Free Food & Beautiful Views

It’s been a relaxing few days in Matarangi, a sleepy beach town in the Coramandel region of NZ.  We‘ve spent the days on beach walks, tennis, and spectacular hikes, with a bit of lazing about in between.  Here’s the view of the beach by our place at dusk:

A few pics from recent hikes:

I know…cheesy

The free time has also inspired us to return to our primordial hunter/gatherer roots.  Andy’s been making himself useful by digging for clams and finding mussels on the rocks outside of our place, while I’ve taken on  the decidedly less utilitarian task of collecting empty seashells.

Andy clam digging.

Seafood, especially shellfish, is my absolute favorite, especially when it’s fresh.  And free.  Little known fact: my college roommate, Julia, and I were sponsored by the Palo Alto branch of Whole Foods during our Senior year of college.  In fact, it was so on the down low that not even they knew about it. . .except maybe they figured it out  because  you now have to ask for the sample cups if you want to try something from the salad bar.  (Though, to be fair, they posted the sign with some fancy verbage about “health code compliance”).  But, back in the day, there were no restrictions on the number of sample cups, so we would abide by the “try before you buy” motto. . .which sometimes morphed into the “try, try, try again, then leave” motto after sampling one of everything, then realizing maybe we weren’t hungry after all.

We accept partial responsibility for the price hike, resulting in that $16 salad you made on your last visit.

Anyway, this food really was free,  fresh, and delicious.  The locals pointed us to the right spots on the beach, and even shared some of their favorite recipes.  We cooked them up differently every night.  My favorite was this, the steamed with chicken broth, garlic, and a dash of red wine.

Off to Queenstown & our next adventure!