Brisbane 1: Public Transportation and Public Art

I think I have a little crush on Brisbane.

Where to start? Well, Ferries. Not only does a river run through it (the city, that is), but the public transportation system includes ferries that run up and down the river! The ferry is pretty cool during the day, but even more amazing at night, when you get to cruise under the cities (seven?) bridges with a light wind in your face and lights sparkling up at you off the water. They light up some of the buildings along the riverbank, too - last night the old Treasury building was a deep cobalt, to which the orange pedestrian bridge acted as a visual foil.

Of course, the ferries addition to buses and trains (trains!). How cool is that? To get from A to B you can think to yourself, "hmm, do I feel like taking the bus, train or ferry?"

Although not technically a part of public transportation, there are also amazing bike paths up the river banks. Separated at most points from both car traffic and pedestrians, they line the river for all of the downtown area and in great swathes radiating out towards the suburbs. I spent most of the past few days negotiating these bike paths, biking partly just for the joy of having a warm breeze in your face and sunshine around you. Its a great way to explore the river bank, where public art and parks abound.

Thought Brisbane was bike-friendly? There's more! Not only are the bike paths throughout the city as well as on the river bank, but part of Brisbane bike-friendly initiatives include a city-run bike lending program as well. Similar to those found in cities like Barcelona, you sign up for a year and then can check bikes in and out of bike stations whenever you want. It only costs 45 AUD a year (plus usage charges) and they even give you a helmet! This might help combat the fact that I saw mostly lycra-clad men on fancy, fancy bikes using the bike paths - from the looks of it commuter cycling isn't exactly de riguer yet.

Oh, and then there's the public art. Its everywhere. I mean really, everywhere. Lining the river, on corners, on electrical boxes (apparently 900 have been painted), at random intersections, on the ground... its an amazing display of creativity, and seems to be a key aspect of the city's identity. Now, I'm not sure if it was always this way, but there sure is a heck of a lot of art around now, and its absolutely lovely (I'll put some photos up when I get them off my computer, promise). In addition to art outside, there is also a huge amount of art available to the public in museums and galleries. And they're free! Many, many free places to go and enjoy some art, like the lovely Queensland Art Gallery with its range of Australian art from colonial days through the present. I was particularly stunned by the palette of colors used by the Australian Impressionists - no doubt taken from the Australian landscape.

Stay tuned for more museum reports! I'm not nearly done.

A Glimpse of Wellington

I wrote the following based on an interview I did in Wellington - just to give you an idea of what I was up to!

"Soon the rooftop of the City Gallery will be bursting with edibles as Nikau Gallery Cafe takes local food to the next level - literally. The six planters come from the Pop Up Gardens that bloomed in Civic Square over the summer, and have found a new home on the City Gallery's roof. The venture is the latest step in Nikau Cafe's pursuit of local and organic food.

Leading the campaign is chef Kelda Hains, who has been at Nikau for over 12 years. For Kelda, getting interested in local food started as "I noticed more and more that when I bought food from local, organic growers the quality was much better... I did some reading and got really inspired and started looking around for local ingredients". As a chef, she agrees that food tastes better picked fresh and local. "Sometimes my growers turn up at 10:30am with food they picked that morning and it's just phenomenal". There are other reasons to go local as well, she says, including lessening environmental costs and supporting the local food system. Kelda has her own patch up in Brooklyn, where she's been able to do some growing of her own. Drawing a comparison between her work in the kitchen and her work in the garden, "I think gardening is a bit like cooking," she explained, "where you observe results and then decide what's worked - [it's about] repetition and observation".

The rooftop planters are the second step in Nikau's agricultural adventures, coming after success of the outdoor planter boxes in their courtyard. Kelda's experiences helping found the Brooklyn Community Orchard led her to think about how to utilise spare space at Nikau, starting with the courtyard planters. Built from macrocarpa, the stylish planters have moveable sections that combine seating with growing boxes. Since they're in a public space, Kelda says that texture and colour have played an important role in what is planted; "that's part of urban agriculture, it has to look beautiful". Interestingly, "many people don't know what plants look like, so its been quite educational". (More about them can be read on Nikau's blog at http://nikaugallerycafe.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/courtyard-garden.html).

Since the staff are already busy with running the cafe and "when we get busy in the kitchen is when you need to be in the garden", they will likely hire a gardener to be in charge of the planters on the roof. While Nikau will hardly be able to supply all of its own food from their planters, "its all about filling the gaps and keeping it interesting", says Kelda. For example, "maybe we'll grow carrots but they'll be purple carrots". Whatever they grow its bound to be delicious, so keep an eye out for homegrown additions to the menu!"

Autumnal Weeks on the Farm

Before I leave New Zealand for exciting travels overseas (I'll be away for six weeks!), its about time I got around to describing what the farm has been like lately. While my sister was around we spent a lot of time swimming and exploring; besides the few days in Kaihoka, we spent Easter Weekend at our friend Debbie's bach at Tata Beach in Golden Bay. It was a picture perfect weekend - golden sand, clear water, portions of native bush, a visit to Takaka with a browse around its market and art offerings. Since Golden Bay is also exttremely shallow, at low tide we shellfish from the flats, digging in the sand for pipis and cockles and pulling mussels off the rocks. Pipis, in case you don't know - we didn't - are a small shellfish that look sort of like a cross between mussels and cockles, but smaller than either. Our family had never tried them before, although Debbie assured us that they are a Kiwi classic, especially in sandwiches with white bread and butter. Never a family to miss a culinary experience, we drove to the nearby dairy to buy properly white bread to experience this - and it was worth it. The taste is sort of like a creamier, gentler mussel, and are actually quite divine. If sunny, crisp weather and fresh sea food wasn't enough, our stay at Tata beach also aligned with the full moon, which rose and set at just about the opposite time as the sun - one evening I watched the moon rise just as the sunset was fading, and two mornings later the moon was setting as the sun just started to peep above the hills. Stunning. Not to brag, but did I mention that we drank wine on the beach?

Unfortunately, Kim had to depart back to the United States, leaving us alone on the hilltop. Luckily, she didn't take the beautiful autumn weather with her! We've had light breezes, crisp nights and clear days to spend outside. There's something distinct about autumn in the country, as if it brings out the visual poetry in the scenery. The trees that adorn fence lines stand out more sharply, while some blaze out their show of leaves. Fruit is ripe, apples falling on the sides of the roads and hawthorne berries create clusters of red. There's mist, too, which certainly adds to the effect - this morning it was so thick that we couldn't see the valley floor, but some days its just a few wisps. At sunrise the light is apricot colored, and sunset its like golden quince syrup (the bountiful fruit is obviously influencing my prose!). Maybe its just because the days are shorter so everything feels somewhat condensed and thus precious, but in short its been stunningly gorgeous. I love autumn!

Of course, autumn also means lots of work in the garden and kitchen. Everything comes ripe just before it all decays, so harvesting and preserving is key. We've been picking apples, quinces, peaches, rosehips, walnuts, and all sorts of vegetables and herbs. We've made rhubarb jam, peach jam, quince paste, tomato sauce, assorted other condiments. In the garden its time to start preping the garden to be put to bed for the winter which has involved shovelling lots of shells into paths and sheep shit onto beds (ah, living in the country - so many free resources, as long as you're willing to pick them up!). Fabulous autumn meals are, of course, part of it as well. What a beautiful time of year!

Now I'm off the to Japan by way of Australia, with a last stop in Shanghai. Its going to be very different, and hopefully very exciting. Posts might be far apart, but they'll be much more interesting. For now, wish me luck and sayonara for now!

Moore's Cottage, Kaihoka

Kaihoka is like a place from an alternate universe. Its too perfect, too huge and green and pastoral. The farm pours down a valley to the sea, with the romantic Lunar cliffs on one side and sand dunes on the other. The beach is massive, especially at low tide when you can walk and walk and feel like you're never getting anywhere. There's patches of native bush full of birds and hardy, wind tolerant trees.

Kaihoka is unlike any place I've been, although its almost like the perfect combination of all the things rural New Zealand is supposed to be. Its magical.

In its present state Kaihoka was formed from the amalgamation of multiple small farms that failed during the Depression. Currently owned and run by the Wyllie family, its a working farm with delightfully sparse accommodation that includes access to most areas on the farm. Of the two houses available we chose Moore's Cottage, a wooden building with sparse insulation or sunlight but plenty of backwoods charm. We stayed there years ago, and it was the memory of that visit that inspired Kim to ask that we return this year, with phenomenal results. We always had the beach to ourselves. We spent the days wandering, swimming, relaxing. Kim and I fought our way through bush to a hidden beach, then walked along the cliffs scaring sheep along the way. We splashed in the surf, saw four fighter planes (the entire NZ airforce?) jet by, played in the dunes.

At night we lit fires, making s'mores with dark chocolate to accompany tea as we warmed up the cottage and filled it with the delightful smell of wood smoke. It was, overall, delightful.

In line with our family interest in food, I think its only fair to share what was an amazingly satisfying meal at Kaihoka. Its adapted from this recipe, but pared down to make transportation to a remote location easy.

Kaihoka Shakshuka

1 large jar Mom's Tomato Sauce (or own equivalent) with Basil

olive oil (about 2 Tbs)

eggs (we had two each, so 8)

salt and pepper to taste

bread to have on the side

You could add: goat cheese, onions, garlic, chillies, other spices

Heat a medium sized heavy bottomed pot. Add oil. When hot, add tomato sauce. Fill jar about half full with water, and swirl around to get out any remains of tomato sauce. Add to pot. Bring to a simmer, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. Carefully break eggs into tomato sauce and cook until poached, about 8 minutes (I think); it sometimes helps to ladle sauce over the eggs and put a cover on the pot. Serve with bread! Consider drinking some red wine, too.

Back in Nelson...

Things have been growing like mad. But before we get to that, let's wrap up Wellington.

I saw some really great theater. It included Wild Bride, one of the best overall productions I have ever seen, that was seamless and magical and just generally beautiful. Plus, all the cast were multi-talented, like the actor/dancer or the actor/amazing violinist and more. Fantastic. The really great theater also included some local theater, a Maori version of the Shakespearean tragedy Troilus and Cressida and a fair amount of circus. Even if all the theater I saw wasn't great it was all pretty good, and my gosh there was a lot in a small time. That's what you get when the NZ International Arts Festival rides in on the tail of the local Fringe Festival and Wellington goes arts-mad for weeks. It was wonderful.

I biked a lot. That shouldn't surprise anyone, really. I also learned how unpleasant high winds can be while biking. At one point I even got off my bike and walked, which is the ultimate humbling experience for a cyclist. I also volunteered at Mechanical Tempest helping people fix their bikes! I seem to have become the go-to person for truing wheels, go figure. Overall, bikes are great.

I did lots of gardening, but actually more organizing for gardening than gardening itself, which I suppose is always the catch with community gardening. I'm helping get other people to do it, but with less time with my hands in the soil myself, which is odd. I will work to change this in the future! A lot of good stuff got done, though, including applying for grants, workshop coordinating and making some exciting plans for the year ahead. You know, after I come back from Japan and get back into it, of course...

The pop-up garden, my original reason for going to Wellington, finished three weeks later than scheduled. The soil, bags and plants all got delivered to the garden I have been working with. I did some interviews for the Council on the Kilbirnie Pop-Up Garden, which was interesting. I've realized that I just love talking to people about their gardens. Gardeners really love talking about what they do, and you can learn heaps, like how to grow tomato plants from the laterals of old tomato plants! (sorry, nerdy gardener moment)

I also made some friends, hung out with my flatmates alot, connected to some old friends, and generally had a good time. I had an even better time once my sister arrived, so the last four days I spent with her in Wellington were great! The weather decided to turn lovely just for her, so we walked, biked, hung out and swam in the iciest sea water I have ever decided that it was a good idea to enter. You know when your chest gets so cold you feel like you can't breathe? Yep, it was like that.

So now we're down in Nelson, all four family members together and having a great time (including swimming in not quite as cold but still distinctly chilly water)! But more on that later!