Ausweis aus Auckland
May 08, 2006 at 10:18 PM | categories: New Zealand | View Comments
"Michael, the boys and I are getting together for a tasting on Sunday. Give me a call if you're free." It was one of the guys I'd met at the First Glass tasting. He has a team of four registered in a blind tasting sometime in June, and really wants to wine. So they're getting together at every opportunity to practice - or that's his excuse, anyway.
The tasting took place at one of their homes, on a nice back deck overlooking a culvert. I didn't take any pictures, but it was fun. We had a blind sample of about twelve wines, and I did noticeably better this time around. I think it was just a question of parameters: when given a sample of unlabeled wine, I tend to think in terms of trick questions. Yes, this tastes like a nice Mosel Riesling, but what if it's really an atypical Semillon from Argentina? But it turns out that in this circle, at least, the questions are meant to be straightforward. That makes it much easier, but it's still tough to guess a vintage year for an Australian Shiraz.
After the tasting, I took a walk around the marshy area by the hotel. It gets fairly rural fairly quickly, but note the crane: a luxury high-rise apartment building is going up, next door.
Monday was the last day of class, and I plan to clear out of Auckland, Tuesday morning. I haven't fixed any real plans yet, but I'm going to start by driving north, to see the Kauri trees in the Waipoua forest preserve. Then I may head south: I'd like to see Napier, but I don't know if I'll have the time or energy to drive that far.
Monday night, Alastair Tagg came by for a drink and stayed for dinner. Here's a picture for Carolyn:
Finally, here are a couple pictures of the coffee bar on the ground floor of the Spencer Byron, just for Shelly. Note the actual books: I always wondered what hotels do when I leave spare books behind.
The tasting took place at one of their homes, on a nice back deck overlooking a culvert. I didn't take any pictures, but it was fun. We had a blind sample of about twelve wines, and I did noticeably better this time around. I think it was just a question of parameters: when given a sample of unlabeled wine, I tend to think in terms of trick questions. Yes, this tastes like a nice Mosel Riesling, but what if it's really an atypical Semillon from Argentina? But it turns out that in this circle, at least, the questions are meant to be straightforward. That makes it much easier, but it's still tough to guess a vintage year for an Australian Shiraz.
After the tasting, I took a walk around the marshy area by the hotel. It gets fairly rural fairly quickly, but note the crane: a luxury high-rise apartment building is going up, next door.
Monday was the last day of class, and I plan to clear out of Auckland, Tuesday morning. I haven't fixed any real plans yet, but I'm going to start by driving north, to see the Kauri trees in the Waipoua forest preserve. Then I may head south: I'd like to see Napier, but I don't know if I'll have the time or energy to drive that far.
Monday night, Alastair Tagg came by for a drink and stayed for dinner. Here's a picture for Carolyn:
Finally, here are a couple pictures of the coffee bar on the ground floor of the Spencer Byron, just for Shelly. Note the actual books: I always wondered what hotels do when I leave spare books behind.
Tiritiri Mantangi
May 06, 2006 at 08:10 PM | categories: New Zealand | View Comments
I have to get to the piers in Auckland by 8:30, to pick up my ticket and catch the ferry. Not a problem... oh wait, that's AM! This time I decide that it'll be quicker to take the bus, and with no traffic on a Saturday morning, the 08:05 bus has me there by 08:20.
The ferry leaves at 09:00: it's about half full, but it makes another stop at Gulf Harbor to pick up more passengers.
Arriving at Tiritiri Matangi after 10:00, there's an old takahe at the wharf to greet the tourists. He poses for pictures, and one of the reserve volunteers throws some grain on the ground so he won't wander away too quickly.
I take the guided walk, and we start along the coast. It quickly emerges that these people are birders. At first I decide that serious boredom is the worst possible outcome, but then they laugh at me for taking a picture of a tree full of English sparrows. What have I gotten into?
The island was inhabited by Maori, who probably hunted out several species, and introduced rats and dogs, which would have preyed on flightless birds. But it wasn't until the island was leased for farming that most of the damage was done. All but a tiny stand of forest was cut down, and the whole island was converted to grazing. Fifty years ago they stopped the farming, eradicated all the rats, and started re-planting native flora and re-introducing native fauna. It's a volunteer effort, though: they say they get very little money from the government.
The weather is great, and the views from the island are stunning. Along the beach, we come to some penguin boxes, but don't see any penguins. We do see the hole in the ground where another local bird lives, and make our way into the stand of old-growth forest. The largest trees here are what we call the New Zealand Christmas Tree. They'll grow anywhere, apparently, and can live over 1000 years.
Once in the old growth, we begin to hear, and then see, more local birds.
I had a hard time with the pictures: can you see a bird in either of these?
Me neither, but I suppose I thought I saw one when I took them. I used the Canon's "Kids and Pets" settings, since I couldn't find the "Tui that won't Sit Still" setting, or the "Fantails that Keep Flying Away" setting. Eventually, I even figured out how to turn off the flash, but I'm not sure if that helped. The guide mentioned that most of the bellbird's call is in the ultrasonic range: I suspect that the birds can hear the mechanisms inside the camera whirring, as it focuses, and they don't hang around to find out what happens next.
Mushrooms are easier: they can't hear, as far as I know, and they seem to like to have their picture taken. Tree ferns are good too: these are the silver fern, New Zealand's national symbol.
The easiest way to take decent pictures is to find a feeding station. These aren't really cages: there are holes to let the birds crawl in, but the larger tui birds can't bother them while they're feeding. We mostly saw bellbirds at the first few, but there were some stitchbirds later on. I also saw around 10 saddlebacks: they're supposed to be extremely rare, but the guide reckoned that there are about 200 on the island, now. Sadly they don't photograph well at all: they're dark, and they like to hang around on dark forest floors. I don't think this helps them much with cats, though.
After a while of this, we walk to the south end of the island and have lunch among the takahe.
There's a lighthouse: fine Plimco craftsmanship.
Then I wander around on my own. The trail system has it all over anything we saw in Argentina.
Another walk has three birdbaths and a feeder station. There are plaques for the local flora, too: I can't vouch for the flowers on this one, but I tend to agree about its dense growth.
The first two baths are empty, but if I were a bird I'd use this one. I wish my hot tub had this view.
The last bath has another feeder next door, and lots of customers.
After a while I lose interest in the birds, and take more pictures of the views. We're some distance from Auckland, but you can still squint at the Sky Tower on the horizon. To the east are the outlines of the Barrier Islands.
Here's the ferry: it's time to go back to Auckland. This Takahe posture means "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
On the way back, I saw a couple of interesting boats in Gulf Harbor. The second one has on the road for a long time!
The ferry leaves at 09:00: it's about half full, but it makes another stop at Gulf Harbor to pick up more passengers.
Arriving at Tiritiri Matangi after 10:00, there's an old takahe at the wharf to greet the tourists. He poses for pictures, and one of the reserve volunteers throws some grain on the ground so he won't wander away too quickly.
I take the guided walk, and we start along the coast. It quickly emerges that these people are birders. At first I decide that serious boredom is the worst possible outcome, but then they laugh at me for taking a picture of a tree full of English sparrows. What have I gotten into?
The island was inhabited by Maori, who probably hunted out several species, and introduced rats and dogs, which would have preyed on flightless birds. But it wasn't until the island was leased for farming that most of the damage was done. All but a tiny stand of forest was cut down, and the whole island was converted to grazing. Fifty years ago they stopped the farming, eradicated all the rats, and started re-planting native flora and re-introducing native fauna. It's a volunteer effort, though: they say they get very little money from the government.
The weather is great, and the views from the island are stunning. Along the beach, we come to some penguin boxes, but don't see any penguins. We do see the hole in the ground where another local bird lives, and make our way into the stand of old-growth forest. The largest trees here are what we call the New Zealand Christmas Tree. They'll grow anywhere, apparently, and can live over 1000 years.
Once in the old growth, we begin to hear, and then see, more local birds.
I had a hard time with the pictures: can you see a bird in either of these?
Me neither, but I suppose I thought I saw one when I took them. I used the Canon's "Kids and Pets" settings, since I couldn't find the "Tui that won't Sit Still" setting, or the "Fantails that Keep Flying Away" setting. Eventually, I even figured out how to turn off the flash, but I'm not sure if that helped. The guide mentioned that most of the bellbird's call is in the ultrasonic range: I suspect that the birds can hear the mechanisms inside the camera whirring, as it focuses, and they don't hang around to find out what happens next.
Mushrooms are easier: they can't hear, as far as I know, and they seem to like to have their picture taken. Tree ferns are good too: these are the silver fern, New Zealand's national symbol.
The easiest way to take decent pictures is to find a feeding station. These aren't really cages: there are holes to let the birds crawl in, but the larger tui birds can't bother them while they're feeding. We mostly saw bellbirds at the first few, but there were some stitchbirds later on. I also saw around 10 saddlebacks: they're supposed to be extremely rare, but the guide reckoned that there are about 200 on the island, now. Sadly they don't photograph well at all: they're dark, and they like to hang around on dark forest floors. I don't think this helps them much with cats, though.
After a while of this, we walk to the south end of the island and have lunch among the takahe.
There's a lighthouse: fine Plimco craftsmanship.
Then I wander around on my own. The trail system has it all over anything we saw in Argentina.
Another walk has three birdbaths and a feeder station. There are plaques for the local flora, too: I can't vouch for the flowers on this one, but I tend to agree about its dense growth.
The first two baths are empty, but if I were a bird I'd use this one. I wish my hot tub had this view.
The last bath has another feeder next door, and lots of customers.
After a while I lose interest in the birds, and take more pictures of the views. We're some distance from Auckland, but you can still squint at the Sky Tower on the horizon. To the east are the outlines of the Barrier Islands.
Here's the ferry: it's time to go back to Auckland. This Takahe posture means "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
On the way back, I saw a couple of interesting boats in Gulf Harbor. The second one has on the road for a long time!
Location, location, location
May 05, 2006 at 03:26 PM | categories: New Zealand | View Comments
There isn't much to say about the past few days. I taught the class, and there's one more day to go on Monday, so I'm in Auckland for the weekend. I haven't done any lawn bowling, but the option is there.
Besides the views, there are a few other nice things about staying at the Spencer on Byron hotel. My first discovery was a nice little Sharp compact stereo, which has an RCA stereo aux input in back. I have an RCA-to-mini cable in my bag, so now my ipod is plugged in and can wake me up every morning. When it does, I can mainline high-grade caffeine without leaving the room: because of New Zealand's British history, there are tea things in the room. And because the manager of the hotel is Sri Lankan, the tea is Dilmah.
Finally, there's the location. It's around the corner from a good-sized business district, which makes the room's kitchenette perfect for take-out food. I have a better view from the room than most restaurants have, anyhow. So on Tuesday evening I spotted a canopy advertising "FINE WINE" and strolled a couple of blocks to discover what looks like one of Auckland's two best wine shops. It's called First Glass. I picked up a Hawke's Bay Viognier out of curiosity, and made a note to come back on Wednesday, for their weekly tasting. Then I walked a bit farther and got some excellent take-out Thai food: chicken laab, and a green curry with shrimp. The restaurant staff were definitely Thai, unlike most of the SF-area places. It was probably the most authentic Thai I've had since Hong Kong (or Hollywood, yes) - and it was great with the Viognier.
Speaking of geography, the hotel is on the North Shore, and the office for the class is even farther north, so I avoid most of the traffic. But it's in Takapuna, which seems to be a bus hub, so it's easy to get a bus into Devenport or Auckland. The North Shore office of Hertz is also around the corner, so I picked up a car on Wednesday. I'm not sure if it's really a net win over taking a taxi into the office every morning, but it does have the salutary effect of scaring me awake, every morning. The tired, end-of-day drive back to the hotel is probably even more dangerous.
I made it to the wine tasting on Wednesday evening. The man wasn't kidding: there were 75-100 people packed into a tiny wine shop, on folding chairs. The tasting was blind, but was very informal: it reminded me of a church raffle or a pub quiz night. Despite that, the quality of palate seemed very high. I'm not used to blind tastings, but I only recognized two of the twelve wines in an even vaguely correct way, while someone took every prize offered.
There was a nice-looking young woman sitting next to me, and taking very serious notes, but she was spitting and I wasn't. Definitely incompatible. I did manage to find out that she was taking a class somewhere, thus the serious note-taking. If it's a class, you aren't allowed to enjoy it.
Two curmudgeons and regulars, standing behind us, were a little more forthcoming. They were loudly complaining that they'd called out the right answers, and the manager had given the prize to someone else. One of the assistants kept missing their glasses in the pours, too - or maybe they were angling for double pours. Anyway I got into conversation with them, afterwards, and we went around to a pizza place with a couple of their favorite local bottles. The pizza was very Californian, but good, and the wines were excellent.
Thursday evening I finally went into Auckland's center (the central business district, or CBD). I took the bus to Devenport and the ferry across: at that time of day I'm not sure that it was faster or slower than the direct bus, but I like ferries. The Shakespeare on Albert Street brews their own beer in the heart of the city, so I tried that. Then I went to Vulcan Lane for another couple of stops, before deciding that Auckland was getting a little too blurry.
I'm starting to give up on NZ beers: they've been Sam Adams quality, at best. After getting such excellent cask-conditioned beer in New York, all year, that's disappointing. But there are several Belgian places, and I can always stick to the wine, so I can't complain. It's tempting to move here and open a place, if there's any market for it.
Friday, I made a reservation for Tiritiri Matangi. No, that isn't a character from the Jungle Book. It's an island set aside as a nature preserve. New Zealand has a lot of those, but this is one of the older ones, and non-scientists are allowed to visit. Apparently they'll even let me in.
Besides the views, there are a few other nice things about staying at the Spencer on Byron hotel. My first discovery was a nice little Sharp compact stereo, which has an RCA stereo aux input in back. I have an RCA-to-mini cable in my bag, so now my ipod is plugged in and can wake me up every morning. When it does, I can mainline high-grade caffeine without leaving the room: because of New Zealand's British history, there are tea things in the room. And because the manager of the hotel is Sri Lankan, the tea is Dilmah.
Finally, there's the location. It's around the corner from a good-sized business district, which makes the room's kitchenette perfect for take-out food. I have a better view from the room than most restaurants have, anyhow. So on Tuesday evening I spotted a canopy advertising "FINE WINE" and strolled a couple of blocks to discover what looks like one of Auckland's two best wine shops. It's called First Glass. I picked up a Hawke's Bay Viognier out of curiosity, and made a note to come back on Wednesday, for their weekly tasting. Then I walked a bit farther and got some excellent take-out Thai food: chicken laab, and a green curry with shrimp. The restaurant staff were definitely Thai, unlike most of the SF-area places. It was probably the most authentic Thai I've had since Hong Kong (or Hollywood, yes) - and it was great with the Viognier.
Speaking of geography, the hotel is on the North Shore, and the office for the class is even farther north, so I avoid most of the traffic. But it's in Takapuna, which seems to be a bus hub, so it's easy to get a bus into Devenport or Auckland. The North Shore office of Hertz is also around the corner, so I picked up a car on Wednesday. I'm not sure if it's really a net win over taking a taxi into the office every morning, but it does have the salutary effect of scaring me awake, every morning. The tired, end-of-day drive back to the hotel is probably even more dangerous.
I made it to the wine tasting on Wednesday evening. The man wasn't kidding: there were 75-100 people packed into a tiny wine shop, on folding chairs. The tasting was blind, but was very informal: it reminded me of a church raffle or a pub quiz night. Despite that, the quality of palate seemed very high. I'm not used to blind tastings, but I only recognized two of the twelve wines in an even vaguely correct way, while someone took every prize offered.
There was a nice-looking young woman sitting next to me, and taking very serious notes, but she was spitting and I wasn't. Definitely incompatible. I did manage to find out that she was taking a class somewhere, thus the serious note-taking. If it's a class, you aren't allowed to enjoy it.
Two curmudgeons and regulars, standing behind us, were a little more forthcoming. They were loudly complaining that they'd called out the right answers, and the manager had given the prize to someone else. One of the assistants kept missing their glasses in the pours, too - or maybe they were angling for double pours. Anyway I got into conversation with them, afterwards, and we went around to a pizza place with a couple of their favorite local bottles. The pizza was very Californian, but good, and the wines were excellent.
Thursday evening I finally went into Auckland's center (the central business district, or CBD). I took the bus to Devenport and the ferry across: at that time of day I'm not sure that it was faster or slower than the direct bus, but I like ferries. The Shakespeare on Albert Street brews their own beer in the heart of the city, so I tried that. Then I went to Vulcan Lane for another couple of stops, before deciding that Auckland was getting a little too blurry.
I'm starting to give up on NZ beers: they've been Sam Adams quality, at best. After getting such excellent cask-conditioned beer in New York, all year, that's disappointing. But there are several Belgian places, and I can always stick to the wine, so I can't complain. It's tempting to move here and open a place, if there's any market for it.
Friday, I made a reservation for Tiritiri Matangi. No, that isn't a character from the Jungle Book. It's an island set aside as a nature preserve. New Zealand has a lot of those, but this is one of the older ones, and non-scientists are allowed to visit. Apparently they'll even let me in.
I love the smell of jetlag in the morning
May 01, 2006 at 11:32 PM | categories: New Zealand | View Comments
My flight came in at 6am, but the nice folks in the local office arranged for a driver to meet me. The hotel is on the north shore, directly across the bay from central Auckland.
While I was taking a picture of the view, I noticed a big hill to the south-west. It's Mount Victoria (less than 100m high, but ok...) and it's an extinct volcano. Or so we hope.
But first, I need cash and a SIM card for the phone. That's easy enough - and I like the way this phone tells me where I am. Sorry about the picture quality... maybe I'll figure out how to turn off the flash, some day.
Before I tackle a gigantic mountain like that, though, I'll need some lunch. Here's a nice looking place....
Oh, they have Orval. I've been meaning to try that.
Wait a minute! What's that behind my beer? Am I in Belgium?
It's not a bad place: they even imported Belgian waiters, so it took about an hour and a half to get lunch and pay. Most of that time was spent trying to attract someone's attention for a second beer: then I gave up and spent the rest of the time trying to get the bill. Very european... it's not really that I'm in a hurry, but I wanted a Duvel too.
OK, it's time to take a short bus ride to Devenport and take that hill. Oh look! Pretty flowers!
It's a pretty steep hill, but I make it to the top and discover... the secret lair of kiwi folk musicians! Remember what Tom Lehrer said? "the reason most folk songs are so atrocious is that they were written by the people."
But who is this guy? A folk musician, maybe? An extra troll left over from The Hobbit? You didn't think I was going to make it through the day without at least one NZ-LotR reference, did you?
This hill used to have Maori on it: you can see some of their stone walls (terracing) and things. I'm guessing this statue is Maori, too, but there's no plaque. What kind of a tourist attraction is this?
Anyway the view is nice. Here's another volcano: is it really a good idea to put houses on a cinder cone, even if you're pretty sure it's extinct?
And here's Rangitoto, the youngest island in Auckland harbor. It's a volcano too. Why aren't there any houses on it?
Hey, I can see my hotel room from here - it's the tallest building in view.
Do my eyes deceive me, or is that amanita muscaria? Apparently it shows up in NZ: probably the most toxic plant around. And here's a whole field of them!
There seems to be a holding tank of some kind under the hill. I think these are ventilator stacks, or something similar. But where's the plaque? There's an observation post, too: barbed wire, but no plaque.
And there's a gun - with a plaque! Yes!
The best thing about the picture is that I can read the plaque. I didn't bother to read it when I was standing there, so that's handy.
This is also one of those peaks where they have a little scale model, to show you what you're looking at. There's something like this at Discovery Point, above the San Francisco Bay. I especially like the "You Are Here" note - but oddly they didn't label Rangitoto.
You mean I could have driven here? Oh well - I needed the exercise. And I'm still spooked about the whole left-side driving thing... I'm supposed to pick up a car on Thursday, so I'll just have to get over it, right?
Uh oh - here come more tourists. I'm so outta here.
It's time to find a drink, and think about dinner. Anyone for Thai?
While I was taking a picture of the view, I noticed a big hill to the south-west. It's Mount Victoria (less than 100m high, but ok...) and it's an extinct volcano. Or so we hope.
But first, I need cash and a SIM card for the phone. That's easy enough - and I like the way this phone tells me where I am. Sorry about the picture quality... maybe I'll figure out how to turn off the flash, some day.
Before I tackle a gigantic mountain like that, though, I'll need some lunch. Here's a nice looking place....
Oh, they have Orval. I've been meaning to try that.
Wait a minute! What's that behind my beer? Am I in Belgium?
It's not a bad place: they even imported Belgian waiters, so it took about an hour and a half to get lunch and pay. Most of that time was spent trying to attract someone's attention for a second beer: then I gave up and spent the rest of the time trying to get the bill. Very european... it's not really that I'm in a hurry, but I wanted a Duvel too.
OK, it's time to take a short bus ride to Devenport and take that hill. Oh look! Pretty flowers!
It's a pretty steep hill, but I make it to the top and discover... the secret lair of kiwi folk musicians! Remember what Tom Lehrer said? "the reason most folk songs are so atrocious is that they were written by the people."
But who is this guy? A folk musician, maybe? An extra troll left over from The Hobbit? You didn't think I was going to make it through the day without at least one NZ-LotR reference, did you?
This hill used to have Maori on it: you can see some of their stone walls (terracing) and things. I'm guessing this statue is Maori, too, but there's no plaque. What kind of a tourist attraction is this?
Anyway the view is nice. Here's another volcano: is it really a good idea to put houses on a cinder cone, even if you're pretty sure it's extinct?
And here's Rangitoto, the youngest island in Auckland harbor. It's a volcano too. Why aren't there any houses on it?
Hey, I can see my hotel room from here - it's the tallest building in view.
Do my eyes deceive me, or is that amanita muscaria? Apparently it shows up in NZ: probably the most toxic plant around. And here's a whole field of them!
There seems to be a holding tank of some kind under the hill. I think these are ventilator stacks, or something similar. But where's the plaque? There's an observation post, too: barbed wire, but no plaque.
And there's a gun - with a plaque! Yes!
The best thing about the picture is that I can read the plaque. I didn't bother to read it when I was standing there, so that's handy.
This is also one of those peaks where they have a little scale model, to show you what you're looking at. There's something like this at Discovery Point, above the San Francisco Bay. I especially like the "You Are Here" note - but oddly they didn't label Rangitoto.
You mean I could have driven here? Oh well - I needed the exercise. And I'm still spooked about the whole left-side driving thing... I'm supposed to pick up a car on Thursday, so I'll just have to get over it, right?
Uh oh - here come more tourists. I'm so outta here.
It's time to find a drink, and think about dinner. Anyone for Thai?
Peeling kiwis
April 29, 2006 at 08:30 PM | categories: New Zealand | View Comments
It's 25 hours until I leave for New Zealand. It will be a short trip - just two weeks - and I'll be working most of the time. But I intend to have fun anyway.
http://www.realbeer.co.nz/ looks like a good site for local beer: there aren't any beerfly entries for New Zealand (yet). I see that the realbeer.co.nz blog is pushing ratebeer.com instead, but there isn't much on that list, either. I get the feeling that New Zealand micros are about where California's were, ten years ago: they exist, but they aren't always easy to find.
I like a challenge.
http://www.realbeer.co.nz/ looks like a good site for local beer: there aren't any beerfly entries for New Zealand (yet). I see that the realbeer.co.nz blog is pushing ratebeer.com instead, but there isn't much on that list, either. I get the feeling that New Zealand micros are about where California's were, ten years ago: they exist, but they aren't always easy to find.
I like a challenge.