My friend was in this picture along with a bag of freshly baked muffins in her left hand and her car keys and purse in her right hand. She had on a thick woollen coat, a long homespun muffler and matching pumpkin coloured beanie, but  I couldn’t put my finger in the thing that was missing. And then it clicked. On her feet she had nothing.

“What happened to your shoes?” I asked her as I opened the door. She smiled holding up a bag of muffins unfazed by the temperature and her barefeet.

“I dunno.” she replied “No worries eh.”

That was the end of the discussion. I had forgotten my friend had a dislike for shoes, excluding jandals (flipflops) opting to go around unshod and free whenever she could.

I, on the other hand, prefer my feet well shod when walking outside on the pavement, road, icy cold grass, sopping paddocks, animal defecated pastures and sunburnt sands.

Many New Zealander’s — bless them — also prefer their feet shoeless: 24/7.

Inside department stores, discount stores and supermarkets unshod feet trod over dirty grimy floors, concrete pock marked with gum, and tar stained roads. All I can say to this a part from “eeeewwwwww”, is that I don’t associated myself with this part of the kiwi psyche. In fact I cannot understand it. Never have and never will.

Like Hobbits, Kiwis who trudge around without shoes have a common ailment known in the shoeless fraternity as “Kiwi Feet.” Here the sole is likened to rhinoceros skin and the foot’s width foot has broadened due to years of being outside a constricting shoe.  Another unique fact is the amazing tolerance Kiwi Feet have in subzero temperatures or high heat after standing on a discarded cigarette stub.

It used to be that shoeless feet could be seen everywhere throughout the country’s urban and rural centres, but over the generations as more New Zealander’s travel the globe bringing back etiquette and style (kind of) with them, the shoeless foot has succumbed to ruralisation with feet seeking out fresher and cleaner grounds to wander on.

Shoeless feet can still be found kicking back in rural schools, rural pubs and medical clinics, pushing down on acceleration pedals when driving, running across paddocks and running into the surf.

I cannot guess when going barefoot first entered the New Zealand culture. New Zealand Maori and Pacific Islanders may have introduced this to early European settlers when their footware fell apart, or surfers who lost their sandals and thought “why not?”. The list is endless.

If you want to know more about this oddity in Kiwi Culture, simply Google it and see why tourists are as baffled about it as I am.

Caffeinated Traveller

It’s autumn and along with the seasonal changes in leaves, picking fruit and reaping  hay, there is also pumpkin harvesting where the harvested crop end up on people’s porches as “art” or in Thanksgiving pies as soulful “yum”. Pumpkin in the US is symbolic for something I haven’t quite figured out, but whatever it is, this vegetable accords special status in supermarket displays every autumn.

via D Sharon Pruitt

In New Zealand a pumpkin is just a vegetable, nothing more nothing less. This orange delight is served roasted with lamb, steamed for its vitamins, pulped for soup, added to savoury scones and  muffins and sometimes used for sweets like pie. It doesn’t receive any special accolades or seasonal rights on the vegetable display shelves. Seldom does it get carved and carefully placed on window sills and verandas. But it does get eaten — by humans — in every way imaginable.

Head over to England and pumpkin is considered fodder for cows in the way New Zealand farmers use turnips and swedes. Roasting pumpkin is just not done. Some European countries still serve pumpkin with stews and casseroles as do parts of southern China — and Japan adds it to various savoury dishes.

Like all bright coloured fruits and vegetables the mighty pumpkin is valued for its medicinal properties. Wander down some of the older parts of cities like Seoul and you will likely find a tiny pumpkin processing shop crammed between bigger shops. Koreans add pumpkin to yogurt and blend it with rice for gruel. There is even a pumpkin candy usually sold by street vendors during the winter months. This stuff is brutal and requires a set of strong teeth.

So what is great about the pumpkin (American) aka pepon (French) or pumpion (English) particularly in a sweet pie? The vegetable is believed to have originated in North America, the first pie came about in the late 17th century baked by early settlers using the outer skin as the pie casing. Why is it eaten around Thanksgiving? Harvest time. Historically though, the pumpkin pie was served as a vegetable in colonial times long before natural and unnatural sweeteners took over and claimed it as a dessert.

There is one part of the pumpkin that follows a similar consumption path no matter which country and that is the pumpkin seed. Roasted or toasted, salted or naturally bland, seed chomping can be viewed wherever you travel.

by Cate

Who is up for pumpkin pie? I’m more of a Thai Pumpkin soup fan myself.

Caffeinated Traveller

(Jean Batten – solo round the world aviatrix 1909 -1982)

I’ve often wondered what drives a person like Jean Batten to explore beyond the norm: to set records that exert physical and mental energy, to keep going when loneliness sets in; or was she someone who yearned for solitude?

by Cate

Back then…

During the early 1900′s when flight had taken hold on the modern world, aviators and aviatrixes grew in numbers and so did intrepid flight pursuits. Well known amongst this group were the American Amelia Earhart, British Amy Johnson, Australian Kingsford Smith and New Zealander Jean Batten. Remarkable trips were recorded on a constant basis by these pilots and others: solo Trans Atlantic flights, Trans Tasman, Trans Pacific and England to New Zealand.

These trips are now considered everyday flights taken by ordinary people, but back then when the word plane was prefixed with “aero” not “air”, and designs for efficiency were ongoing, taking a solo flight around the globe was pretty phenomenal.

In the mid 1930′s novice pilot Jean Batten left England for Australia in an attempt to break (or take) the world record that renown aviatrix Amy Johnson made 3 years earlier. And she did, eventually. After three risky attempts, Jean Batten flew from England to Australia in 14 days, in a small plane, a de Havilland Gypsy Moth.

Women like Batten had gumption but they didn’t compromise on their style nor glamour. It is reputed that when Batten went on her record breaking flights, she always carried a dress — and possibly makeup.

by Cate

She lived on thermos tea and coffee, sandwiches and goodwill. She also relied on luck, local knowledge and sheer determination. To me she epitomised adventure: a solo woman who didn’t worry herself sick about personal safety, didn’t carry a personal alarm system or mace spray. Like explorers before and after her, she used a combination of intellect, wit and charm to get what she wanted — to fly the skies.

Roots and Ending

Jean Batten was born on September 15 1909, if she were alive today she would have turned 101 on Wednesday 15 Sept.  She was dubbed Garbo of the Skies for her glamorous looks and introverted lifestyle once her fame died out. A great woman remembered in her home town Rotorua where memorials have been erected in her honour outside the town’s information centre and inside the airport terminal. But sadly she has been forgotten by most of the modern day world. Batten’s mysterious death in Spain 1982 went unnoticed by the press an organisation that used to adore her; she was found in an unmarked grave reputed to have died of complications from a dog bite.

by Cate

As I read her biography “My Life” it felt I was seated next to her, in the passenger’s seat as she flew over the dusty barren terrain of Persia and the mountainous landscape of Europe. She had lunch with officials and tea with expat wives, she worked alongside mechanics on her plane and negotiated flight details with commanders.

Jean Batten is a fine example of how travel defines a person. For more in depth information about the marvels of Jean Batten check out Travel for Aircraft’s recent post.

Caffeinated Traveller

But it did and in the early hours the morning (NZ time). Earthquakes have lousy timing and strike in the most unusual places — to the layperson that it. Ask a scientist and they invariably hold a different view.

Living in an earthquake prone country makes a person blasé about the likelihood of the big one ever occurring. Living in a town that seldom gets to see the action can make you forget you actually live on shaky ground.

To the residents of Christchurch, here’s hoping your beautiful town is standing, it was a big one 7.2. Big enough to cut power and topple things from shelves, big enough to cut phone lines so family and friends can’t connect, and big enough to frighten.

Tourists shouldn’t feel overwhelmed, civil defence are prepared and organised and if you are thinking about a trip to Christchurch, unless you are told to stay away by officials, then you shouldn’t cancel your journey. Aftershocks will happen some scary and others not. A lot of the damage done from earthquakes comes from slack building codes, which NZ doesn’t have.

by Cate

Caffeinated Traveller

For someone who is unaccustomed to this style of “treat” the shouting and play-fighting could be intimidating the first time around. Not knowing whether to sit and watch, to look the other way, to let out a sigh of despair or an awkward laugh. And, when is it appropriate to sit back and let someone else pay, when to offer to pay the bill yourself or split the bill amongst the group?

My rule of thumb  has always been — expect the unexpected.

While Chinese may put on a show to save face, Japanese, Koreans may not. Japanese usually opt to split the bill with you, and may become embarrassed if you choose to pay the bill (speaking from personal experience). Koreans treat you if they consider you a guest, which is pretty much all the time. Young Koreans may not offer at all if you’re much older in years than them. Even Southeast Asians carry out acts of kindness beyond their financial means to honour a guest. When it comes to Buddhist monks, expect them not to offer anything other than a prayer. Here it is an honour for you to pay for them as most monks lack finances. So, if you are on a tight budget be careful when offering to take a monk out for lunch — and this can happen.

On western shores particularly in English speaking countries, I’ve found that people tend to have similar ways of going about paying for the bill. There are those who like to perform and there are those who slink off to the cash register to pay, or discreetly hand over the money to the wait staff at an opportune time.

When it comes to business dinners, well there are etiquette books to help anyone in need.

Some lingo differences to consider:

In the US  it’s “my treat”, in the UK and UK English speaking countries it’s “my shout” or I’ll shout (not literally).

“I’ll get this” means — “I’m picking up the check”.

“Tab” or “check” means bill in the US. Bill means check (tab) in UK English speaking countries

Back to the Chinese ritual. If you have the privilege of being invited to dinner with Chinese (no matter where they reside and from which country), you are considered a guest someone special, and a fuss will be made of you.

by Cate

Caffeinated Traveller