Empanadas, Auckland

We have met some great travellers here in Auckland, and it’s always fascinating to hear where they have been and where they plan on going next. There is always something to learn, and this past weekend was a great example of this. Two of my co-workers, Poppy and Griselle, have a new business of making delicious empanadas infusing each of their backgrounds. Poppy is from Argentina and Griselle is from Mexico - together they have created MEXART. It only took a little begging from Jeff and they had us over for some cooking lessons...

These lovely ladies will make any filling you like, but below are pictures of their beef empanadas. The recipe is top secret, and they make the flakiest pastry!!!

They are reasonably priced and made fresh to order if you are in the Auckland area: mexartnz@yahoo.co.nz

Nothing goes to waste. The left over pastry was used to make dessert – because like me, these ladies like something sweet after every meal. We were destined to be friends!

Thanks again for the lesson. Jeff will keep your secret for one year...

Winter in Auckland - 6 Month Update

We are proud to announce that we have made it to the 6 month mark of our travels. The time has gone by very fast and we are ready for more… (Ear muffs for the parents). It is now winter in New Zealand and although it is cooler, it has a long way to go if it wants to compete with Canada!

We are almost at the end of “Operation Work & Save” in Auckland, and so we thought we would let you know what the next phase of our travels will look like:

1. High five each other…maybe add a high kick in celebration (we didn’t really know how long we’d be gone for and are pretty proud of ourselves)
2. Give ourselves a well deserved 2 week vacation in FIJI
3. Hop onto the STRAY travel bus and see all of New Zealand– this will take at least 28 days. It is a ‘hop on/off’ concept, so if we like a location we can stay longer.
4. Pack our things and move on to Australia. At this point in time we plan to start in Sydney, travel for a short while - see the outback, and then set up with work. Yuck… we hate the `W` word.