Today's drive: Lovely sunny north coast to blustery grey east coast.Sunday Dec. 20 we drove to the Nelson Branch for church and enjoyed their Christmas program. The Primary performed scenes of the Nativity, read scriptures, and sang songs. Then we gathered for "biscuits" and juice. Biscuits are cookies, but we actually ate these lovely mini fruit pie things that don't have a name in America. It's always so easy to make friends at Church--like instant family. Ephraim even made a business contact. (Shouldn't he get a job in NZ?!)
Then we were back on the road heading to the East coast of South Island. Ephraim kept saying, this looks just like Oregon. Isn't that funny? So all you Oregonians can pretend you live in NZ and it will save you the trip.
I drove part of this leg from Blenheim to Kaikoura and did pretty well on the left side, thank you. I did hit the wipers a few times on accident, but I didn't hit any cars.
We saw fur seals.
Doesn't he look like a little Ephraim? (Isaac, not the seal.)
We stayed at a Top 10 Holiday Park which you will definitely become familiar with if you travel to New Zealand. We stayed in a cabin with heater, queen & bunk beds, TV, and mini fridge. We used the large camp kitchen and bathrooms. It was about $100 for our family. Kinda pricey for no bathroom, but it filled our needs. And all the silverware and cookware was at the cabin, so we cooked up some pasta with Camembert cheese and green salad.
On a side note. Ephraim was pleased to try out Camembert. It was very similar to Brie. Then a few days later we were listening to a program on an AM station outside of Christchurch, and they did a story on both cheeses. They interviewed people and asked which they preferred and why, then they spoke with a cheesemonger to find out the difference. Turns out, they are basically the same cheese. The recipe is identical. But because people are dedicated to their cheese, companies market them under different names. Ah-hah. The story proposed a new generation of cheese-lovers set aside nominal differences and unite the factions under one new New Zealand name. Bold move. But that's just how they roll here.
2 comments:
patrick is a HUGE briemonger, so that's interesting to hear that little fact!
I love New Zealand (your pictures are so beautiful!), but I can't agree that brie and camembert have only a nominal difference. the recipe might be the same, but camembert has one advantage over brie: the SMELL! a good camembert stinks up your whole fridge, your car as you bring it home, your breath when you go to kiss your sweetie goodnight. if it doesn't smell like feet and isn't runny in the center it's not 'ripe'. and i'm not even talking about the kind they make with calvados (which is too potent even for me). there is a reason the Stinky Cheese Man is a camembert! brie is tame in comparison (but of course, yummy in its way).
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