Special meals in Auckland

As we slide inexorably in to yet another festive season, I thought it might be diverting to record each big lunch enjoyed, if not for the quality of food and wine consumed, at least for the entertainment value provided by inevitable over-indulgence.

First up, Kermadec Restaurant in the Viaduct Basin, on a lovely Spring day. And fortunately an experience which promised much both in terms of the venue, food, winelist (which I had thoroughly researched in advance) and the quality of the company; my colleagues Carol and Debbie.

The occasion: to thank them both for their fantastic contributions to ID Tours before each departs; Carol to motherhood (note to self; renew contraceptives in office water supply) and Debbie to love in Australia (but fear not readers: not with an actual Aussie). Fortunately, both still plan to stay with us, Carol is being granted 3 days maternity leave and Debbie will represent both ID Tours and our new Australian operation.

This was my third visit to Kermadec this year and the new standards established by Peter Thornley and his team have been maintained.

Time and space don't allow me to list all the courses consumed, save to say there were no lowlights and surprisingly, for a seafood specialist restaurant, the star main course was the slow cooked perendale lamb shoulder with lamb cutlet with fresh goats cheese sandwich and fennel puree. I know everyone is getting bored with sous vide cooking but the lamb shoulder was peerless. It frustrates me that it is impossible for the normal punter to source the quality of meat restaurants like Kermadec do.

As for the wine: Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2007, rich and mouthfilling without being over-oaked, Gibbston Valley Pinot Noir 2007, just a knockout from a brilliant Central Otago vintage and de Bortoli Noble One 2006, as good as it always is.

After a repast of some 5 hours we retired to the nearby Bubble Bar for palate cleansing Mumms. I don't normally break the "stays on tour rule", but someone may have done an unplanned back flip off the couch they were perched on, and no, it wasn't me.

Happy clients - Ian & June Kilshaw

Another really satisfying testimonial here. Many thanks Ian and June!


It all started with a challenge to Paul!

We had decided that to mark our Golden Wedding Anniversary, we would go to New Zealand for a five-week trip to see what the country could offer. The challenge was to allow the following parameters:

1. To see the magnificent scenery that New Zealand had to offer
2. To be able to experience the Pacific Rim of Fire and to
3. Give full opportunity to see wildlife and nature at its best.

Paul met the challenge admirably.

The trip was organised so that we were able to see the differences between the North Island and the South Island, to visit White Island, the active volcanic island and to be able to see what birds and mammals exist in New Zealand. From Whale Watch in Kaikoura, where we saw Sperm Whales and Dusky Dolphins to a visit to Stewart Island and Ulva Island where we saw so many rare and beautiful birds and to Papatowai where we saw Yellow Eyed Penguins among many other wonderful sights in nature. The trips to Milford Sound and the 24-hour cruise on Doubtful Sound were a real highlight.

The trip allowed sufficient spare time for us to be able to do what we chose on a number of days and we were able to see Hector’s Dolphins on a cruise from Akaroa.



A photo is included which was taken on the White Island trip.

Best wishes

June & Ian

Happy clients - Sean Rice

Here is a note from Sean Rice who has recently returned from his New Zealand holiday. Receiving messages like this are why I just love working in travel and I was touched by the comment about larger tour companies. I couldn't have put it better myself!

Hi Paul

Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed my holiday. I orignally regarded it as the holiday of a lifetime but feel sure now that I will repeat it.

The arrangements you made were superb and everything fell into place without a hitch. I would like to thank NZID for a truly outstanding service which I feel far exceeded anything a large tour company could provide.

I enjoyed every part of the trip but would specially note Wilderness Lodge as a magical experience. All the hotels were excellent and the B&B's exceeded my best expectations. May I make special note of Wanaka where Jo was also particularly kind and hospitable. Of course all the other venues were excellent as well particularly Te Anau and Akaroa.

My grateful thanks to everyone.

Best wishes

Sean

PS If I return I would certainly stay at Wilderness Lodge again. I imagine there is still much yet to see!

Many thanks for your kind words Sean and for some fantastic photos.

A piece in defence of things Australian....

No, not a title for a blog I thought I'd ever write. However, having just been in Australia immediately after the Baggy Greens had lost the Ashes and the Wobblies lost at home to the All Blacks, I was in a more charitable mood than usual. Well, what gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair was witnessed - it was wonderful.



However, nothwithstanding the current tarnish on the Aussie's international sporting efforts, what good realm of their endeavour shall we find to comment on?



The food and wine if you could not guess! I'll cut directly to the highlight of several exceptional meals - that a colleague and I enjoyed at Sepia, a new restaurant in the Darling Park complex in Sydney. I had read about it in Gourmet Traveller (in my humble view the best wine and food magazine in the world) and was caught by the fact that the chef, Martin Benn, used to head the kitchen at Tetsuya's.



I began with the Tuna Tartare with avocado cream, soy and wasabi Jelly and was reduced to licking the inside of the beautiful glass bowl it was served in. I had only been able to decide on this entree at the direction of our fine waiter, simply because of my complete inability to choose from the list of 8 choices. Then to the main; so often in fantastic new restaurants, for whatever reason, the mains don't live up to the strength of the entrees. Not here, I can assure you. Once again, a difficult choice but I opted for the Butter-poached West Australian Marrons. I was presented with 4 plump sweet tails, with the meat of the claws sauteed with enokitake mushrooms. Divine. The only slight blemish on the evening was that my colleague had chosen her main even better than I did: Roast Loin of Gippsland Lamb, Crisp Lamb Belly, Braised Daikon, Jerusalem Artichoke and mushroom infusion. I confess I have never eaten sweeter, more tender or better cooked lamb anywhere (and this from a Kiwi!). The mushroom infusion came in a separate glass beaker and was poured over the lamb at the table. It was exquiste. How do I know, because I ate half my colleague's meal of course.



Got lost in the impressive wine list, was hugely impressed to find a good selection by the half bottle (wish all restaurants did this) and we were over the moon with our '06 Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay and the '04 Faively Gevrey Chambertin.



We skipped the deserts - a travesty - but will venture there next time, soon!!!!

Nice day for a heli flight

En route by Helicopter from Paradise, after the Dart River Jet experience, to Walter Peak. Need I say more....

More from the North American Incentive Buyers Famil.....

As promised, fellow gastronomes, more culinary highlights from this July trip when we hosted 10 incentive buyers from the US and Canada....

Day three had us arrive into Queenstown, where cloud and snow (it is winter after all!) saw us postpone our Milford flight and head for the Kawarau Bungy Centre. Of course your fearless correspondent stepped up to the plate to "take one for the team" and blaze a trail for the Bungy virgins...

An impressive 50% of our guests took up the challenge and even more impressively there was a 0% "baulk" rate.

Of course near death experiences tend to stimulate atavistic urges but lacking the appropriate facilities we had to settle for eating rather than sating other pressing urges...

Henry Van Asch, in addition to running the Bungy operation, also owns and operates the Winehouse & Kitchen, a lovely restored farmhouse adjacent to and overlooking the bungy bridge. Henry, as is his wont, has established a very talented team around him, and gave us a very memorable experience.

There is a very tempting a la carte menu, but take my advice, choose the platters. Themed for wine varieties there are three to choose from - Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We of course chose all three. All were fabulous but I have to say, given the wintry day, the Pinot Platter with its Confit Lamb Shoulder on paparadelle, Seared Lamb Shank Terrine and Sweet Briar Merino Lamb Pie (with swede and mint jelly) was the standout. Washed down with some wonderful Van Asch pinot, our North American friends were left well-satisfied.

NZ Sporting News (in advance)

Sydney, Saturday 22 August - Bledisloe Cup

McAlister to wave Giteau through inside the first five minutes…

McAlister to throw an intercept to Barnes around the 20 minute mark….

McAlister to suffer a recurrence of his back spasms and leave the field after 25 minutes. Donald comes on at first five, Carter to 2nd and Donald promptly kicks out on the full. Wallabies drive the lineout ball for their third try.

AB’s stage second half revival but only convert one (by Carter) of their many breaks. Carter kicks 6 penalties and no conversions from 10 attempts.

Final Score: Wobblies 25 Carter 23.

Crossing now to Sri Lanka, where the home team declares at 600 – 6. Unbelievably NZ batsmen fail to pick the doosra out of the hand and are forced to follow on. Black Caps lose by an innings and 320 runs.

Hawke's Bay is very tasty indeed - Saturday teatime

I am writing this from my mum's house in Spain looking forward to a Sunday lunch of pulpo a la gallega (boiled octopus garnished with paprika, olive oil and salt) followed by a great big paella. All this thought of food inspired me to finish off the second chapter in my Hawke's Bay wine and food odyssey.

We left Clearview with a half bottle of the noble Chardonnay each and I also grabbed a dessert wine called Sea Red which is a fortified blend of Merlot and Malbec. This is a great wine to finish a meal and is initially sweet but then has a lovely dry finish. The excellent winery restaurant (Jeremy has eaten there of course) looked and smelled very inviting but I couldn't really justify a snack just an hour after lunch. Anyway, we were late for our accommodation for the night.

There was no rush to get to my bed but a pressing concern was that the cellar door at Craggy Range closed at 5. We made it by ten to and were still treated to a full tour of this beautifully designed and situated winery followed by a tasting of some sensational wines. Amongst them was a really surprising Sauvignon Blanc. Neither Jeremy nor I get the Sav thing - it is just dry, dry acid with no fruit and does weird and unpleasant things to the back of my tongue. This one was different though being more aromatic and fruity but I'd still go for Chardonnay most of the time.

Our berth for the night was a really well appointed cottage set amongst the vines and looking up at Te Mata Peak. They have the smaller Vineyard Cottage with one bedroom and we were in the Cellar Master's Cottage with two ensuite bedrooms and an open plan living area. I eventually got the wood burner going which was a painful struggle (although this cannot be seen as any reflection on my masculinity as the wood was damp, honestly) and we waited for the highlight of the day.

Terroir is Craggy Range's restaurant and is rustic in style and has a nice relaxed atmosphere. We looked at the menu with another cleansing ale and the starter was obvious - crispy pig’s cheek, quince, black pudding Charlotte & sage. The main was a challenge and I was tempted by the sous vide lamb but in the end had to go with the more rustic confit stuffed rabbit leg with pancetta, pearl barley risotto, sautéed liver & chestnuts. We went to our table with a glass of superb “Les Beaux Cailloux” Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay and ordered a bottle Craggy Range's world class Syrah "Le Sol".

The pig's cheek was delicious and was followed by an amuse-bouche of a seared scallop on a puree of red pepper. My main was brilliant and although Jeremy enjoyed his trio plate of guinea fowl, duck confit ravioli and braised lamb shoulder, he had at least two good mouthfuls of my rabbit leg and kicked himself that he didn't have a full plate.

That was it for me. Too much food and alcohol and too little sleep in the last 48 hours meant that I was just about ready to crash and burn.

Rumble in the jungle

Strictly speaking, I am sort of a qualified geologist, not that it has done me much good. It has never got me any upgrades on flights, free meals or entry into a gentlemen's club. That said, it did allow me to spend too many years studying two of my favourite things - volcanoes and earthquakes.

New Zealand is a great spot for both and the volcano chapter will follow later. The big story at the moment though is earthquakes. Look at the earthquake scene on the right which is how the coast off Fiordland on the South Island looks at the moment. A few little shivers in the last week and certainly nothing exciting.

However, if we go back 10 days then the picture is very different. The big yellow square in the background is a huge earthquake with a Richter magnitude of 7.8 that struck at 9:22 pm NZ time on 15 July. Around it is a swarm of aftershocks and some of these were pretty big with a number measuring upwards of 5.5 and one coming in at 6.1.

A tsunami warning was issued immediately. There were fears for the south and west coast of the South Island of course but there was real concern for the coastlines of Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales in Australia considering the greater population density there. Lord Howe Island out in the Tasman Sea was at the highest level of alert but fortunately the wave that was generated was less than 20 cm high.

Some of our friends down on the south coast of the South Island felt the quake and I have to admit to being a little bit envious as I have felt the odd tremor here in the UK but have always wanted to experience a big rumble (as well as a hurricane and a tornado but that's a different story).

Mary Sutherland of Catlins Wildlife Trackers in Papatowai said "It was a big quake and went on for some time. It was enough for me to get under the door frame. No problems though, and even the jars of preserves stayed put on the shelf (I do have an earthquake measure in place though, I have curtain wire stretched across to keep the jars on the shelf and it worked!)."

Jenny Twaddle of Bay Motel right down south on Stewart Island reported that "We did feel the big quake and didn't know whether to be excited or frightened when a few ornaments fell off the shelves. The cat flew out the window, the dog and I stood in a doorway and my husband stayed in bed."

Scary stuff but exciting all the same. Like being an England or New Zealand cricket fan!

Thanks to the USGS for the earthquake maps and their website is a must have in your bookmarks. For New Zealand based tectonic fun and games then keep your eyes on Geonet.

Culinary and vinous delights...

Just spent 5 eventful days with a group of North American Incentive buyers. Delighted to find a higher than normal proportion of foodies (and winos) in their ranks and we had several memorable meals together in both Auckland and Queenstown. Dine at the Sky Grand in Auckland was an absolute standout. I thought of Von (and indeed all vegetarians) as I hoovered down my entree of twice-cooked crispy Pork Belly with Grilled Ox Tongue. How could one deny oneself such a treat? The contrast in textures between the pork and ox tongue was a highlight as much as the fantastic flavours. Unusually for me I had the beef as a main - 300-day grain-fed Angus fillet on a roast Artichoke puree with roast portabello mushrooms. The beef, which came exactly as ordered (horns cut off and bum wiped), was simply the best piece of fillet I have ever tasted (I'm normally a rib-eye fan by preference). Dinner had been preceded by a tutored wine-tasting. There were no ordinary wines in the line-up but the truly stellar were the '04 Vinoptima Gewurtztraminer Reserve, the '02 Stoneyridge Larose and the very rare '05 Providence Syrah. I've been priveleged to drink a reasonable amount of first growth Bordeaux in my time and the best the Rhone has to offer and these wines are right up there (at a fraction of the Froggies' cost). More on my palates adventure to come....

Now this is not in the spirit of the game Ricky

Just after lunch and England are 136 without loss? That isn't anywhere in the rule book is it Richard? This matter should be investigated by the ICC as a matter of urgency.

Of course all Strauss and Cook are doing is setting up the innings so that the inevitable collapse to 197 all out will be as dramatic and harrowing as possible.

Have you heard yourself Ricky?

JP, I trust that all our Kiwi brothers and sisters will be monitoring the cricket over the next few days to support us in our righteous crusade against Australian tyranny?

Abysmal English performance in Cardiff but at least there is some pleasure to be had in getting up Ponting's nose. Playing within the laws and spirit of the game? Richard (I know his real name is in fact Ricky but that's another story), Richard, Richard. May I suggest you go to YouTube and type "underarm incident"? Please feel free to leave a comment to tell me what you found there.

I know insufferable is a word you like Jeremy and there are a few words I could tag on to that but this is a family show so I'll keep it clean.

Hawke's Bay is very tasty indeed - Saturday lunchtime

Well this is my first blog entry so of course it is completely appropriate to start with my most recent trip to New Zealand last month.

I was down there for a big annual tourism conference in Auckland and always like to see or do something new so Jeremy came up with a great idea to help me get over the jetlag. After 40 hours without sleep and 32 hours of travelling from my start point of Manchester Airport, he decided that the only possible solution was to take me on an intensive course in eating and drinking in Hawke's Bay.

I was allowed a shower, change and coffee at Auckland Airport and we then flew over to Napier to collect a hire car. As I was not feeling tip-top and as the car was a slightly embarrassing blue boy racer mobile with a spoiler, I let JP drive and we went straight to Elephant Hill winery for lunch.

Things were looking up after a couple of cleansing ales followed by the lamb fry (lamb's liver with a trio of onions) and some Pinot Noir. Jeremy had chicken livers so I had some of this too before we headed off down the road to Clearview Estate for a wine tasting. Well we went down the road some time later after first going a couple of miles up the road in the wrong direction courtesy of Jeremy's notoriously bad sense of direction.

Clearview introduced me to an unbelievably good Noble Harvest Chardonnay. There was no way I was paying £25 for a half bottle of wine but after tasting it I caved in immediately and broke out the credit card. The challenge now is to resist the temptation to open it during the next 5 years as the winemaker Tim Turvey was on hand to promise that it just gets better and better. Of course I hope it gets better and better. If I open it in 5 years and it tastes average or just plain rubbish then I will have to accept that my judgement was disastrously impaired by a lack of sleep combined with the euphoria of lunchtime drinking!