Friday, March 11, 2005
Indigo Starfish
First, a few vocabs, some used in the last posting:
Bula: the word of greeting in Fiji. I don't know if it's related to "boola, boola"...
Kava: a powder they mix with water and drink in a ceremony, or not in a ceremony. It's available in the US in capsule form, called "kava-kava" -- there was a controversy awhile ago over whether you could get a DUI under the influence of it.
Thole Binar (sp?): what you say when people offer you kava.
Binaca (sometimes pronounced bin-aqua): what you say after you've drunk the kava you've been offered.
On our last full day in Fiji we took a half-day cruise to South Sea Island, 25 minutes away, where there was incredible snorkeling just off the beach at low tide. Mr. Pantone was especially busy with blue underneath the water, using it to color many entire corals, the tips of some other corals which were otherwise coral in color, and most especially starfish. There were little schools of green fish hanging out in orange coral, little schools of blue fish hanging out in blue coral, and various other fish of all sizes and colorations.
As we got back to the hotel afterwards, the sky opened up for the first time in the four days we'd been there, unleashing a torrent that lasted about the time it took us to walk to the neighboring resort for dinner, to eat dinner (Thursdays were Fiji food), and to take a taxi back. It was very loud.
Yesterday we flew to Auckland, and then on to Christchurch on the south island of New Zealand. It was pretty late when we arrived, and all we could find to eat was a "bar platter" at a pub full of very friendly people.
Today we drove across the island to Hokitaki and went to the Wild Foods Festival. Here's what we ate:
Possum Pate
Chamois Stick
Sheep testicles
Gorse bush popsicle
Cricket and peanut butter
Raw and pickled hearts of fern
Abalone fritter
Bull penis (it was inedibly chewy and we ended up throwing it away)
Smoked conga eel on pita bread
Mutton Bird
A shot of vodka with Flax Seed
Sea Urchin (called Kina down here)
Three beers (this was the only long line in the whole festival -- it took 45 minutes)
Corn on the cob
Potato and "pepper tree" salad (a peppery leaf that grows very gradually hot in your mouth)
Worm Salsa cup
Wild Mushroom Cup
Fruit Biltong
Dutch Doughnut
It was all tasty except as noted and we got very full. We also met lots of drunk New Zealanders who liked our beards, variously calling us ZZ Top, Santa, Saruman/Gandalf, etc. We even met a woman from Zambia who knew the guy who drove us out to see the eclipse there in 2001.
Now we're at the town of Franz Josef near one of two glaciers we'll take a look at tomorrow. The Internet Cafe closes at 8:30 in 5 minutes so we will sign off.
Bula: the word of greeting in Fiji. I don't know if it's related to "boola, boola"...
Kava: a powder they mix with water and drink in a ceremony, or not in a ceremony. It's available in the US in capsule form, called "kava-kava" -- there was a controversy awhile ago over whether you could get a DUI under the influence of it.
Thole Binar (sp?): what you say when people offer you kava.
Binaca (sometimes pronounced bin-aqua): what you say after you've drunk the kava you've been offered.
On our last full day in Fiji we took a half-day cruise to South Sea Island, 25 minutes away, where there was incredible snorkeling just off the beach at low tide. Mr. Pantone was especially busy with blue underneath the water, using it to color many entire corals, the tips of some other corals which were otherwise coral in color, and most especially starfish. There were little schools of green fish hanging out in orange coral, little schools of blue fish hanging out in blue coral, and various other fish of all sizes and colorations.
As we got back to the hotel afterwards, the sky opened up for the first time in the four days we'd been there, unleashing a torrent that lasted about the time it took us to walk to the neighboring resort for dinner, to eat dinner (Thursdays were Fiji food), and to take a taxi back. It was very loud.
Yesterday we flew to Auckland, and then on to Christchurch on the south island of New Zealand. It was pretty late when we arrived, and all we could find to eat was a "bar platter" at a pub full of very friendly people.
Today we drove across the island to Hokitaki and went to the Wild Foods Festival. Here's what we ate:
Possum Pate
Chamois Stick
Sheep testicles
Gorse bush popsicle
Cricket and peanut butter
Raw and pickled hearts of fern
Abalone fritter
Bull penis (it was inedibly chewy and we ended up throwing it away)
Smoked conga eel on pita bread
Mutton Bird
A shot of vodka with Flax Seed
Sea Urchin (called Kina down here)
Three beers (this was the only long line in the whole festival -- it took 45 minutes)
Corn on the cob
Potato and "pepper tree" salad (a peppery leaf that grows very gradually hot in your mouth)
Worm Salsa cup
Wild Mushroom Cup
Fruit Biltong
Dutch Doughnut
It was all tasty except as noted and we got very full. We also met lots of drunk New Zealanders who liked our beards, variously calling us ZZ Top, Santa, Saruman/Gandalf, etc. We even met a woman from Zambia who knew the guy who drove us out to see the eclipse there in 2001.
Now we're at the town of Franz Josef near one of two glaciers we'll take a look at tomorrow. The Internet Cafe closes at 8:30 in 5 minutes so we will sign off.
