Cooking Classes at Pen-y-bryn Lodge

Pen-y-bryn Lodge in Oamaru is well known for providing guests with exceptional cuisine and unmatched hospitality in their 124-year old mansion, and during the coming winter months they will be sharing their culinary skills with students eager to hone their own skills in the kitchen. The first sessions, due to start in the coming days, will focus on authentic Chinese cuisine. Though James and James, the lodge’s owners, hail from the USA originally, they have both spent many years in China, and have developed an enviable expertise in the varied cuisines of China.

Sessions are designed for 6-8 students, who will not only get hands-on experience cooking the dishes, but will also get to sample the results of the class. James will include information about the history of the dishes, their role in Chinese culture, and inside tips on how to choose ingredients, and even how to order more successfully at a Chinese restaurant. Each session will also include a short primer on a different type of Chinese tea, a large variety of which Pen-y-bryn Lodge imports directly to offer their guests.

The first classes will cover Chinese dumplings, with demonstrations on preparing the different types of dough, fillings and sauces that go with them, and from there future sessions will cover buns, noodles, stir-fries and snacks.

Classes can be scheduled to suit each group’s time constraints–all you need to do is get a group of 6-8 people together and contact Pen-y-bryn to set a convenient time. Each session should last approximately three hours, and will cost $50 per person.

A Visit to Greenmantle Estate

Although this blog is primarily about the wonders of Oamaru and the surrounding Waitaki district, it seems only fair occasionally to venture a bit further afield when there is something worthy of comment and that may be of interest to the outside world. So those today you will be treated to a post about a wonderful lodge that I visited this weekend not just outside of Oamaru, but outside of the South Island.

The lodge in question is Greenmantle Estate, a beautiful and large stately home near the town of Waikanae, on the Kapiti Coast north of Wellington. Owned by the charming couple, Letizia and Ralph Green, Greenmantle’s six guest rooms are all individually decorated, offering exceptional comfort and relaxation to guests who seek a respite from the daily grind. Set amongst two hectares of gardens that include a stunning native forest of Nikau palms, ferns and other New Zealand flora that defies description, it seems that there are countless places for guests to venture out and find a little corner that you can imagine no one has ever visited before.

Among the many charming features of Greenmantle Estate are the pair of tame domesticated ducks who have been engaged to keep the lawns well manicured, who will come toward you if they have the sense you might be bringing them some food; a koi pond that the ducks also enjoy swimming in; an artesian well that provides pristine drinking water for the dining table;  a dovecote that draws beautiful snow-white doves to the property; and interesting and eclectic art throughout the lodge.

Letizia and Ralph are charming hosts. Ralph is a Kiwi with a quick wit who, like so many lodge owners in New Zealand, has a range of interests and experience that ensure interesting conversation on virtually any topic. Letizia, originally from Sardinia, has been in New Zealand for decades, but still exudes all the warmth and humour associated with that blessed island in the Mediterranean, and if you are lucky enough to enjoy a meal that she has prepared, you’re in store for a real treat, with authentic Italian flavours using the best local and imported ingredients.

Greenmantle is located just an hour’s train ride from Wellington, and would make an ideal weekend getaway, or a base from which to explore the capital, or just a destination to recharge your batteries.

Goat sculpture in garden

Bougainvillea

Koi pond

Agaves (shaped like moas)

Ducks in the pond

Rear view of Greenmantle

Luxurious bathroom

Beautiful tub

Dining room from upstairs

Chinese ancestor painting

Autumn colours

Dining Room

Dining table

Oamaru on Fire!

Hot on the heels of an amazingly successful first run last May, Oamaru is looking forward to the second annual Oamaru on Fire celebration on Queen’s Birthday Weekend (31 May 2013). This event brings pyrotechnics, music, food, and fun to the Harbour Street historic area, lighting the night and warming up the hearts of all who visit.

Also on Queen’s Birthday Weekend is the annual Steampunk Festival, bringing fans of this time-bending art form from around the world to Oamaru to show off their fanciful costumes on the stage of the Oamaru Opera House for the Steampunk Fashion Show, and dancing the night away at the Steampunk Ball. There’s even an opportunity for people who are not so familiar with Steampunk to learn all about it from a true expert in the field–who knows, you may go home with your own Steampunk persona!

Dame Kiri Takes Oamaru by Storm

Dame Kiri in Concert at the Oamaru Opera House

After nearly six months of anticipation, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa arrived in Oamaru on 26 March in preparation of her performance at the Oamaru Opera House the following evening. In case you’re not familiar with Dame Kiri, she has been one of the leading lights of the opera world since the 1970s, reaching many millions of homes when she was asked to perform at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in Westminster Cathedral. Born in Gisborne on New Zealand’s North Island, Dame Kiri has performed in all the world’s major theatre, and is beloved by her fans for the purity of her voice and the quality of her acting.

Living between New Zealand and the UK, Dame Kiri (she was given the title in 1982 for services to opera) continues to perform all over the world, and several years ago, when she heard of the renovations to the Oamaru Opera House, she began to make plans to perform here. When the concert was announced late in 2012, the tickets sold out in record time, with people coming from far and wide to hear the popular singer live in this beautiful theatre.

The concert comprised works from the operatic repertoire as well as popular songs, and ended with three encores, including the incomparable “O mio babbino caro” that Dame Kiri sang in the film “A Room with a View”. During an interview with the Oamaru Mail after the performance, Dame Kiri praised the audience and the quality of the venue, calling it a “gem” and expressing a wish to return to Oamaru in the future. It’s fair to say that Oamaru would welcome her back with open arms!

Classic Cars, Made in Oamaru

Detroit, Coventry, Modena…and Oamaru? You might think that Oamaru does not belong among these famed centres of the automotive industry, but you’d be wrong! Thanks to the efforts of Rod Tempero, a third-generation coach builder working out of a repurposed chicken coop just south of Oamaru, our little town can lay claim to being the home of a select number of replica classic cars, including Maseratis, Jaguars, and Ferraris, and also restored cars by countless other manufacturers.

Rod’s business can trace its history back to 1946, but the family has been in the motorcar business since way back in 1920. This nearly one-hundred year history is much in evidence when you look at the amazing machines that have come out of the unassuming manufactory that many passersby would never suspect was the home to some of the most beautiful cars ever to grace our planet’s roads.

You can see from the photos in the gallery that the cars certainly look beautiful, but you probably cannot imagine that many of these cars were created literally from the ground up in little old Oamaru. It all began when Rod was just 19 years old and found he could not afford to buy a sports car, so he did what any sensible Kiwi would do and decided to build one himself. Before long he was driving around in a replica D-type Jaguar, and just six months after its completion was made an offer to sell it that he could not resist. Thus encouraged, he set up a manufacturing line just to build such replicas, focusing initially on British marques but then moving on to Italian classics.

In addition to manufacturing cars, Rod also restores classic cars, many of which leave the chicken coop looking completely different from the way they drove (or were pushed…) in. The degree of craftsmanship is simply astounding, and is a testament to Rod’s team’s talents.

Even if you are not in a position to order one of Rod’s incredible cars for yourself, Rod happily welcomes visitors to see his work in progress, which always includes a number of projects in various stages of the manufacturing process. You’ll find him just outside of Oamaru on SH 1, in the chicken coop with the racing flags flying outside. And you can read more about Rod and his business here.

Ferrari

Ferrari

Ferrari

Ferrari

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

1934 Alvis Speed Twenty

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Jaguar XKSS

Cooper Bristol

Cooper Bristol

Cooper Bristol

Cooper Bristol

Cooper Bristol

Cooper Bristol

Cooper Bristol

Cooper Bristol

Oamaru’s Traditional Wooden Trugs

A traditional Sussex-style trug

Oamaru is home to a number of artisans producing beautiful pieces of art that are both stunning to look at and remarkably useful. A prime example of this is Bill Blair of Coppice Crafts, who works out of one of the “red sheds” that line the Oamaru Harbour near the penguin colony.

For those of you unfamiliar with trugs, they are a container used to carry produce and foods, and the ones that Bill makes are based on the design popular in Sussex, England. These trugs became de rigueur after Queen Victoria started using them, and are thus the style most associated with the term “trug”. The term is thought to derive from the word “truck” (and they are sometimes called “truck baskets”) while others think it might come from the word “trog”, which means “boat”, since there is a definite similarity in appearance between trugs and boats.

Bill’s trugs are all made 100% by hand, using sustainably harvested materials from around Oamaru. The rims and handles are made from willow harvested nearby in Kurow, while the slats are from felled American cottonwoods from South Canterbury, which had become overgrown and were crowding other trees. Bill’s workshop looks like it could have come from the 19th Century, with hand-operated lathes, scores of planes (including one of his prize possessions–a vintage Stanley #4 plane, made in the early 1900s, purchased in nearby Hampden for the princely sum of $35, and still boasting its original blade), and dozens and dozens of works-in-progress lining the walls.

Bill’s trugs have been used in films, since they are nearly unique in the world in that they are made in the traditional style using traditional materials. He also makes rakes, fork, shovels, brooms and log carriers, all 100% by hand, and all true works of art.

In the event that you are interested in having your own trug, rake or other piece of Bill’s work, and don’t plan to be in Oamaru any time soon, fear not! While Bill and his workshop would fit squarely in the pre-internet age, he has a fully functional website and ships his products worldwide. Just go to www.coppicecrafts.co.nz to see the range of products on offer, and he’ll take it from there!

Trugs in process

A wall of Bill’s tools

Bill working on a trug

Pen-y-bryn’s #7 trug in use

Oamaru Hosts Second Annual “Oamerican” Car Show

Classic American cars preparing for their ‘promenade’ through Oamaru

While the mood of the Terra Nova commemorations was a bit sombre, remembering the loss of life connected with the exploration of Antarctica, a much more light-hearted celebration was taking place in other parts of town. The second annual “Oamerican Car Show” took place last week, bringing lovers of American cars from around the world to the Oamaru area to share their fondness for the output of Detroit.

While it’s possible on any day of the week to see classic cars parading around the streets of Oamaru (I do not know of any official statistics, but I’d wager that there is a larger proportion of vintage cars on Oamaru’s roads than anywhere else in New Zealand), it is unusual to see such a large number of American vintage cars. The spectacle of seeing these immaculately preserved automobiles driving past the classic façades of Oamaru is a photographer’s dream, and when you combine that with the willingness (even eagerness) of the cars’ owners to offer rides to anyone with an interest, you really have the makings of a great event for any lover of cars or of 20th century industrial art.

The third annual Oamerican Car Show will take place in mid-February 2014, so start planning your visit now!