Wildfoods Festival

So, this past weekend, Helen, Katy and I took a bus up to Hokitika (on the northwest coast) for the Wildfoods Festival. I saw the poster for this infamous event about a month ago and have been determined to go. So, after an 8 hour busride there, we set up our tent in a High School football field and began the grueling food-fest that is wildfoods festival. We were expecting a pretty wholesome affair, but quickly realized this festival was way more bangor state fair than commonground... drunk people dressed up in the wildest get ups and eating crazy crazy food. absolute madness. i have never seen that many drunk people in one contained area EVER. i think something like 13,000 people attended the event from all over new zealand, and let me tell you, drunkeness does not discriminate-- everyone from 16 year olds to 80 year olds, men, women, grandmothers, grandkids, all completely blasted. it was a riot.

but onto the good part: the food. The grand total for saturday was (I wrote it down as I went along):

~ whitebait sandwich- tiny NZ fishies cooked whole in an egg patty on white bread. bland.
~ mussel and wild pork kebab - by far the most delicious thing ever, basically wild pork is just like thick cut bacon. and NZ mussels are the best.
~ kahlua fudge
~ sheep's milk ice cream - super super creamy
~ sheep cheese
~ whole honey comb - waxy.
~ lamb tail - one of the worst decisions of my life. awful-- grisly, gooey, bony, sticky, everything you don't want your meat to be. they cook it whole, fur and all, on the bbq and then strip off the outside burned layer of hair and skin. ick.
~ crocodile - kinda like tough chicken
~ kangaroo - kinda like bad steak, with a weird aftertaste
~ elderflower champagne
~ berry cider
~ grasshopper on a cracker - crunchy, didn't taste like much... thank god for satay sauce.
~ worm sushi - the worms were cleverly disguised among onions and rice, so not bad.
~ a whole worm in redbull - definitely felt that one slide down the throat.
~ bunny meat ball
~ venison and wild mushroom sausage
~ RIBS - nothing exciting, just freakin delicious.
~ rose hip wine - super sweet
~ punga - this is some sort of new zealand plant, looks like the inside of a cactus or something, white and crunchy, but leaks this thick, snotty sap stuff. by far the worst thing i ate, texture wise, gave the lambtail a run for its money.
~ grub - actually quite tasty, like a little chicken fry.
~ snail
~ meaty vegan gonads - not entirely sure what these were, but they were certainly inappropriately shaped.
~ homemade kahlua "kowlua"
~ homemade moonshine - shot directly into your mouth from some sort of squirt gun. interesting. this came around the point where we realized we were the only sober people within a 15km radius, and decided to do something about it.

pretty ridiculous, katy and i are on a cleanse this week... veggies and whole grains and lots of water. i think my body still doesn't totally understand what happened this past weekend.

anyways, here are some pics!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022801&l=d5228&id=14600837

cheers!
alli