Category: Auckland Region

Tasting the delights of Tāmaki Makaurau – Part 2

On By exploringthelongwhitecloudIn Auckland Region, North Island2 Comments

We meet Phil a bit earlier today, it’s a 9 am start for this food tour and we begin our culinary journey at Point Chevalier Beach Cafe. No donuts for breakfast today, instead it’s an almond croissant and a peppermint tea. The croissant is flaky and sweet, but not too sweet which is good. I have to pace myself, we have a day of eating ahead of us.

Our next stop is Phillipe’s Chocolates. Here we find a delectable selection of pastries, chocolates and truffles. We are each allowed to choose 4 chocolates to take away with us. Deciding on the flavours is a tough decision, there is a big selection. I will enjoy these later.

After our sweet start, we make our way to Sandringham Village, the Auckland center for Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan food. As soon as I step out of the van, I can smell the spices. The aroma in the air brings memories of our time in India flooding back. Smell is such a powerful sense. On this stop we get to choose a savory snack to sample. I go for a samosa and Daniel selects a lamb roll.

We then head to Sabato, a store importing oils, spices, vinegar, sauces and more from the Mediterranean. Mediterraneans do food so well. Simple, fresh ingredients make the tastiest meals. They understand that food is meant to be enjoyed, savored. Not eaten in a rush on the go. I loved browsing in the store, there was lots to remind me of delicious meals I had eaten in Italy. We left with some spices, dukkah, aged balsamic vinegar and truffle powder. Since returning home I have made fresh pasta by hand and enjoyed eating it with a simple dressing of extra virgin olive oil and truffle powder. It’s not quite the same as having pasta in the hill top towns of Tuscany, generously garnished with slices of fresh truffles, but it’s pretty good.

Our next stop is Soljans Estate Winery. This is another small, family owned vineyard, started by Croatian immigrants and another of my favourite vineyards. On the walls of the tasting room are large, old photos of the vineyard and the family home in Hvar, Croatia. There is so much history in this little room and it’s the only vineyard in New Zealand with 5 generations of family involved. It was much more than just a wine tasting. After purchasing more wines, we head next door to their restaurant for lunch.

Phil has been running tours in Auckland for over 20 years and this is evident in the relationships he has with the families at the vineyards. He has been visiting these places for many years and is greeted as an old friend. It’s an open menu for lunch, which means Phil is paying and we can order whatever we like! This has been one of the great things about the tour, everything is included (except all the wine Daniel is purchasing) It makes for a very relaxed, easy tour. I have gnocchi again and then share a dessert with Daniel.

By now I am rather full and we still have 2 more stops on this food journey around Auckland. We make our way to Kumeu River Winery and Phil shows us around. We see the testing lab (a first for me) and the cellar which is filled with oak barrels, aging all their wines. This place is renowned for their Chardonnays and there are 3 in the tasting line up. A few more purchases are made by Daniel. His favourite wine is Pinot Noir and while he did purchase some, the majority of the purchases were other types. Across the 2 days we tried a huge variety of wines, some that I have never heard of before. That’s one of the great things about wine tours, it encourages you to explore different wines.

Our last stop of the day is Boric Orchard Markets, a multi-generational food market than began as a humble road side fruit stall. Our tour concludes with a New Zealand ice cream from the market.

We had a wonderful time exploring Auckland over the 2 days. Our previous experience of Auckland has always been a quick trip up and back for a concert or a few hours stop over on an international trip. On our 2 private tours with Phil, we got so see so much more. The rural side of Auckland, the wild, rugged coastline and we meet some of the families who have help shaped the agriculture of our country.

Tasting the delights of Tāmaki Makaurau – Part 1

On By exploringthelongwhitecloudIn Auckland Region, North Island1 Comment

In the words of Queen: ‘It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, I feel good, no one’s gonna stop me now’

I leave Daniel sleeping and I head out to explore. We are booked in for a wine tasting tour today, but that’s not till 10:30am so there is plenty of time for me to get out for a walk.

I head to Albert park. I didn’t realise Auckland had so many hills. I mean, the place is made up of lots of volcanoes, but I thought the central city was flat. It’s only a 10 minute walk, but it’s quite the workout. I arrive rather hot and sweaty but quickly forget once I am surrounded by this little oasis in the heart of the city. I am greeted by an old, twisted, gnarly tree that oozes old time fairy tale charm. The birds are singing and the bright blue sky frames the distinctive sky tower.

At the center of the park is a water feature, the symmetry of the area is calming. And the poppies, oh, the poppies, these beautifully formed, spring time blooms are stunning. Their delicate stems gently swaying in the breeze. There is a soft hum of honey bees getting their fill of poppy pollen. Spring is dancing to nature’s orchestra in this park today.

Once I have had my fill of nature, I head back to the concrete jungle, heading to our hotel along the waterfront. But first, I have one more stop to make. On the bus ride into Auckland yesterday, I randomly googled, ‘best donuts in Auckland’. It came up with several results, including Grownup Donuts, a little hole in the wall servery, 2 doors down from our hotel, so I just have to make a stop there. They have a big selection of soft, fluffy filled puffs of deliciousness, but I go for the classics, a plain cinnamon, a dark Belgium chocolate mousse filled one and a custard filled one. With my carefully selected assortment, I go to see if Daniel is awake and ready for breakfast.

    We are collected by Phil from Fine Wine and Food Tours from our hotel at 10:30am. We initially take a wrong turn which means we travel over the Auckland Harbour bridge – something neither of us have done before. It gives us some great views and I am starting to see why it is called the city of sails. There are 2 harbours, lots of bays, inlets and plenty of access to water. We also get some great views of Rangitoto.

    Today we are doing a private wine tour of the Kumeu region. Phil explains that this area was where a lot of Croatian immigrants settled in the early 20th century and began making wine here. It’s not far from the city, but as soon as we leave the motorway, we are in instant countyside. It’s very pretty here, lots of green rolling hills and trees. There has been quite a bit of development in this area, but it still feels rural.

    Out first stop is West Brook Winery. I love the settings at vineyards. They are always so idyllic with their rows of planted grapes and elegant olive trees and this vineyard meets my expectations. We are seated inside and brought 5 wines to taste. We spend some time chatting with Phil and getting to know each other. We will be doing another tour with Phil tomorrow too. While tasting the wines, a little skink pops out from behind a pot plant on the window ledge.

    After Daniel has made some purchases, we head to our next stop, Hellertau Brewery. It was meant to be Soljans Estate Winery, but as we will be visiting there tomorrow, Phil changed the itinerary for us so we didn’t go to the same place twice. This venue is mostly outdoor seating and would be an amazing place to spend an afternoon in the summer, it has a really great vibe. For lunch I choose gnocchi which is sensational. This is washed down with a cinnamon and yuzu non alcoholic wine. It’s quite an interesting flavour, the cinnamon is strong but it’s a delicious drink.

    Our next stop is The Hunting Lodge. It’s a popular spot, a great place for family and friends to enjoy a glass of wine and soak in some sunshine. We try another 5 wines at this vineyard. They only have 2 wines here that are made from grapes grown on site. It does seem quite common for the vineyards here to have a small block of vines and then vines in other parts of the country like Hawkes Bay, Marlborough and Otago. Their home block wines are a chardonnay and a sav aged in oak. After our samplings, Daniel makes another purchase.

    Our last vineyard of the day is Coopers Creek Winery. I think this is my favorite winery of the day. The owner is chatty and friendly, sharing stories of their wine and it’s history. I love boutique places that are family owned. They have a personalized rustic charm and passion that larger places struggle to match. I should note that all of the wineries we visited were relatively small, family wineries, I just particularly enjoyed our visit to Coopers Creek. They have a huge range of wines, their menu list is extensive. We got to try 10, all of which were very drinkable. Daniel makes yet another purchase. Perhaps I should start buying shares in NZ wine!

    Before heading home, Phil offers to take us out to Muriwai Beach, a black sand beach that is home to a colony of nesting gannets. We stop on the hillside to look down on the beach. It’s a breathtaking view. I love our beaches, they are not your picture perfect, golden sandy beaches (although there are some of these) they are wild and untouched and leave you with a sense of awe as you witness the power of nature. It’s a beautiful coastline.

    We arrive back at our hotel, ready for a nap after a day of wine. It’s a quiet dinner tonight at a place called Mezze Bar which serve tapas. I had my fill of wine today so dinner was wonderfully simple, a lemonade and a Spanish omelette, a perfect ending to the day.

    Discovering a hidden gem.

    On By exploringthelongwhitecloudIn Auckland Region, North Island1 Comment

    For Christmas last year, I bought Daniel tickets to see Billie Eilish in Auckland. Since we were travelling up for the concert, we decided to extend our stay to 2 nights and do a little exploring.

    We had an amazing flight up. It was so smooth, it almost made me forget that I hate flying and as I was reading through the Kia Ora Magazine I began fantasizing about overseas travel again, thinking maybe I could handle a long haul flight.

    It’s our first time flying North in a while, almost 3 years in fact. Our holidays tend to be in the South Island which is far less populated and since we haven’t been doing any international travel, it made Auckland feel quite foreign – the size of the city, the height of the buildings and number of people we saw, everything was on a much bigger scale to what we have grown used to in recent times.

    We check into our accommodation, Imagine Beach Road, it was only completed 6 months ago so everything is new and modern. It’s in a great central location too, perfect for our weekend getaway.

    It’s already early evening so we decide to head out for a bite to eat before the concert. I had been planning on going to Saigonz, a Vietnamese restaurant, which was just across the road and had some great reviews. Unfortunately it was closed. So we head out for a wander down to Britomart in search of dinner.

    We try a Mexican place which is full and notice how many people are out and about in town. Probably all heading to the concert, and probably like us, all looking for some dinner before the show. It never occurred to me to book something in advance. We try another restaurant that is also full, but they suggest we try the one downstairs. We look around, a bit confused, and the waiter points to a glass door with no signage. We head down some stairs into a dark hallway and sure enough, there is a restaurant. We ask the host if they have any room and he tells us they have space at the chef’s table for walk-ins.

    So we follow him into a dark, underground, windowless room. We have no idea what type of food they serve (although by the decor I am guessing Asian) and no idea of the price. But judging by the buzz in the room and the number of people, this place is popular.

    We are seated at the chef’s table, a prime spot for watching all the food getting cooked. On the menu I notice that we have arrived at Ghost Street and our waiter explains that they serve sharing plates from 3 distinctly different regions in China. To order, we mark on the menu the items we want and then peg it above us. It gets collected and the items served when they are ready. If we want more, we just mark down what else we want and peg it back up. No one goes hungry here.

    The energy at this place is electric, the vibe is mysterious, the food is fantastic and I am buzzing! What an exciting place to have stumbled across. I love finding hidden gems like this. This would be a great place to go with a group of friends, the sharing plates lend themselves well to this. It’s a bit harder when I am a vegetarian and Daniel is a big meat eater, although, Daniel still managed to share my plates!

    After our hunger is satisfied and my senses delighted, we head to Spark Arena for the concert. I haven’t been around this many people in a while, we are surrounded by 10,000 fans (a lot of whom are teenage girls who seem to enjoy screaming at the top of their lungs.) The concert was amazing though, Billie is so talented and has so much energy. I have no idea how she manages to jump and dance on stage like that and still manage to sing. She has a very inclusive presence and is clear how much she cares for and loves her fans.

    I’ll admit, I wasn’t prepared for the amount of high pitched screaming, and as I settle happily into bed for the night, ready for sleep and resting my ears, I can’t help but feel just a little bit old!