The East Hawaiian 4H kids and co arrived on Sunday the,
oh hell I can't even remember when they got here
but it doesn't matter
only that they got here in one piece
and didn't try to smuggle in fruit
cause you know how we are about that.
And you know that all the best people arrive on flights
at the crack of dawn.
And you know I'm the kind of person
who is at the airport at the time the flight arrives in,
not a guesstimate of when the passengers will actually
get out of Customs and Immigration.
So it was a bit of a wait.
I love airports and watching people
mostly cause we don't have people where I live.
Well not very interesting to watch people,
quite interesting to know though.
And you know how it is when a group of strangers arrive
and you get introduction after introduction
and you really have no idea which person is which.
To be fair I struggle with names en masse at the best of times.
Anyway you've met the crew in previous posts
so here is a wee report on their first two days....
Arrival Sunday morning,
first stop the supermarket,
I always go to supermarkets first cause that's real wherever you are,
random I know but knowing the price of things
compared to those at home is really helpful for context.
We drove to Hamilton,
stopped at the backpackers,
then out to Ohaupo to go milking at Jason and Heidi's place.
The kids all had a good at putting cups on the cows
and drinking raw milk.
We then had dinner at Kaye Kayes with all the Nonoas
and that's a tonne of people.
She put on roast mutton and pork,
salads and roast veges
but most importantly she put on
FRY BREAD!
Manna from heaven that stuff.
Love it.
Erica came by and did a wee speel about agriculture in NZ
and the kids fell asleep
This is before the kids fell asleep from jet lag.
That's wonderful Kaye Kaye with the blonde hair
behind the wee girl whose name slips my mind in pink
but I'm going Taytay.
And that's the decimated dinner table.
The next morning I picked everyone up
and we headed out to CRV Ambreed,
one of my favourite NZYF sponsors
(yes it's a plug - if you need bull semen, they are your men... um people)
Where we watched bulls donate.
Cause you can't start a tour of NZ agriculture
without a front row seat
where it all begins.
The glass window was for biosecurity
not for anyother reason....
Andy was giving us a commentary
and what he told us
basically applies to human males too.
They use young bulls to create a bit of testosterone filled competition
but they still collect from the young bulls
but the collection from the young bulls is minimal and too fast
so the old bulls are so much better.
They take a little longer but they are more reliable
and give a bigger donation.
Good to know eh?
Afterwards we went north to the Te Rapa Fonterra plant
for a tour with Loana who was just great
and gave us milk bottle lollies.
Did you know you can go for tours?
yup just give Loana a call and it's all good.
No photos though,
which I think had more to with not getting run over than anything else.
There are usually lots of trucks driving around,
not so much when we were there
cause the plant was closed cause all the cows are dry
so no incoming milk.
During lunchtime I remembered a
Country Calendar programme on
Kaiwhenua Organic gardens in Whale Bay, Rags.
I love google.
It will help you find anyone and anything
so I found Kaiwhenua's phone number,
gave them a call and we headed out to Rags
stopping to watch the surfers at Manu Bay
(best left hand break)
and up and around the corner
and we found Kaiwaka on his wee tractor turning mud.
Uncle Kaiwaka was generous with his advice and experience
talking to Mama Chioke, Reggie and Kainoa
who were all really keen to listen to the philosophy
and wisdom of growing biodynamic vegetables
with a good dose of Maori traditional practices.
Kaiwakas tupuna (ancestors) watch over each garden
making sure they are bountiful.
Which they are.
Kaiwhenua supply salad greens to Raglan restaurants
so go eat their yummy salads with fresh flowers and leaves
for your kai.
Ah Rags in the summer is bliss,
note to self: must go there this summer and bask for a bit.
We finished the day eating fish and chips
with Watties tomato sauce and L&P
in the dark in the van,
just like real Kiwis.
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