We decided that camping on the beach would be the best possible way to spend New Years, so we gathered a few awesome friends, picked up some booze and headed off to a cozy and extremely affordable campsite just south of Oamaru in Kakanui. The day we arrived it was unsettlingly windy and the exceedingly nice owners offered us the most sheltered spot on the grounds in our own little corner.
Immediately we were surrounded by feral children and their boisterous parents. It was a thoroughly Kiwi campsite and with no other tourists around we were immediately pegged as “the foreigners”. Right off the bat mothers offered us food. One woman had her husband cook us up paua which is a jet black blob (a seaslug of sorts) that lives in a beautiful rainbow colored shell in the ocean and tastes remarkably like conch, then we were given a heaping plateful of fresh-caught blue cod right off the grill and told that there was plenty more if we wanted. I had nearly forgotten just how damn nice and hospitable Kiwi's are.
On New Year's eve we drove to the small town of Waimate and visited Gwen at EnkleDooVery Korna where she cares for and runs a full-fledged wallaby/chicken/muffin the miniature pony house. She spurted out a long winded list of rules then set us free to pet and hand feed the wallabies until our heart's were content. Her house, if you an even still call it that looks like a deranged curio shop where petticoats hang amidst fake fly ridden food and real taxidermic wonders. She deserves her own blog post (which I will one day get around to writing).
That afternoon we set up our spots nearest the kitchen, ate a huge bbq and started the party. We talked about plans for the upcoming year and in lieu of a self-punishing resolution we wrote out lists of 50 goals that we each wanted to accomplish in the upcoming year, no matter how big or small. Midnight brought hugs and kisses from strangers and friends. Then at just after midnight we watched an amazing and outgoing 10 year old boy dance, move for move, the entirety of Lady Gaga's, Poker Face. Check, only 49 goals to go until 2011. Happy New Year everyone.
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