New Zealand Day 8: Kaikoura Seal Swim

We left Christchurch quite early to drive two hours to Kaikoura. We had to get to Kaikoura early for our seal swim. I talked to the tour people and they said the earlier tours are better for tidal conditions so we went with it. We got there about 30 minutes before our tour started and explored the beach a little bit.

 

The beach was all pebbles and when the waves crashed and went back out is sounded like a thousand little chimes. It was SO beautiful. As you can see there was some fog that morning but the sun started to burn it off and it was like a picture window to the mountains.

 The reason Kaikoura is such a good spot of Whale, Dolphin & Seal watching is because the mountains are so close to the sea and that topography continues underwater...

 "The Kaikoura Peninsula extends into the sea south of the town, and the resulting upwelling currents bring an abundance of marine life from the depths of the nearby Hikurangi Trench." -Wikipedia

SO here we are all suited up to go swimming with the seals. We used Seal Swim Kaikoura. They were a family run Father, Daughter, and I think even Grandfather business. They were really awesome. Since the tours are totally out in the wild they can be unpredictable so for people that reserve in advance if the weather is too bad to go you get a full refund, and if you go out there and there are no seals, or due to tide, weather, or seal behavior you can't swim with them you get most of your money back, they just keep a small fee to cover the cost of what they did do.

The water was really cold, but it was so exciting to swim with the seals I hardly noticed. We got a little waterproof camera bag called a DiCaPac for Dericks little camera and it worked SO well... with the exception of a little bit of black on the corner of some the pictures it was awesome and only like 25 bucks!

 There was Kelp everywhere... I felt like I was swimming through a kelp forest. Unfortunately some of the fog hung around and it kept the temperatures cooler and the seals usually get in the water during the day when they are overheating... so we only got to swim with like 5 different seals. But it was still awesome... but I was a little sad. But I knew we were swimming with dolphins the next day so I kept my hopes up!

 This was the view from our hotel. We stayed at the Panorama Motel which was a little bit older but really nice. We had a two bedroom apartment with a kitchenette and sea views!

 And I of course am out there exporing the ocean every chance I got. I love the ocean SO much!

How to make the Perfect Turkey...

This makes a seriously good bird... I have used this recipe the last two Thanksgivings and everyone says its the best turkey they have ever tasted... It is adapted from a Martha Stuart Recipe... in her November '08 Magazine... I have changed a few things but its mostly the same (my notes will be italicized) ... its super easy... but you do have to start like a week out... IT IS SO WORTH IT... okay, here is what Martha (well actually Ed Bruske... but he works for her) says about the Dry Brine meathod:

"The (salt) encrusted turkey is bagged and refrigerated for two days, allowing ample time for osmosis to act in miraculous ways: tenderizing the meat to its core, retaining its precious juices, and accentuating, but not overshadowing, its inherent flavor-minus the heavy lifting of a wet brine. Put simply, it ensures a perfect, pleasingly plump bird that will transcend everyones expectations."

Roasted Dry Brined Turkey
Serves 12-14


Make ahead tip: Salt the turkey and make giblet stock two days in advance. Make sure you take your turkey out of freezer in plenty of time... usually 5 hours per lb. to defrost in fridge... I take let mine defrost in fridge for 5 days... that means taking turkey out of freezer 7 days before cooking.

FOR THE TURKEY

• Course salt and freshly ground pepper
• 14 dried bay leaves, 12 crushed, 4 left whole
• 1 whole fresh turkey (22 to 24 lb..) I use frozen cause that is our only option here in Japan, giblets and neck reserved for Simple Giblet Stock (recipe follows)
• 8 ounces (2 sicks) unsalted butter, softened plus more for baking dish if needed
• 1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc I used white cooking wine once cause I forgot and it still was good
• Two crisp sour apples (granny smith, jonagold) and 1 onion all cut into 8ths
• 1 cup water plus more if needed

FOR THE PAN GRAVY

• Pan drippings, reserved from turkey
• 1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat)
• Simple Giblet Stock (recipe follows) or 4 cups homemade or store bought turkey or chicken stock
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Course salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Make the turkey: Combine 2/3 cup salt and 10 crushed bay leaves in a small bowl. Rinse inside and outside of turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub 2 tablespoons salt mixture evenly inside turkey cavity, 2 tablespoons on each leg portions, 1 1/2 teaspoon on each wing, and 2 tablespoons on each breast. If you have extra salt just rub wherever looks empty. Place turkey in large oven bag and seal tightly, removing any trapped air. Place in a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate for 48 hours.

2. Remove turkey from bag, and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Combine 1 stick butter, the wine, and whole bay leaves in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer, then remove from heat.

3. Preheat oven to 425 with rack in lowest position. Rinse inside and outside of turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Gently work hands between breast and skin on top of turkey separating the two. Take 1/2 stick of softened butter, add two crushed bay leaves and fresh cracked pepper. Take butter mixture and spread in-between the breast and skin on the top of the turkey. Fill cavity with apples and onions and then tie the legs securely with kitchen string. Then tie the wings down by taking a string from the neck cavity around the sides and down to the legs securing them to the body of the turkey. Place turkey breast side down on roasting rack. Rub the remaining 1/2 stick of butter on the turkey and season with salt and pepper. Pour water into roasting pan. 

4. Place turkey legs first into the oven. Roast for 30 minutes, then baste with butter-wine mixture. Reduce temperature to 350, and roast, basting with butter-wine mixture & rotating turkey every 30 minutes for 2 hours. (Add more water to roasting pan if necessary to prevent pan dripping from burning.)  After the 2 hours flip turkey breast side up and continue roasting and basting until skin is golden brown and thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, 45 to 1 hour more. Transfer turkey to a rimmed baking sheet, reserving pan juices and roasting pan, and let rest for 30 minutes breast side down before carving.

5. Make the pan gravy: Pour reserved pan juices into a glass measuring cum or a gravy separator, and let stand until fat rises to the surface, about 10 minutes, pour or spoon off fat.

6. Place reserved roasting pan on 2 burners over medium heat. Add wine, and bring to a gentle simmer, scraping browned bits with a wooden spoon. Whisk flour and giblet stock in a large bowl until combined. Add defatted pan juices, whisking to combine, then pour to roasting pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half and thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.

7. Remove pan from heat, and whisk in butter. Strain through a sieve, and discard solids. Stir in parsley Season with salt and pepper if desired.

SIMPLE GIBLET STOCK

makes 4 cups

• Giblets and neck reserved from 1 turkey
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
• 1 carrot scrubbed and coarsely chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 fresh bay leaf 
• 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 6 cups cold water

Put all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring all to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially, and gently simmer, skimming foam from surface as needed, until reduced to 4 cups, about 2 hours. Stain, and discard solids. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

YAY for turkey. I hope you try it... Let me explain the two biggest things I changed... 

1. not putting stuffing in the turkey... stuffing cooked in the turkey is often not done when the rest of the turkey is so that means an extra step taking it back out and putting it in a dish and then cooking it some more... or an overdone turkey... so instead I put apples and onion to enhance the turkey and make extra giblet stock to use in the stuffing (cooked separately) to enhance it. 

2. I roast the turkey breast side down for most of the time so the juices rest in the breast... this is also why I let it rest breast side down... trust me it works... when I go to check the temp of the breast and pull the thermometer out the turkey usually squirts juice across the room!

New Zealand Day 7: Godley Head & Central Christchurch

While the Wentzels went on the Trans Alpine Train Derick and I decided to go hiking in the hills around Christchurch. We drove out past Littleton to the Godley Head... which is a peninsula on Pegasus Bay about 45 minutes from the center of Christchurch. 

 There were a whole bunch of old WWII lookouts and gum emplacements. We hiked the hills, explored the ruins, were whipped by the wind and breathed in the fresh sea air! It was AMAZING!

This is Cathedral Square in central Christchurch

After dinner at a Mexican Restaurant we walked to the other side of the city of go to the "best dessert" place in the city, another hint from a local! On the way we found Narnia... something that seemed to happen alot on the trip!

The walk was longer then we thought but it was SO worth it! 

This is my amazing Chocolate Desert from Strawberry Fare

New Zealand Trip Day 6- Drive to Christchurch (Steepest street, Maeraki Boulders, & Mt. Cook)

We decided instead of going straight to Christchurch from Dunedin to go out of the way to see the Mt. Cook Lookout and some awesome scenery. While it turned out the Mt. Cook Lookout was nice, and the water was freaking crazy I dont think I would have done it if I had to do over. It added quiet a bit to the drive, which made it a really long day.

Before we left Dunedin we went to Baldwin Street. This street holds the world record for the steepest street. We drove up and down it... it was pretty steep... I might have been freaking out in the backseat.

We then stopped along the ways to see the Maeraki Boulders... These crazy random boulders that appear to be washed up on the beach... they are perfectly round and come in two sizes... 1 meter and 3 meters! They were actually formed in the muddy soil next to the ocean through time and pressure and as the beach erodes they are "birthed" out of the side of the hill... They then get these cracks that crystals grow in and eventually break to boulder into these crazy pieces... it was really cool.

We then continued to Mt. Cook... well actually the Mt. Cook lookout... this is the real color of the water... it was so crazy looking, it looks that way cause there is glacial silt suspended all in it and it is super reflective... it looks like somebody poured milk in it and dyed it crazy blue!

New Zealand Trip Day 5- Dunedin (Albatross, Seals, Sea Lions, Penguins and of course Sheep)

After our fantastic day exploring the landscape and flora of Milford Sound we were off to discover the fauna of the East Coast. We drove 4 hours across the lower southern island to Dunedin. A medium sized collage town... it reminded Derick and I a lot of Columbia. And while out accommodations were adequate they were not fantastic so I wont give them a shout out... but the place we ate for lunch was AMAZING! We ate at a little place called the Governors Cafe... started by a collage drop out it became ridiculously successful and still is, it was hard finding a table at 1:30 in the afternoon! I had the special of the day mushrooms with toast (but it sounded fancier on the menu) and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! And of course like everything else in New Zealand the food was very fresh and it looked as if the menu changed with seasonal availability... sigh I love New Zealand.

ANYWAY so after lunch we went back to our place to get ready for our wildlife tour... Here is the thing I am not a big fan of other people planning stuff for me, thats why I do all the research and plan my own trips. And I don't like tours... BUT in this one instance I decided it would be a good idea because... there was so much wildlife to see and we only had one afternoon, alot of the good places to see penguins are on private property and the tours get permission to go & I didn't want to get trampled by a Sea Lion! So I emailed around asking for recommendations for the best tour... we were told by several locals to go with Elm Wildlife Tours. And I am really glad we did. Our guide was SUPER knowledgeable, he had a degree in zoology. This company is all about preserving the animals habitats, and has even been helping reestablish native plants in areas by the beaches to create more penguin habitat.

First stop was the Albatross Colony... not really my thing but they were HUGE... we only saw them flying and they look like a normal bird in photos... but they were massive. I would not have gone here if it wasn't on the tour... if you really like birds then sure... but I thought it was just okay.

Oh yeah, but the tour people did give us some pretty sweet binoculars... I was excited!

This is our second and final stop, on one half of this little peninsula there are New Zealand Fur Seals and on the other half there are Sea Lions and Penguins. We had to drive through like 5 peoples land to get out here and go through locked gates... Definitely could not have gotten here on our own... and they had some pretty sweet blinds built so we could view the animals without disturbing them... but the landscape reminded me of what I would imagine Scotland would look like... I LOVED IT

 There were about 20 people in our group but when we got here we broke into two groups (we had two guides) so we only had 10 people in one group so it didn't feel too crowded. These are New Zealand Fur Seals... they were SO CUTE... these first two are both about a year old and the last one is maybe two... cause I am an expert and seal age... no the guides told us!

Sheep... there are SO MANY SHEEP! This guy got stuck on the wrong side of the fence... and then a cliff right behind him... and when we walked by a second time... there was another sheep over there with him, both stuck... They are so stupid!

 This is a Sea Lion. They were SO SLEEPY! 

And on to my favorite PENGUINS!!! We saw a couple little blue penguins in their nests... but we could only really see feathers but then we saw alot of Yellow Eyed Penguins... Since these birds have no natural land predators... they live in the forest... so every evening they pop out of the ocean and climb the hills at the shore... and when I say climb I mean hop the hills... and go to their nest in the brush at the top! And they get hot while they are hopping and need to hold their wings out to their sided to cool off! Here is a penguin egg & one popping out of the ocean!

And going to start hopping!

Where else in the world can you see penguins and sheep hanging out?

New Zealand Trip Day 4- Fiordlands & Milford Sound

On our next day we spent the whole day driving to Milford Sound (here is a really helpful site)... which actually means we spent the whole day... Hiking, chasing alpine parrots, playing, and being awed and the ridiculous scenery! This was definitely one of the best drives of the trip! We left a little later in the day, maybe 10, maybe 11... to miss all the tour busses driving in from Queenstown... and sure enough as we were headed in we passed tour after tour after tour of busses leaving... and even one dude that got left by his bus : ( 

I think spring is the perfect time to go to New Zealand! The tourists are not very bad, we had most places in the country almost completely to ourselves! The weather is GORGEOUS! Sure jackets at night, and a few days were kinda cold... but it was awesome! AND there was still snow on the mountains... which just made everything look more epic!

 This is a Kea...he is a crazy alpine parrot known for his curiosity and intelligence...  you are not supposed to feed the Kea...  he tried to go in our car to eat my sandwich... RUDE... I have even heard storys are these dude eating the weather stripping on windows of cars to try to get in. They look cute at cuddly but they are like a foot and a half tall (19in) and run at your face when taking pictures! I love them! AND they have orange feathers under their wings...

This is as some random rapids we found on the way... there was swinging bridge that Kim took my Yoga pose picture from. The color of the water was awesome!

 This is a giant waterfall that we hiked to... well this is the closest we got... anyways its called Humbolt Falls

 And like always... I love grass

This is actually in Milford Sound... The tide was out to we were able to walk a little ways out into the sound.

This is at the Homer Tunnel Nature Track... We went for a short hike here... or shall I say TRAMP, they call hiking tramping, so we would always get questions like "have you done any tramps"... um yes please... where are they?

This is Mirror lakes, one of the first things we did during the day... but it was too windy so we stopped by on our way back out.. and sure enough it was WAY MORE MIRRORY! YAY

We ate dinner at the Redcliff... the restaurant that the cast of LOTR hung out at when filming in the area... and I know why... the food was AMAZING! I think the best we had the whole trip... you can tell by how we ate EVERYTHING!!! I love Kim's face in this photo!

Another traveling to New Zealand helpful tip... it took us dining out three times for someone to finally tell us how to really pay for the food, everyone was too nice to tell us we were doing it wrong. Every single place we ate you leave your table when ever you want and go to the cash register, alot of times at the bar to pay, they already have your ticket and they can almost always just split the bill at the register... oh and always call it a bill not a ticket... they will look at you like your as dumb as a sheep... like my sheep joke!