Anyway, it was a really cool side-trip. Check out the photos:
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| Moeraki Boulders |
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Moeraki Boulders
On the way back from Merrall's, I stopped at the Moeraki Boulders Scenic Reserve. Large, almost perfectly spherical boulders rest on a small stretch of seashore and they were quite the site. I've read that they "were formed on the sea bed 60 million years ago as lime salts gradually accumulated around a hard core." I don't know if I buy that explanation, but I have no better ideas of my own. I wonder how they explain the quartz veins in some of them?
Anyway, it was a really cool side-trip. Check out the photos:
Anyway, it was a really cool side-trip. Check out the photos:
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Weekend at the MacNeille's
Hey everyone!
My trip southward to Port Chalmers and Dunedin was a huge success! I spent the weekend at the house of Merrall MacNeille, who is a cousin of my Williams College Professor and friend, Sheafe Satterthwaite. Merrall is originally from Baltimore, but he left for New Zealand in 2001 and has lived there since. He has a very small dairy operation, and he sells his milk raw (that is, unprocessed/unpasteurized) to customers that come straight to the farm to get it. He also makes his own cheeses and yogurt, and sells beef when from time to time. Currently, he is only milking six of his Jerseys, as its been a very dry year and he has decided to let the other cows rest for the remainder of the season. At the house, I had homemade sausage from his own bull, homemade butter (from his own milk of course), and I got to drink raw/full-cream milk, which is delicious.
Merrall's other business is timber-framing, both the design and building aspects, and we spent a good amount of time discussing that art, as it is something in which I am interested. His daughter and son-in-law built a timber-framed house on the same property. The walls are constructed of mud-bricks and cob, which they made themselves out of the clay-rich soil on the property. It's a beautifully constructed home, and when you see the surrounding area you'll immediately be impressed; They live on a hill that overlooks the bay and the pacific ocean. It's unbelievable, you have to see the pictures.
I spent a good deal of the weekend just relaxing and reading, but I did go on a short trip with Merrall to Sandfly beach, which may possibly be the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera on that little trip, but maybe it's better that way; I don't think a picture could capture it's full grandeur. Sunday was more of the same, but I went and did some work with Merrall's son-in-law, Man, for a few hours. Man is originally from Nepal, and he met Cecil (Merrall's daughter) when she was traveling in Nepal about 10 years ago. Man and I had a good time when we were working, and then we came home and had dinner with Cecil, their two young children and Man's mother. We ate traditional Nepalese food in the traditional way - sitting cross-legged on the floor around a dinner blanket with the food dishes laid out in front of us. The food was AMAZING, and I was sure to eat my fill; I'm used to eating bland dining hall food all the time. The dinner was a really nice way to experience other cultural traditions and see how easily one can become a part of it - Cecil, Man, and the children spoke both English and Nepalese and they were such a fun family.
After dinner, I headed back to Merrall's house and did a little bit more reading before bed. I headed back to Lincoln at about 8:30 on Monday morning. Along the way, I stopped at the Moeraki Boulders - more on that shortly.
My trip southward to Port Chalmers and Dunedin was a huge success! I spent the weekend at the house of Merrall MacNeille, who is a cousin of my Williams College Professor and friend, Sheafe Satterthwaite. Merrall is originally from Baltimore, but he left for New Zealand in 2001 and has lived there since. He has a very small dairy operation, and he sells his milk raw (that is, unprocessed/unpasteurized) to customers that come straight to the farm to get it. He also makes his own cheeses and yogurt, and sells beef when from time to time. Currently, he is only milking six of his Jerseys, as its been a very dry year and he has decided to let the other cows rest for the remainder of the season. At the house, I had homemade sausage from his own bull, homemade butter (from his own milk of course), and I got to drink raw/full-cream milk, which is delicious.
Merrall's other business is timber-framing, both the design and building aspects, and we spent a good amount of time discussing that art, as it is something in which I am interested. His daughter and son-in-law built a timber-framed house on the same property. The walls are constructed of mud-bricks and cob, which they made themselves out of the clay-rich soil on the property. It's a beautifully constructed home, and when you see the surrounding area you'll immediately be impressed; They live on a hill that overlooks the bay and the pacific ocean. It's unbelievable, you have to see the pictures.
 |
| Weekend at the MacNeille's |
I spent a good deal of the weekend just relaxing and reading, but I did go on a short trip with Merrall to Sandfly beach, which may possibly be the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera on that little trip, but maybe it's better that way; I don't think a picture could capture it's full grandeur. Sunday was more of the same, but I went and did some work with Merrall's son-in-law, Man, for a few hours. Man is originally from Nepal, and he met Cecil (Merrall's daughter) when she was traveling in Nepal about 10 years ago. Man and I had a good time when we were working, and then we came home and had dinner with Cecil, their two young children and Man's mother. We ate traditional Nepalese food in the traditional way - sitting cross-legged on the floor around a dinner blanket with the food dishes laid out in front of us. The food was AMAZING, and I was sure to eat my fill; I'm used to eating bland dining hall food all the time. The dinner was a really nice way to experience other cultural traditions and see how easily one can become a part of it - Cecil, Man, and the children spoke both English and Nepalese and they were such a fun family.
After dinner, I headed back to Merrall's house and did a little bit more reading before bed. I headed back to Lincoln at about 8:30 on Monday morning. Along the way, I stopped at the Moeraki Boulders - more on that shortly.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Schoolwork, Harvest, and Untimely Weather
Hey all,
The last few weeks have been fun, but I haven't been able to do too much hiking because of the increasing workload and bad weather. For the most part, I've been on campus hanging out with my friends here and spending time doing schoolwork - it seems like I had no work the first half of the semester and now I have quite a bit. I did manage to get out this past Saturday for a nice day hike in Lewis Pass National Park.
Today I harvested my grapes! We had to weigh the clusters from each individual vine so that the university can get yield data for each grapevine, so it took about 3.5hours. It was a lot of fun though, and the weather cooperated nicely (a perfect fall day). I must have eaten a couple pounds of grapes throughout the harvest, because they were so tasty. After all, no one at Lincoln is making wine out of our Chardonnay grapes this year, because this season wasn't kind to Chardonnay and the grapes took too long to ripen. I've got a friend in the wine science class, however, who took my grapes and is planning to make some sort of wine/mead mixture out of many different grape varieties and honey. It will probably taste awful, but it will be fun to drink some sort of beverage that I had a hand in creating.
This weekend I'm going to visit Mr. Merrall Macneille, a cousin of S. Satterthwaite, one of my Williams professors. Mr. Macneille owns a small dairy herd (Jerseys), and makes his own cheese and yoghurt, and also does some timber framing. Hopefully I'll learn a bit about his operation. I'm also looking forward to spending a bit of time with a family and get a home cooked meal. Maybe I'll do some work for him around the property if he needs it.
Hope all is well back home. I miss it! Have a great weekend.
-James
The last few weeks have been fun, but I haven't been able to do too much hiking because of the increasing workload and bad weather. For the most part, I've been on campus hanging out with my friends here and spending time doing schoolwork - it seems like I had no work the first half of the semester and now I have quite a bit. I did manage to get out this past Saturday for a nice day hike in Lewis Pass National Park.
Today I harvested my grapes! We had to weigh the clusters from each individual vine so that the university can get yield data for each grapevine, so it took about 3.5hours. It was a lot of fun though, and the weather cooperated nicely (a perfect fall day). I must have eaten a couple pounds of grapes throughout the harvest, because they were so tasty. After all, no one at Lincoln is making wine out of our Chardonnay grapes this year, because this season wasn't kind to Chardonnay and the grapes took too long to ripen. I've got a friend in the wine science class, however, who took my grapes and is planning to make some sort of wine/mead mixture out of many different grape varieties and honey. It will probably taste awful, but it will be fun to drink some sort of beverage that I had a hand in creating.
This weekend I'm going to visit Mr. Merrall Macneille, a cousin of S. Satterthwaite, one of my Williams professors. Mr. Macneille owns a small dairy herd (Jerseys), and makes his own cheese and yoghurt, and also does some timber framing. Hopefully I'll learn a bit about his operation. I'm also looking forward to spending a bit of time with a family and get a home cooked meal. Maybe I'll do some work for him around the property if he needs it.
Hope all is well back home. I miss it! Have a great weekend.
-James
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