Consumed with New Zealand

In an effort to hold on to my experiences even longer (and share them with you), I’ve typed out a list of food and drinks from my time in the southern hemisphere. After seeing this list, I know I’m holding on to more than just the experiences. I’m holding on to some well-earned kilograms

I only listed each item once, even if I had it more than one time. (This may be more applicable to the list on the right than it is to the list on the left.) Besides, this is a qualitative exercise, not a quantitative one. I know. I’m being cheeky. I deserve it after all of the chins I’ve added.

Cheers!
Greg

Food

Drink

Bacon and egg  pie Steak sandwich Calamari BBQ spare ribs Hokey Pokey ice cream Open face sandwich Fish and chips Bank burger Bangers and mash Polynesian plate Pork sirloin Prawn curry Lamb fillet Chicken pizza Thai fish cakes Lemon polenta cake Lamb’s fry and bacon Seafood medley Chips with chicken salt Whitebait Huhu grub Crocodile Kangaroo Shark Lamb’s tail Beetle Worm Mountain oysters (sheep’s balls) Open face chicken sandwich Dulce de leche gelato Moroccan chicken wrap Roast lamb rump Malaysian beef curry Seafood chowder Risotto with prawns Green lipped mussels Caramel slice Salmon quesadilla Meat pizza Blue cod Garlic prawns Monster burger

Shakespeare’s Falstaff Real Ale Mac’s Gold Monteith’s Original Waitako Bitter Steinlager Galbraith’s Bitter and Twisted MATA Artesian Mac’s Hop Rocker Monteith’s Pilsner Tuatara IPA Green Fern Organic Lager Yaqona (kava root) Nectarine cider Boysenberry cider Moonshine Dux de Lux Nor’wester Pale Ale Monteith Celtic Invercargill Brewery Biman Invercargill Brewery Stanley Green Pale Ale Steinlager Pure Church Road Merlot Cabarnet Three Boys IPA Emerson’s London Porter Emerson’s 1812 IPA Emerson’s Bookbinder Speight’s Gold Medal Ale Twisted Hop Golding Bitter Epic Pale Ale Little Creatures Pale Ale Dux de Lux Hereford Bitter Brew Moon Hophead IPA Kilkenny Draught Mac’s Sassy Red

• 19:09 I’ve officially posted the New Zealand pictures on Flickr — www.flickr.com/photos/actiong/sets/. Check ‘em out.

• 13:07 I’m caught up on LOST and Friday Night Lights. Whew. Tackle the critical tasks first. On to other things like maybe a job or the like…
• 17:42 Next adventure COULD be finding reasons to visit the 13 states where I have not spent the night – is.gd/pJNs. Or something else…

• 07:45 "I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt." ~ Johnny Cash
• 13:23 A few statistics from the New Zealand trip — I took 1,578 photos. I drove 6,765 kilometers (4203 miles). I spent $602.65 on petrol (gas).

• 13:47 Listening to TED talks, preparing to do some laundry at the mat, then watch some college hoops. Not sure why, but I’m rooting for Pitt.

• 08:20 (1) I’ve been hitting my wipers when I want to hit my turn signal. (2) Odd not sleeping in the back of a minivan. (3) Up at 7am. No jetlag?

The new ink

Here’s a diagram/explanation of the new tattoo. I had no intention of getting inked over in New Zealand, but something drew me to Greg Ashwell of Atawera Art in Kaikoura at the end of my trip. I met Greg and liked him immediately. We talked for about 20 minutes before I decided to book an appointment. From that initial discussion, I came away with some ideas for what I might have done.

The day of the appointment (about 24 hours later), I sat down with Greg for about 30 minutes and talked about what I wanted to represent with this tattoo. I had some general ideas and he asked some good questions. From this information, Greg drew up this tattoo using the overall design I wanted. The overall design — two spirals — is a common one around NZ. Each spiral is a koru. The koru represents an unfurling fern frond. It symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace.

The two spirals together like this symbolize a Maori story of creation. It goes something like this: “The Maori creation myth tells how heaven and earth were once joined as Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, lay together in a tight embrace. They had many children who lived in the darkness between them. The children wished to live in the light and so separated their unwilling parents.”

Bringing it back to me, it’s the story of my creation. Each spiral represents a family. One represents the family I grew up with (my adopted family) while the other spiral represents my birth family (what I know so far). There are other elements which are described above. If you have questions, fire away. It takes me at least five minutes to answer the “What does it mean?” question

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and I’m very grateful to have been called to check out Greg’s work. It was a very spiritual ending to an AMAZING spiritual (and geographic) journey.

Much love,
Greg

• 03:48 Waiting to board my fourth flight in 36 hours. I’m not so much complaining as I’m ready to be out of airports for a while. Cheers!
• 10:44 Wondering why people on LOST don’t get into the same kind of capers as Gilligan and The Skipper. Watching reruns on the bus back to the 603.
• 17:29 The bitch is back, people!!

• 15:37 At LAX waiting in a long line at the second of three security checkpoints today. I’m so over queues. Daydreaming about being back in NZ…
• 20:03 At SFO deciding whether to take the BART into the city or go sleep. I have 6-8 hours until my flight leaves…depending on possible delays.

• 05:18 I’m rounding third and heading for home, kids. Looks like I’ll be back in NH on the morning of March 26th. I’ll be hibernating for a week.
• 21:02 My plane leaves Auckland in about five hours. Not sure if it’s enough time to get to the city and back for food and beer. If I can, I will.