OCTOBER 2008 NEWS
Hawaii – American Wagyu Breeders Association Conference
We’ve been “off the air” for a few weeks, but behind the scenes, things have been really popping. For one thing, we have been hard at work slaving away in Hawaii at the American Wagyu Association annual conference. Someone must do it…! We had a fabulous stay at the conference venue, the Mauna Lani Bay Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii. Wow, what a place! As first timers in Hawaii, we had no idea about the scale and extent of the lava flows that make up the island. Black, bare rocks as far as the eye can see, and then right in the middle of a barren coastline stand huge resorts, with coconut palms and banyan trees and lush tropical gardens everywhere. Apparently everything you see has been grafted onto the living rock at huge expense. The people were so friendly (not just at the resort, but all over the island) and we felt immediately at home. The resort is built around ancient fish ponds built by the Hawaiians centuries ago and they take maintenance of the tradition and ecology of the ponds very seriously, growing endangered turtles and other species to be released once a year on “Turtle Independence Day” (4th July)! We especially loved the hammerhead shark that greeted us each morning. We slept to the soft sound of island breezes and the waterfall just outside our balcony.
But we were there to work, attending the American Wagyu breeders’ conference. What a great bunch of people! We met old friends from previous Australian conferences, other “email” friends and clients and we had a wonderful time talking about all things Wagyu. One of the highlights was a field trip and barbecue to the Richardson’s ranch where we learned all about cattle farming, Hawaiian style. Hawaiians have to transport their cattle by boat to the mainland, often in very roundabout ways, owing to American problems with quarantine and so on. We were very impressed with the efficiency of their methods. Also, being Hawaii, tourism is a great opportunity for them and the ranch is well set up to cater for tour groups of all sizes and interests. The view from the top of their own private mountain is breathtaking.
During our stay on that side of the island we went to Kona and had a trip on a submarine. I highly recommend this trip if you have young kids. The children on our tour were beside themselves when two 5 foot long sharks detached themselves from the wreck we were inspecting and lazily inspected us! They were only harmless reef sharks, but they certainly look the “Jaws” part and the kids were all delighted.
We saw the place where Captain Cook died, and a stunning temple nearby, and another huge temple complex dating back about five hundred years, with enormous wooden tikis standing guard at the water’s edge. Of course, the camera broke on the first day, so we have very little evidence of our stay!
However, we will never forget our trip to Hawaii. The sunsets through the coconut trees listening to ukulele music … sounds a cliché, but somehow, it was simply perfect. No wonder they call it Paradise. NO flies, NO mozzies, NO creepies at all! My kinda place. (It didn’t hurt that Kevin Costner’s house was just down the block, either!)
After the conference we went across to Hilo and spent a day crawling around the live volcano, and down to where the lava falls into the sea in an enormous cloud of steam that rises miles into the sky. Then to Honolulu for a few days, most of that time spent crawling around the innards of the US battleship Missouri. Then, sadly home again. Isn’t it amazing where Wagyu can take you.
Australian Wagyu Association Conference, Tamworth, NSW
Unfortunately, we missed the Australian Wagyu conference in Tamworth the same week, but as it’s the first conference we’ve missed in ten years, I guess we had a good excuse. From all accounts, the Australian meeting was a very positive one and people have very high hopes for the coming year in Wagyu.
Good Times
It’s certainly started out that way for us. Since we came back the phone has been running off the hook and projects that have been bubbling away on the backburner for some time are all coming into force. We are starting to worry now about keeping up supply!
The dire economic news around the world is a worry, but perhaps having money invested in Wagyu is not such a bad idea!
Website News
As well as fielding orders from around the world (we’re pleased to welcome South Africa to our client list) our resident technical genius has been hard at work revamping the website and has simply blown us away with the new pages. They are proving to be very frustrating as they are technically quite complex and a lot of older browsers just can’t “see” the new pages; however he has plans for overcoming this aspect and we are hoping to launch the new site soon. Wait till you see what we have for you!
Reds!
We’re very excited about our embryonic (pun intended!) new project. Meet our new ladies, who have just come down from Queensland to join the herd:
– Ta dah! Red Wagyu
Aren’t they gorgeous? They are exactly the same as Black Wagyu except for the colour and some say do very well in tropical areas. We have had a lot of enquiries from South America for Red Wagyu, so we will begin flushing these girls as soon as they are old enough and begin a new herd of Red ladies for that market in due course.
