Back to the 50’s in New Plymouth

New Plymouth hosts Americarna, an all American car event, and also has its own American style Deluxe Diner. We pulled in to Deluxe Diner for breakfast and were impressed with the mint green and red decor, comfy booths, and big menu.

I’m a shocker for taking too long to choose my food but buttermilk pancakes always make it easy for me, Mike settled on the breakfast hot dog, both good choices. The drinks menu is almost as big as the food menu and stretches from cherry cola floats to Spirulina, VIP malted shakes to alcoholic milkshakes, and free fluffys … Read the rest

High Tea at Chateau Tongariro

A beautiful setting can be the icing on the cake of a good high tea, we found this to be true at Chateau Tongariro. It’s been a while between high teas, however it’s winter down under and driving from Palmerston North to Rotorua provided the chance to break our journey in the Tongariro National Park.

Chateau Tongariro is a grand old lady, she’s just celebrated her 85th birthday and original picture windows provide a view of Mount Ngaruhoe (Mt Doom to Lord of the Rings fans). It was Mt Doom and gloom on Monday, clouds obscured the view so we … Read the rest

A Winery Platter Tour of New Zealand

Petrolly, fallen over, and foxy are all wine tasting descriptors (thanks Wikipedia). Cat pee is another, and often describes the smell of New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Cat pee smell aside, visiting wineries for a platter and a glass of wine is one of the pleasures we’ve discovered over the last year or so.

We haven’t been to every winery that serves platters but we’ll give it a good go, any recommendations will be much appreciated. We recommend all wineries listed but if you twisted my drinking arm for three favourites I’d say Mills Reef Winery in Tauranga (moved to … Read the rest

Super speedy dinner delivery at C1 Espresso in Christchurch

Mike was travelling solo in Christchurch and thecuriouskiwi mission he chose to accept was to have dinner delivered via pneumatic tube at C1 Espresso. Initially delivery speed was up to 140km/h, surely the fastest dinner delivery in town, maybe even the world? Delivery speed has since been reduced to prevent food carnage.

We first saw (and sent a cannister flying) around a pneumatic conveyor system at The Faraday Centre in Napier. The systems were once used in New Zealand department stores to transfer cash between divisions.

Eventually the pneumatic tube system at C1 will deliver food cannisters from the … Read the rest

Thirsty Wellington – Unusual Places For A Brew

Below are a few unusual places for a brew, alcoholic or otherwise in Wellington ….

The Backbencher Gastropub, 34 Molesworth Street
The Backbencher Gastropub is opposite Parliament and has a political theme. There have been a series of satirical political puppets strung up over the years. Prime Minister John Key unveiled a new set of puppets in 2013, including one of himself disco dancin’. We’ll see if he’ll be ‘stayin’ alive’ after the 2014 election.

There are a few spaces to eat and drink. You can head to the Back Bar to watch sport onscreen and have sports legends Tana … Read the rest

More than movies at Roxy Cinema & Embassy Theatre in Wellington

We don’t go to the movies often enough, it’s a cheap ticket to a foreign land, or at least a window into another world. We didn’t go to the movies in Wellington either, but we did find there’s more to Roxy Cinema in Miramar and Embassy Theatre in downtown Wellington than movie theatres. (And excellent theatres they are too according to rave reviews I’ve read).

Roxy Cinema was formerly known as Capitol Theatre and was built in 1928. The last movie screened in 1964, the building was then turned into a shopping mall.

The art deco facade of the Capitol … Read the rest

Crafty Trout Brewing in Taupo

It’s been a while since I dipped my toes into the Mediterranean Sea in Greece and had a stein of beer in a Munich beer hall, but that’s where Crafty Trout Brewing in Taupo took me. The upstairs Bier Kafe was once a Greek restaurant, it’s been redesigned with Austria and Oktoberfest in mind.

There’s an alcohol free German beer on the menu, and you can get a one litre stein for around $18. Crafty Trout’s Austrian lagers, ales and ciders are brewed downstairs and have fishy names like Hook, Lure, Jigger and Spinner. A tasting tray of four brews … Read the rest

Camping & Kaimoana in Maketu

Camping – Maketu Beach Holiday Park, 2 Town Point Road
Two tickets for Maketu Kaimoana Festival and a booking at the Maketu Beach Holiday Park and we were set for the night. We chose the holiday park closest to the festival and what a choice it was – if our caravan Rosie was any closer to the water she’d be floating (granted the few rocks below would have turned her into a leaky boat first).

It’s not just campers who get the superb location, there’s some cute little log cabins beachfront too. The cabins reminded me of beach huts in … Read the rest

I wanted to be a prawn star …

… like Casey from Auckland who caught a 43.5cm long prawn at Huka Prawn Park in Taupo. After 3.5 hours of fishing I thought I’d have to settle for being a prawn star photographer as all I’d done was photograph other peoples prawns and feed fish that were continually stripping my hook of bait.

However I kept baiting and kept waiting and after four hours I finally hooked a prawn. Did I taste success?

No, I looked at my little prawn and thought about how Mike had eaten some of its mates for lunch. I also realised that the bucket … Read the rest

Smash Palace Bar, Gisborne

The name Smash Palace gives an indication of what to expect – think a guy called Gazza getting a liquor licence for his second hand shop / wreckers yard and inviting his mates around for a party. There’s a pool table, Lion Red on tap and a mix of soft and hard rock on the sound system. Smash turns it up mid January for the annual rock and metal event – Hell Smash Fest.

One of Gazza’s mates has conveniently landed a DC3 in the garden bar to provide some shade and another has sawn off the top of a … Read the rest