WWOOF #7 (Part 2): A very Kiwi Christmas

Merry Xmas from NZ!

 **Warning** There is Rated R material in this post - if you are not of age to see a rated R movie or are an easily offended Christian, this post is not for you.

Two weeks before Christmas, Malcolm's younger sister Diane and her daughter & boyfriend came to Malcolm and Deb's for an early Christmas since they all had different plans later in the month. Diane is a therapist who uses natural therapies. She does cranial massage to learn about her clients and said herself that she can't always read minds but she can read bodies. She raised her son, Ryan and daughter, Fleur, in Auckland, making them JAFAs (Just Another Fuckin' Aucklander, a nickname a local told us, explaining that Aucklanders act like the South Island doesn't even exist). Fleur has been an actress since she was about 13, when she starred in a show called “Being Eve” about a young girl and her inner monologue through her high school years. Recently she just finished a 4+ year stint on a medical-themed NZ soap called Shortland Street. She is currently in the US for a few months, auditioning for some American shows and films. She also loves doing theater and through some different parts, she has created a character inspired by Malcolm who she simply calls “Malc,” explaining that “Everyone has a dirty little man inside them who just wants to say whatever they want.”

With Fleur after her performance in "Christ Almighty!"

We got to see Malc in action a few days after her visit at a show she was doing in Wellington as a fundraiser. Christ Almighty was a play basically defacing the Nativity Story in the most incredibly entertaining way. Each actor did their own monologue, Fleur as the shepherd. She was AMAZING. She played a dirty little creepy guy (Malc) who talked about Gabrielle the angel in the most biblical of ways, acting out their sexual interactions on stage. One joke she told during the show was “what's the difference between jam and marmalade?...I can't marmalade my cock in my girlfriend's ass!” That gives you just a tiny idea of the feel of the show overall. Afterwards we went out for drinks with Fleur and her friend at a really cool place called the Library. With books lining the walls and lots of small intimate rooms, the seating consisted of lots of cool couches and old vintage chairs that I could only see in a room called a “den.” Behind the big round table and squishy leather stools where we sat was a claw foot tub and an old lamp with a fringe shade. It was fabulous and the drinks were great.

Levin teachers' uke jam.

A few days later we helped prepare for, serve, and bus at the winery for a Christmas party for the teachers of Levin . Serving an event such as this reminded us of our days serving banquets at The Blackwell!  The teachers were a fun group who came prepared for a ukulele jam after dinner, each carrying a big packet of songs with their chords included. My favorite was “Ten Guitars” which Malcolm and Deborah said was a traditional NZ tune. Everyone got really into it and they said it's the first song any NZlander learns on guitar or uke, especially popular with Maoris. It was a really fun event and Steve joined in on guitar and Malcolm on drums. Deborah and I got a song packet and sang along which was easy since they mostly did American rock and roll songs.

A few days later we went to a show with Malcolm and Deborah at a really cute cafe called The Winemaker's Daughter just past Otaki on Highway 1. I wanted to see the band Hot Club Sandwich since the father of one of the girls in Deborah's class played in the band and I heard he was quite good. Instead, we got to see her father, Andrew London, and two other NZ legends. The three of them switched off playing their own songs and they were all fantastic. We watched the show with Malcolm and Deborah and their friends Dean and his wife. Dean is in a band called Henpicked with Andrew London's wife. He is the singer and apparently didn't gain confidence in his voice until lots of time busking on the streets. He invited us to see the free show they played at the Levin Rose Garden on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) and we checked them out after lots of calls home to our families on their Christmas Day.  They were super cool and very country/bluegrass influenced with a touch of reggae. The lyrics were simple and didn't answer life's toughest questions, but it didn't matter because the music was good and they had a nice sized audience.

Xmas Eve feast!

For Christmas Eve, we went to Amanda and Dylan's hotel room in Wellington and cooked up a delicious holiday feast.  Before cooking we walked around Cuba St. attempting to do some shopping, but most things were closing up shop for the afternoon, so after a few beers at JJ Murphys on the patio on Cuba Mall, we headed back to the room for dinner. We had ham baked with a maple orange sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. It was delicious! We shared some wine and champagne and watched Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation. In the morning Steve and I made french toast with homemade cinnamon raisin bread topped with maple syrup, strawberries, kiwi, banana and powdered sugar. Scrumptious!  It didn't really feel like Christmas, but it was really nice to spend the day with friends.  Before heading back to Otaki

Our Kiwi Xmas family

For Christmas we bought Deborah some specialty Turkish Delights (she loves them and mentioned how much several times during our stay) and we made Malcolm a children's book inspired by the Amelia Bedelia books where she takes everything literally, except using his sayings like "good as gold," "all the drama," "for Africa," and then a few others like "easy peasy." We titled it "Malcolm Gets His Head Around It" and I illustrated it by copying clip art from the computer. We had it laminated and I bound it with some yellow ribbon. We were both super-excited to give them their presents and I even made copies of the book for Amanda and Dylan and one for us. The address Malcolm gave us wasn't quite right for Deborah's sister's house where Christmas lunch was, but luckily they parked outside and it was just a few doors down.  We met the whole family, forgetting everyone's names as we went, but everyone was super nice and welcoming and the food was fantastic.  There was ham, chicken, lamb, some roasties (roasted veggies) with cashews, lots of potato salads, coleslaw, a tomato/mozz/basil dish, bread rolls and more.  After the meal we all went to the front lawn to play some lawn games.  We were going to play petanque (basically boche), but everyone was raving about some Scandinavian game called Kubb.  A really simple game with wooden blocks that you knocked down with cylindrical sticks, you played with partners and so Steve and I tried our hand at it.  And we were awesome!  (Pretty surprising considering that we suck at most things that require coordination.)  We won 3 games in a row, lots of times not even letting the other team get one of their blocks down!  It was great.  On our 4th game we played against Malcolm and his daughter Zoe's boyfriend, Rowen.  We were pretty even most of the game and Malcolm had 3 left to knock down with his 3 sticks to win the game.  It was amazing - he did it!  It was a lot of fun and Malcolm joked that for our last week WWOOFing we would be making hundreds of the game to sell, also joking that they all let us win the first 3 to make us feel at home. 

Playing Kubb on Xmas day.

Before we left for a X-mas walk on the beach, we got a big family photo and had Malcolm and Deborah open their gifts.  Deborah was really excited about her Turkish Delights and Malcolm's book was a huge hit!  Deborah read each page aloud (in a perfect teacher voice) as he and his daughters crowded around to see the pictures.  After she finished reading it, he gave us a huge hug and I swear there were tears in his eyes!  It got passed around the whole family and everyone complimented us about it.  I was so happy to have given them really special gifts since they had done so much for us.  The walk on the beach was short but lovely and we even got to check out the surf club.  At the end of the evening, we returned to Malcolm and Deborah's house with full bellies and Steve and I settled in for a movie - Invictus (great movie and we even got to see the All Blacks perform a Haka!).  Halfway through, Malcolm, Deborah and Emily came in and paused the film with gifts for us!!  It was the first moment that really felt like Christmas - sitting cross-legged on the floor with the Christmas tree in front of us and our surrogate parents/family watching us with anticipation as we opened our gifts.  They gave Steve a t-shirt with a kind of Maori-style design, they gave me a kiwi bird Christmas ornament (which I had mentioned several times that I was on the look-out for), and then the both of us a set of Tiki salad servers.  It was so nice of them and really topped off a great kiwi Christmas.  The next day we had lots of calls scheduled on skype to our families for their Christmas (weird celebrating for 2 days!).  Even though it was a warm and sunny day and we were sitting in the winery, calling home and seeing all of our family together celebrating Christmas made it really feel like the holidays.  For our Christmas gifts to ourselves, Steve got a 2 liter bottle of Emerson's beer and I picked up some cute clothes at a second hand store.

Stirring up the ingredients for green ginger wine.

During our last few days at the Hadlum's, we dumped out a bunch of barrels of wine that just didn't quite work out and started fresh, helping Malcolm make a batch of his famous Green Ginger wine.  It was really fun to brew it up and be a part of the beginning of the process since we got ours hands on so many other steps during our stay.  We picked up a cool piece of artwork of Kapiti Island printed on a piece of corrugated iron from a local woman.  And on one of our last days, after watching Jamie Oliver's incessant use of basil on his new show, Food Escapes (which Steve and I are mildly obsessed with), Malcolm told us there is a pesto factory right up the road from their house!  We decided to check it out but when we got there, it was closed.  We tried the side delivery door just in case and after a not-so-thrilled greeting by the receptionist, a man came out, greeted us, showed us to their huge cooler, and after a short chat about their products, packed a box full of every variety for us to take home - for FREE!!  Needless to say, we are now loyal Genoese customers!  We couldn't believe what a nice gesture it was and almost felt guilty driving away with our box of goodies!  When we got back, I rushed to show Malcolm our treasure but he just listened with a knowing smile.  We asked him if he had anything to do with it and he repeatedly refused but his suspicious smile still makes us wonder...

Some of the best fish and chips in NZ!

On our last day at Malcolm and Deborah's, we went to visit her sister's garden in Te Horo, but not before stopping for one last helping of Koru Ice ice cream!  It was the first time Malcolm and Deborah had ever been there and they loved it!  Then we all headed to Janet's house for a look around her garden - it was beautiful!  Hundreds of hydrangeas everywhere, beautifully manicured bushes and flowers, big groves of trees and stone walls...definitely an inspiration for our future yard!  On our way home we stopped for Malcolm's all-time favorite fish in chips in Waiterere, and ate them on the beach with a bottle of orange Fanta (Malcolm said that was the best drink with them).  The fish was so good you didn't even need dipping sauces and they were definitely the best "chips" I've had in New Zealand.  It was a lovely way to spend our last evening with our surrogate family.  When we got back home we watched Toy Story 3, talked to Malcolm for a long time about when we would meet up in January (he'll be sailing around Nelson and Abel Tasman while we're WWOOFing nearby), and planned to have breakfast the next morning before setting off.  Malcolm made New Zealand pancakes (more like thick crepes that you just fill, roll, and eat with your hands) which we ate with Deborah's freshly made raspberry jam, lemon, peaches, golden syrup, and more.  Yum.  It took a long time to say our goodbyes even though we planned to meet up in January and return to WWOOF on our way back through the North Island.  Malcolm even let us borrow a cell phone so we could keep in touch.

After breakfast, we headed to Wellington for a quick shop but left empty handed as we boarded the Blue Bridge ferry to the South Island on New Year's Eve.  The weather was beautiful (yet WINDY) and the scenery gorgeous - Steve even saw dolphins (I was sleeping, what a surprise). 

Goodbye North Island & 2010!

Top 5 things learned at Malcolm and Deborah's...

1. Make opportunities out of disappointments -  When Malcolm's orchard got black spot disease, he could have just wallowed in his misfortune, but instead he saw an opportunity - fruit wine!  I hope that I can have the same attitude and initiative in the face of disappointment.
2. Trust your instincts - Kiwis do a lot of things that most people would think are crazy but it always works out (want to lease a berry farm with me, anyone?).
3. Good things come to those who wait - If you are patient and live life as it is handed to you, it will all come together - the career, kids, a home...
4. Families are the same everywhere - Maybe we don't eat lamb on Christmas or play yard games in December, but my NZ surrogate father still helped put band-aids on my knee when I fell and they still eat peanut butter and jelly (even if it's separately).
5. Drink lots of wine - Is it too alcoholic of me to say that I want to try a new bottle of wine every week?