browner.)

This one is a 'Korean fritter' made with an egg batter and veggies or meats.

A kind of dumpling...

And here is my tea egg. It comes with a cracked but still attached peel. (I already peeled half of it)  You can make these at home. I found out that it's strong black tea and 5 spice powder. It tasted better than it looks but I'd prefer one of Jeanne's devilled eggs. 

These are waffles with sweet red-bean paste on  the inside.  

Purple rice congee is a rice porridge or pudding. It's sweet, but not too sweet.  I've had several kinds of congee since it is available canned in all the Asian markets. The can of congee also comes with a tiny plastic spoon so you can eat it on the run. Another fast food.

Finally, an old friend. Fritz's Wieners.  

Thank goodness for Fritz's Wiener stands. The first one I found, on my first trip by train into Auckland, was across from the Ferry Building. I tried their $7 spicy bratwurst. (In the photo, there is a pile of them on the right side of the grill and in the front row.) It was somewhat coarsely ground, juicy, spicy and salty. It is what all sausages ought to be. It's the kind of sausage that makes you want to eat it too quickly. These sausages remind me of home. 

Well, that's it for today. Are you hungry?                     -djf