new zealand or bust

The mini-mall of vegan awesomeness, corner of SE 12th and SE...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:13:05 -0700

The mini-mall of vegan awesomeness, corner of SE 12th and SE Stark St., Portland, OR.

Crazy-good vegan raised doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnut. The...

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:29:00 -0700

Crazy-good vegan raised doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnut. The vegan ODB chocolate glazed with oreos and peanut butter and the vegan Grape Ape. In the name of “research” we also tried the Portland cream doughnut (chocolate frosting with Bavarian cream filling), the McMinnville Cream (like the Portland cream but with maple frosting), and a Maple Bar. All delicious and all vegan(duh)!

One hint, if you want to avoid the lines take a super short bus ride from the city to Voodoo Doughnut Too at 1501 NE Davis Street.

Where did you get travelers insurance from and how much did it end up costing? Would you recommend it for a 6 week trip? Also, we are considering kayaking the Milford Sound, would you recommend it? Thanks!

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:14:00 -0700

We purchased travelers insurance through World Nomads and paid 520 USD for 12 months. Insurance was required for our visa, (though they never checked on it when we arrived), but I would recommend insurance, just for the peace of mind. I think you can pay for exactly 6 weeks too.

Kayaking in the Milford Sound was amazing. We did the Stirling Sunriser with Rosco’s Milford Kayaks. The price is a bit steep (175 USD), but the views are incredible, the tour consisted of just us, another couple and the guide so it was pretty personal, and we got to kayak under a 150m waterfall! It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Happy traveling!

Gross but beautiful, the Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle, WA.

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 09:20:05 -0700

Gross but beautiful, the Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle, WA.

Wayward Vegan Cafe in Seattle--so nice, we ate there twice

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:16:05 -0700

Seattle’s U-District, a neighborhood seemingly made for vegans, is home to what is one my newest favorite place to eat. Wayward Vegan Cafe serves up huge portions of diner style breakfasts and lunches for more than reasonable prices. In our four days in Seattle so far, we have eaten there twice.

This is not the type of food that most people think of when you say vegan and I think that is a very nice thing. Vegetable based dishes certainly hold a place in my heart, but as a southern girl, if you put biscuits and sausage gravy on a menu I will be your best friend. There are omelets (vegan omelets!), and french toast, and pancakes, and tofu scrambles, and sandwich and every single thing looks so very tasty. Luckily they have there menu posted on their website so you can see what I mean.

Here’s what we ate: Country Bumpkin Biscuits, herb biscuits topped with tofu scramble and sausage gravy with garlic greens, Cheezy Scramble, a cheddar-cheesy scramble with lots of veggies, greens, and so much toast, the Pull No Pork sandwich, house made BBQ sauce with shredded seitan, onions and peppers, plus fries and a pickle, The Wizard, seitan and sauerkraut covered in horseradish sauce with a side of greens (instead of fries and a pickle), Chiggen Wrap, lettuce, tomato, onion and fake chicken in house made ranch(!!!) wrapped in a giant tortilla, and the Black Magic sandwich, fake chicken in a black magic sauce, coleslaw and cajan mayo with fries, a pickle, and a side of ranch.

Here’s what I thought: SO EFFING DELICIOUS. I am glad my friends like to share because goodness all of these were great tasting. The Chiggen Wrap was a nice change because it was less greasy and heavy tasting and the Black Magic sandwich (from the specials board) was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. I was a little disappointed by the biscuits and thought they were a bit too dense where as I prefer layered, flaky biscuits. The tofu scramble and gravy made up for it though. The Pull No Pork was exactly the sandwich I find myself craving ,sweet and tangy like the BBQ I grew up with. Also, a side of ranch dressing is only $0.50 and it made my day. Seriously.

In summation: if you are in Seattle, go to Wayward Vegan Cafe, and if you are not in Seattle, got to Seattle and eat at Wayward Vegan Cafe.

Practicing cartwheels in the park, summer in Seattle is so nice.

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:44:41 -0700

Practicing cartwheels in the park, summer in Seattle is so nice.

Perfect Seattle days are being made even better by coconut milk...

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 11:13:34 -0700

Perfect Seattle days are being made even better by coconut milk based vegan ice cream from Full Tilt. Lindsay and I shared the toasted coconut and mint chocolate, delicious.

Swapping New Zealand winter for summer in the States means we...

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:14:05 -0700

Swapping New Zealand winter for summer in the States means we just arrived in blueberry season. Perfect.

This is Vancouver. And I think I like it.

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 08:12:06 -0700

This is Vancouver. And I think I like it.

Continuing on our Vancouver food tour, we treated ourselves to a...

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:35:00 -0700

Continuing on our Vancouver food tour, we treated ourselves to a decadent vegan marshmallow stuffed cupcake with maple frosting and a cinnamon roll at Edible Flours. Completely worth the long hot walk west on Broadway. Before that, we stopped at City Square Mall to sample Everybody Loves Veggies. Who would have thought there would be an all vegan counter in a food court? The menu wasn’t terribly interesting, but the food was good and I’m glad it exists.

We also enjoyed burritos at Budgie’s, though they forgot to add the Tofurky sausage to Ashleigh’s order. They don’t have vegan cheese, but replaced the dairy with guacamole at no extra charge, which is a great alternative. Dinner last night at Foundation on Main St. in Mt. Pleasant was filling and reasonably priced. They offered a few exciting rice and bean combinations including black beans and banana or mango.

Way to go Vancouver.

Z is for zine making. This is the last letter in our WWOOFing...

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 19:14:06 -0700

Z is for zine making.

This is the last letter in our WWOOFing alphabet! We’re planning next to put the alphabet in a book with stories from our experiences working on farms in NZ.

We made it to Vancouver and are eating up all the delicious...

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 11:24:15 -0700

We made it to Vancouver and are eating up all the delicious vegan food that we can find. We’ve had insanely good vanilla and chocolate twist soft serve at Karmavore, a two-floor, all vegan shop/grocer/deli in New Westminster, small but flavor-filled tacos from Bandidas Taqueria on Commercial Drive, and decadent sweets called bliss balls from the vegetarian restaurant and natural food store Sweet Cherubim also on Commercial Drive.

To top that off, today we bought the new pepperjack from the maker of our favorite vegan cheese, Daiya (which is produced in North Vancouver) and had it for brunch on a sourdough baguette with kale, mushrooms, peppers, and onions from Drive Organics, a co-op on Commercial Drive. SO DELICIOUS.

Leaving New Zealand. We’ll be back for sure!

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 10:37:40 -0700

Leaving New Zealand. We’ll be back for sure!

J is for jumper. This is the 25th letter in our WWOOFing...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:28:06 -0700

J is for jumper.

This is the 25th letter in our WWOOFing alphabet.

this day came too soon

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:27:53 -0700

It’s our 357th day in New Zealand and it’s our last day here. And what a nice day, including a picnic in Albert Park and dinner with awesome couchsurfing hosts.

We’re leaving with more shoes than we arrived with

lots of NZ friends to keep in touch with

and many, many ridiculous adventures that we will remember for a long time.

Tomorrow, we’re heading onward to Canada - for just a few days -

and then trains will take us across the US, to home, eventually.

The sky tower in Auckland, NZ. It reminds us of the space needle...

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:28:00 -0700

The sky tower in Auckland, NZ. It reminds us of the space needle in Seattle, but maybe when we finally visit Seattle, the space needle will remind us of Auckland.

St. Matthews encourages church-goers to sign their petition to...

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:13:52 -0700

St. Matthews encourages church-goers to sign their petition to end discrimination against gays and lesbians wishing to become ordained.

View from the top of Mt. Eden, Auckland, NZ. It’s a...

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:03:34 -0700

View from the top of Mt. Eden, Auckland, NZ. It’s a dormant volcano!

S is for sunscreen. This is the 24th letter in our WWOOFing...

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:06:46 -0700

S is for sunscreen.

This is the 24th letter in our WWOOFing alphabet.

How much money do you guys recommend saving for WWOOFing in New Zealand? Plane ticket, visa, domestic travel, weekend activities, etc? I remember when I was there for a short conservation project their dollar was weaker than ours, but the costs added up. Love your blog, thanks!

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:36:00 -0700

We recently figured our costs out to be 500 USD per month… each. Which at first look seems like a lot, but it includes all our big ticket items - plane tickets to and from NZ, travelers insurance, buying a car in NZ (including all the petrol and car upkeep), plane/hotel for our trip to Melbourne, and a kayaking trip in the Milford Sound. Plus, as you may have gathered, we like to eat out. The rest of the time we’re on a pretty strict budget. We don’t stay in hostels and instead camp or couchsurf when not WWOOFing. There are a lot of low cost or free things to do if you look for them and we don’t feel like we’ve missed out by sticking to a budget.

We saved up the majority of the money before leaving the US, but because we weren’t completely sure how much everything would cost, we also planned to work for a few months while we were here. Two months working in the vineyards of central Otago wasn’t the most fun, but it let us relax a little more about money. Hope this helps!