Milford Sound (Piopiotahi) was certainly one of the more righteous places I visited in New Zealand. Milford Sound is a fjord in the south west of the south island. The area was widely hunted and fished by Maori prior to European Settlement in the early 1800s. The region’s topography deterred early explorers. Today it is one of New Zealand’s most popular tourism attractions, which is why we went there during a major flood.

Two of the crew from Van landed in Queenstown on the Friday, in a torrential downpour. Earlier that week tourists had to be evacuated by helicopter from Milford Sound because the road was under several feet of water. The trails were also submerged and closed, and lake Te Anau was up almost three metres. It was wet. We made the decision to drive down in my then trusty ’89 Mitusbishi Lancer, “Ting-Ting”, before the storm had finished. It was a good choice.

What is usually one of the most congested tourist regions was mostly empty, especially as this date coincided with the end of the summer tramping season. We walked the Milford Track, a trail that follows a 53km canyon two hours boat ride north of Te  Anau, over Mackinnon Pass and down again to Sandfly Point just across the bay from Milford Sound. The Trail was mostly empty, we brought way too much food, the waterfalls were huge from the rain, but it was only a wee bit flooded.

Most people think of lamb when they think of eating sheep. Mutton is considered as an afterthought possibly in a stew or curry, but lamb is considered the classiest sheep to eat. This is a social notion that is not entirely rational. Lamb is good, but the extent to which it is prized is unreasonable. It is like we have substituted veal for beef.

The reality is that for most recipes neither mutton, nor lamb are what you want. Lamb is too young to have any robust flavour, while mutton is too tough and too old to be as tender. What you want is Hoggett. Hoggett is the ‘teenager’ of sheep. Young enough to be supple, yet old enough to have a strong flavour. So find a hogget back rib roast marinate it, and slow cook it until it is melting. But good luck, because in North America people only like lamb…

Rosemary Mustard Hoggett

Marinade:

Dijon Mustard

Olive Oil

Rosemary

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Cover and fridge for 24 hours

Roast it at 280F or 140C for 20-25 minutes per lb/500g

Some short words for these photos:

Dunedin has an amazing farmer’s market. Best food, best prices, the whole town is there. The perfect way to bumble through a Saturday morning.

There is a river that usually trickles through the town, known as the Leith. But during big storms it turns into a righteous grade IV whitewater run through parks and tunnels and so forth.

Tunnel Beach is nearby. There is both a tunnel and a beach.

The Otago Peninsula is gorgeous. There are penguins, sea mammals and humourous birds.

This past weekend I served as an embedded journalist in the U.S. invasion of South East New Zealand. Whilst straying from my platoon I got up close and personal with some of the nations more colourful personalities…

If your only reason for coming to New Zealand were to visit Blair at the Lost Gypsy Gallery in Papatowai, it would be worth it. Blair is hidden genius who resides in Southern Otago building strange and brilliant pieces and contraptions for his gallery. He is only open for seven months of the year as he uses the other five to build. Any more words would ruin it…

After a sleepless 60 hours, the madness of Singapore, nearly missing my flights, a spot of guerilla dermatology in Auckland, and many days without Internet; I have left Borneo and am now in the Land of the Long White Cloud. And yes, there are penguins, more sheep than people, and the toilets spin in the opposite direction.