Bringin a Little of the South to the Southern Hemisphere

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints!  I just got done watching the replay of the Super Bowl.  Good on em!

I have to say we really missed being home for it.  It's really not the same having it on a Monday morning.  All day at work people kept asking me what the big deal was.  Why do they have so much hype?  What's with the commercials?  Etc, etc, etc. Some things you just have to be an American to appreciate I guess.  But other's are universal, hence today's post.  

I love pork.  I really, really love pork. A slow roasted hunk of pig is like sexy dirty fantasy talk to me.  It's one of the great pleasures of life and I relish every chance I get to partake, so when Kev asked me to help him roast a pig, I jumped at the chance.  I practically majored in slow cooking pork when I lived in North Carolina and I don't mind if I do toot my own horn; I can cook me some pig.

Here's the after action report (AAR for you gamers out there)

The day started a little later than we had planned.  Kev went out on Friday and had a little more fun than he planned. (It was his birthday after all).  By the time he picked me up it was after ten.  We had planned to have the pig cooking by eight. After stopping for a few last minute sundries we got to Kev's about eleven.  When we got there we set to work.  First things first, we opened beers.

MMMMMM Beer.

After the beers were opened we got down to brass tacks and wrangled the pig onto the spit.  The boys hadn't done this before and being the resident American Redneck I stepped up to the plate.  We used the back of the work Ute (Australian for Truck, I think short for utility vehicle)  as a table and got it done.

"Crickey!"

I had to put the umbrella up because the sun was as hot as.  In fact it was one of the hottest days we've had for some time.  I didn't want this little beauty to get sunburned before we got him over the coals.  

The coals actually took us a time to get going.  We couldn't find charcoal lighter fluid anywhere and charcoal chimneys are rare so we were forced to use these fire starter brick things that weren't exactly up to par.  It took almost an hour to get the coals started.  So by the time the pig was on it was exactly noon.  Only four hours behind schedule.

Kev had told people to be there around 1:30.  So people started arriving expecting to the pork to ready and instead found a couple of semi drunk guys with a nearly raw pig.  They Aussied up and grabbed beers themselves.  Thus began the long afternoon of drinking.   

Phil, Richard, Kev and Dean with the guest of honor.

Standing around drinking beers and watching a pig cook on a spit is a great way to get wasted.  Take my word for it.  We set out to get hammered and hammered is what we got.  It's a wonder that any of us made it until the pig was ready.  It only took five and a half hours to cook but in that time, many, many beers had been consumed.  By the time the thing was ready just about everyone we work with was there or had been there. It was a lot of fun to hang out away from the office. 

Hugh (the guy I replaced at work) and Kev 

Notice the blue chequered police tape (yes it's spelled chequered here)

Kev and I managed to keep it together long enough to get the pig off the spit and cut up.  A job I'm proud to say only took about 15 minutes.  Kev's mom came through with all the fixin's and the pig pickin' was in full effect.  We managed to feed the heck out of everyone there.  

Cathy from work with and her friend (grubbin) and brother

Those of you with lots of pig pickin experience will notice the (several) non working cars lined up in the background of this photo.  The more that things change the more they say the same!  I mean it couldn't have been more authentically redneck.  I loved it, check out the back of the Ute used to serve up the food.

Classic!

It gets a little hazy after that.  Leah and Charlene showed up just when we were done cutting up the pig.  We spent the next few hours chatting and drinking. We decided to head back to the train.  I tried to get artsy with the camera but I think I may have been a little drunk still. I did manage one nice shot of the girls.

 Cathy, Charlene and Leah

By 9:30 we were on the train and headed home. And that was that. Our first Southern Hemisphere full on pig pickin'  I have a feeling it's not going to be the last.  I am getting really serious thinking about starting some sort of food related business here.  Street meat may be my calling.