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.

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.