Through 4 days of shared togetherness, laughter, sharing, visiting basilica, aquarium, 17 mile drive, we had unabashed, sincere connections with one another. If this is heaven, I want to be entering the door towards holiness and being with these classmates who have grown to their best selves, and enjoying beautiful flowers, especially Bougainvillea, and church tower.
A homemade buffet of steamed mussels; gourmet pasta with shrimps and squash; roasted pork belly; chicharon with the brothers’ favorite wines, Brancot and Devil’s Staircase.
The non-stop beauty of expansive acres of farms dotted with the serenity of feeding sheep, interrupted at times by cattle, and green verdant hills of evergreen pine trees. It makes you say, Thank you Lord for this beauty.
Driving from freezing ChristChurch to rainy Picton, with swaying tree branches
A picturesque drive, pastoral landscapes, grape vineyards losing their yellow leaves to brown, while 200 miles south, vineyards are still green and yellow, about to lose their leaves, while one sees verdant hills and on the lower grounds divided by creeks and rivers, sheep are grazing and feeding, with sunset in the horizon forming.
On the shoulder of the roads are green, bright yellow and red leaves on trees and hills covered by pine trees. 51 F feels like Christmas in May and some trees denuded from deforestation. Is the process of deforestation to wetlands preservation? Theme of #RewildingAeoteroea was seen in some street posters.
We stopped at Cod and Crayfish once on the way to ChristChurch and another on the way back to Picton. Green lipped mussels are so good and so sweet. Cod was quite fresh and gosh, crayfish tasted like lobsters minus the large claws.
Life is slow, peaceful and serene except for that one encounter at Caltex in Kaikoura.
Prior post: “Don’t stop at @Caltex in Kaikoura in South Island – nasty manager who discriminated six of us. My brother in law had to tell them he worked at Caltex for 20 years and he’s ashamed of the treatment we received: harsh tone, denigrating statement, “Did you understand” and stopped us like we were going to steal.
Considering we have been travelling from North to South Island for 15 days, the tail of the devil greeted us at Caltex in Kaikoura. I hope the head office will take action to give this branch hate prevention training.
She could have welcomed us and explained politely that the toilet is free for customers. To say it without presumptions would have been okay.”
Southern Lights, outside our bedroom front window, how lucky could I be? I didn’t even have time to share with my housemates.
After 7 hours, 2 pit stops, 241 miles, we got into Wellington during the afternoon peak commute hour. Darn. Trapped in traffic.
As we got to our place for two nights, we breathed deeply, exhaled more and enjoyed our first night. All around, about 180 degrees, we have the view of the Pacific Ocean. What a beautiful paradise!
First stop the next morning is a ride in the cable car, a commute vehicle for seniors, free, and for students, also free spanning three stations.
At the top is the ‘Botanic Garden’ where we enjoyed rare blooms and the oldest tree.
A walk of 20 minutes downhill became a walk uphill of 40 minutes as we kept stopping for me to catch my breath. We made it back to the top of the hill, where cable car runs every ten minutes. Wonderful exercise!
Back to our place for the night with enough light to enjoy the scenery. We all felt blessed to be here! I even caught glimpse of the Southern Lights for a fleeting second at 2am from our bedroom window.
Weeks in advance, Carol Ojeda-Kimbrough and I committed to go to 1917. I wanted to introduce her to a great place, outdoorsy that felt like a vineyard ambiance. Ever since this restaurant opened, its menu curated by Jo Quiambao Dijamco outside San Antonio Winery, Los Angeles, crowds grew and grew to enjoy charcuterie, wine tasting and live jazz music of Chuck Manggione. We were transported by the cooking of the fube hands of Chef Jo, who is inspired, and gives us flawless flavors and cooking.
We had arugula salad with salmon, funghi pizza, special of the day – ribeye on bread with romanesco sauce, topped with organic egg and chimichurri sauce, fresh prawns and Panna cotta with berries and honey.
The best part – the owner stood up from his reunion table with classmates, and introduced himself, welcomed us, and inquired about our experience. I told him “more than excellent.”
Even before we ordered Chef Jo asked what did we feel like eating. Later, Chef Jo shared his next culinary exposure/adventure and his immersive training in France, Italy and Spain. He is a hidden culinary treasure, and have opened most recently LA Belle Pinseria Romana and this fine gem in LA, 1917 Restaurant.
What did we talk about: upcoming and past projects, gardening, cooking, family, friends and affirmation of sisterhood lessons.
