Hangi!

After a busy August we decided to throw on an "otsukare" (thanks for the hard work) party for all the staff. As we have a lot of Kiwi(New Zealander) staff, (Keeps a high level of professionalism (and sarcasm)) we decided to show the rest of the Canyons crew some of our Kiwi culture by putting down a Hangi.

A Hāngi is a traditional NZ method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven.
It involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing wire baskets of food on top of the stones, and covering everything with earth for several hours before uncovering.(Thanks to Wikipedia for the nice definition)

Above: The Hangi pit

Below: Some of the staff preparing the hot rocks in the fire.

Below: Raana, the Hangi master, keeping a eye on things

Below: Preparing the two very large baskets of meat and vegies (Raana on food prep, Ben on quality control for the beer)

Once its all covered up all that left to do know is wait for 4-6 hours! The recommended way to spend this time is;
drink beer
play touch rugby
drink more beer
swim at the river
drink more beer

A bit of touch rugby for young and old...

After about 6 hours underground the feed was pulled out....cooked to perfection! A feast to feed 60 people!

The later stages of the evening are still a little bit fuzy, but it involved everyone having turns at making shots, djing and then everyone swimming at the river under the light of the full moon.

Another great night in Minakami!