The Magic of Summer

We're experiencing extraordinary weather in Queenstown. Last weekend, a friend and client visited in Glenorchy. He is a former farmer, who after taking one look at our cabbage trees, said it's going to be a long, hot, dry summer. They know, the farmers. I'd say they're right as its been pretty damn warm since I returned from holiday in California two weeks ago.

Last weekend I escaped to Glenorchy to find that just about everything we had planted at the section had gone off. My partner said it was a jungle when he arrived. Fortunately for me, he had already done quite a bit of work by the time I arrived. Unfortunately, not so much that I didn't have to do any weeding! But that was alright. I like to get my hand's in the dirt.

But I like to harvest even more ... which is what we were able to do. Harvest rocket, otherwise known as arugala, and parsley. And what does one do with enough rocket and parsley to cater an event? One makes pesto. I love pesto, but was only familiar with the basil and pine nuts variety. Turns out, one can make pesto from all kinds of herbs and nuts. We made rocket & walnut pesto as well as parsley & cashew pesto.

Although the plants are loving the heat, we had been wilting. So there was nothing like putting on the new togs (or swimsuits) and jandals, jumping on the bikes, and riding to a new swimming hole for a quick dip. We did that at least three times last weekend.

The swimming hole only saw me once this weekend. Instead of getting in the water, we got on it, in kayaks, and took along fishing poles. The morning was spent in shorts and tshirts paddling Lake Wakatipu from Glenorchy to Kinloch and back. The day yielded three fish, including my first brown trout! Smoked trout & lake salmon on a bed of home-grown lettuce topped with that homemade pesto from last weekend made for a tasty and healthy Summer lunch.

Unfortunately, just after lunch, those infamous Spring winds arrived, along with my hay fever, to remind me that it isn't quite Summer yet. Bugger! Even the hay fever medication I took isn't helping this time around. Curses to you Spring winds! I showed you by picking and relishing those gorgeous bright red and juicy strawberries from the garden.

Daffodils & Tulips & Cake ... oh my!

I spend quite a bit of weekend time in Glenorchy, the township at the head of Lake Wakatipu, about a 45 minute drive from Queenstown. It's a different kind of place, even the locals from Queenstown will tell you that. Yet no one can quite explain why, so you're never sure if they mean it as a dig or a compliment. Either way is fine. It's a beautiful small community where you can totally relax.

Last weekend the town held a regular community event, the Glenorchy Flower Show. A $5.00 entrance fee got you into the town hall to view all the entries in all the multiple categories, plus afternoon tea. I was sold! (I love a good tea, and this one included various little sandwiches, a banana-like loaf, and pikelets with whipped cream and strawberry jam. Yummy!)

To my delight, there were also categories for photos, crafts and baking. There were 3 sub-categories in the photo and baking competitions - image of a rooster, image of a particular long-time Glenorchy local, and a kid's competion of an image of their school play area. The baking sub-categories included an iced chocolate cake (I thought I'd arrived in heaven till I found out that we couldn't actually taste them!), a Belgian biscuit and a scone.

The chocolate cakes ended up being auctioned after the awards were handed out. I was good and didn't bid. But I also didn't win the huge, gorgeous chocolate mousse cake that was raffled. Perhaps this was because before I could buy a ticket, they ran out. I couldn't even get a photo of the piece of art before someone pulled it away and rushed it off. The beautiful creation was made and donated by Grant, the owner & chef of the Glenorchy Cafe. It's a cool caf with great food! Though Grant is from Australia, I heard he studied pastry making in Austria. You know what that means!

Enough about the cake. The flowers were gorgeous. Who knew there were so many types of daffodils and tulips?! Certainly not I. It does make you want to submit some entries for the next show. Oooooo, or better yet, I'll volunteer to be a judge! Then I'll get some chocolate cake!

Lexus car advert filmed in region

Check out this beautiful TV commercial for the Lexus LS 460. Much of it was filmed in the region around Queenstown - the kayaking in Milford Sound, the drive on the road behind Lake Wakatipu is the road from Queenstown to Glenorchy. It looks even better on TV than it does on YouTube.

Where did Autumn go?

It isn't even winter yet, and I'm already missing the sun with all the rainy weather . Oh nooooooo ...