California Dreaming #1

You know you’re on your way to America just by looking around at the people at the airport departure lounge. At Auckland Airport I spotted a woman who looked like she had escaped the set of Last of the Mohicans. She had a furry jacket replete with furry tassles and a matching set of furry leg warmers. I managed to count at least 20 chipmunks per leg warmer.

Fact: Americans aren’t afraid of their own sense of fashion, or lack thereof. I actually admire their courage to dress in theme if they want to. If a football game is on, people proudly parade in their team’s shirts and colours. Another intern from NZ told me that he saw a motorcyclist riding a tiger-striped motorcycle, wearing a tiger helmet, tiger gloves, tiger body wear and even a tiger tail. I'd say this crosses the line for me.

Was the guy at customs in LA being friendly or were all those questions about how old I was and when was the last time I was here that would have made you just 6 years old right? just a sneaky way of trying to test me out? I dunno…the highlight of waiting for half an hour to get your passport stamped after a 12 hour flight was my first celebrity spotting! I touch down in LA and the first person I shake hands with is Sir Ian Mckellen! He wasn’t up for a photo but shook my hand and said photograph this onto your memory! Gold!

Fact: The first person to greet you once you get past LA customs is George W Bush himself. There is a framed picture of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney at customs that you can’t miss after you’re passport is stamped and you’re sent to claim your baggage. Lucky I left my I hate Bush T-shirt at home.

Fiction: The people voted Bush into the White House. Get a load of these T-shirts…



The highlight of San Francisco Airport was this guy who was doing bicep curls with a rubber workout band tied to a railing at the bus stop! I went over the Golden Gate Bridge on the bus ride from SF Airport to Santa Rosa. I wasn’t sure whether it was this bridge at the time though, as it was a red sort of colour. But they tell me that’s the one! The fog rolling in down the hills around the San Francisco Bay area was quite a stunning sight. The fog is rather choosy about which slopes it will dress and you will see only certain hillsides covered by it.


I went on to stay with the winemaker’s parents for 4 nights. They live in a gated community of about 5 ranches, and have pinot noir, chardonnay, grenache, syrah, mouvrede, and aligote planted on their property. The hospitality that they showed me was overwhelming. On arrival to their gorgeous home a bottle of La Crema pinot noir was cracked open. One of their other sons is also a winemaker and he used to work at this place. It’s a funny coincidence that I was offered a job at La Crema (after being interviewed at about 3am NZ time!) but turned them down. After a toast I feasted on my first home-cooked meal in America…spare ribs! Yum! I was sent to bed with an armful of cookies and nibbles. They put me up in their barn, which has been converted to a guest house.

Fact: Northern Californians are friendly people.

The next day I chilled out by their pool and took a look around their vineyards while they had to make a trip to Napa. I’m quite unacquainted with Californian wines, as very few are brought in to NZ. Jim kindly left a whole bunch of Wine Spectator magazines around the barn for me, and from reading these I discovered that Californian pinots are big, and often get a bit of flack for this. This was confirmed the next day when Jim and I were checking the brix of his fruit. Some of the pinot was around 22 and he was talking of waiting till it was 25! I think that most of the pinot back home was picked at around 22/23 brix during my last harvest.

Fact: Californian wines are big. Some pinot noirs reach 15% alcohol or even more!


Some ‘firsts’ I’ve had here so far are: my first root beer float, and my first Costco and Safeway experiences. Costco is like Moore Wilsons (bulk food) but it also has appliances and clothing and all sorts of things. Stock changes quite regularly as it’s end of the line and clearance stuff and they sell it at really competitive prices. I found Levis and Calvin Klein jeans there for around US$30! I also found Central Otago Pinot Noir! I picked up a bottle and was quite astonished to see NZ wine under the Kirkland Signature brand! This is the brand that Costco owns. And right beside the bastardised Otago pinot, was Kim Crawford Sauv Blanc! And only US$12.99! I needn’t have bothered hauling a bottle of the stuff all the way from home!

As you leave Costco you are met by someone who checks your docket and your goodies to make sure a few extra tubs of red rope liquorice haven’t made it into your trolley. At this Costco, a rather large guy, whose nametag read ‘Tree’ met us at the exit. He looked like he should‘ve been wresting for the WWE or something!

After that, to Safeway, a supermarket. And what hard work this place is! And most other supermarkets I gather. Price tags jut out from shelves all over the show, not just the promotions. And most of them read ‘2 for $7’ or ‘Buy one get one free’ or something like that. How much just for one though? You have to read the small print. And then there is a member price and a non-member price... Most of the time though, you can just buy one, and the price is just half the price of the cost of two. But it’s still so complicated!

After a sumptuous family feast that night, my head hit the pillow to the sound of a family feast of another sort. That of the coyotes who were yelping and yapping somewhere across Bennett Valley. They throw a bit of a party when they get lucky with some of the wild turkey in the area. Speaking of wild beasts, it has been intriguing to see such different flora and fauna. Apart from falling in love with redwoods, I have been taken with hummingbirds, skunks and woodpeckers! There are a lot of wild deer about too which often jump into the way of cars at night.

Fiction: California is full of big cities, big egos, bleach bottle blondes and beachy bling. This is the view from the back of the barn where I stayed and is one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever woken up to.