Now I didn't come here to start disrespecting the national traditions. I really enjoyed the Auckland anniversary. We spent it in the Devonport barrio of Auckland and had a fantastic view of the Harbour where everyone who has a boat had taken their boat, while everyone who doesn't have a boat had camped up next to the water to watch all the boats through binoculars. More specifically, we were on the North Point, a dormant volcano on the coastline that not only affords a fantastic view, but also has lots of dormant heavy artillery and bunkers and tunnels to climb on, run through, etc. When asked why the olde folk may have decided to build their defences atop a large hill, Jay hazarded a guess: 'Because there's a massive cannon up here?' Got to ask the right questions, I suppose.
Also, its Waitangi day tomorrow, its a national day celebrating a treaty between the Crown and the Maoris, which the Crown went on to renegue on and take all the land anyway. Major rioting used to be the order of the day back in the 70's but Annie's friend Pete now works for Ministry of making up for bad Treaties. Its a slow process, but the will does seem to be there now.
But I can not see how this turgid piece of browny-orange tofu with tiny bits of pepper and carrot embedded in it forms any part of a tradition. So I'm going to feel perfectly ok about totally dissing it, without any fear that I may be oppressing some minority who have been ritually eating this stuff for generations. I have tried it raw, fried, and barbecued, but it always tastes unsurprisingly dry, flavourless and almost instantly becomes little threads of perished rubber on the roof of my mouth. I knew that the chances of being offered a range of vegetarian repasts in the one supermarket in Foxton (100k north of Wellington's more tolerant approach to vege sausages) was likely to be slim, but I expected to at least get some pre-mixed felafel.
On the plus side though, I have discovered Tiramisu Toffee Pops. No description required. They're just good. You know they are.
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