The Weekly Croissant: New Zealand Diary

and the last croissant of 2024!!!

Kia Ora from Aotearoa/New Zealand!

…Where Jacinda is sadly no longer the PM, and the new government is re-allowing smoking and trying to reclaim the higher speed limits which were just reduced by the labour government. I am finding the political drama over here so very comforting in comparison to the United States, but I’m sure there are actual lives and futures at stake just like anywhere else so I will shut up.

But before I do, George and I were once listening to the New Zealand news because we were too depressed to listen to the US news, and there was a story about a small town that had just been connected to centralized rubbish collection. This was, it turned out, controversial! Not because, as I assumed, people were mad about taxes for government services, but because some residents feared that making trash collection too easy would encourage people to make more trash and not have awareness of their rubbish footprint!

GOD GRANT US THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM!

Anyway, my lazy hike and beach days with the in-laws are coming to an end here and next week I’m starting a production project in Wellington with NZ progressive bluegrass band “You, Me, and Everybody”. It’s a delight to witness such deeply informed Americana music being played so very far from home, and I can’t wait to see what we can cook up in the studio.

I’m grateful to have had so much production work this year. It has been a dream of mine for the past couple of years to make production a significant part of my job, and with each project, I find that I love it more. Here’s to making more great records in 2025!

And finally, in lieu of croissants, here are some of my favorite New Zealand treats, Whittakers’s chocolate, Real Fruit Ice Cream, and a Pavlova. If you get the chance to try these delights, especially during a summer Christmas I hope you will indulge!

Hope y’all are having a great holiday season and best wishes for a very happy New Year full of perfect pastries!

-Rachel