Tag: Auckland

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!

    The Sky Tower

    On By exploringthelongwhitecloudIn Uncategorized1 Comment

    Auckland.

    The City of Sails.

    A place that I have been many times, but never really as a tourist. My time there has always been short, in transit to an overseas country or a quick visit for a concert . My most recent trip was the same – an overnight stop on my way to an island paradise, also known as Waiheke Island.

    Although I only had an evening there, I made sure I ticked off the most touristy thing I could do – The Sky Tower.  The needle point structure stands 328 meters tall and offers uninterrupted views across the city and out to the Hauraki Gulf.  

    The Sky Tower was certainly a trip worth making, but also a challenge. You see, I don’t like heights. I am fine with natural heights, but man made heights, like sky towers, that’s another story. My knees buckle, my heart starts racing and my body seizes up, refusing to move. But I’m all about giving things a go, so up I went. (Although I can assure you that swimming with sharks will not help you overcome your fear of them.)

    I jumped in the elevator to take me to the top. The doors to the elevator were glass but I didn’t really notice as the lift shaft was dark and enclosed. But on my way up, without warning, I went from being in the safe little cocoon of the elevator to being able to see straight out (and down) across the city when I passed the section of the lift shaft that was also glass. The shock of it was responsible for the little scream I let out!

    Then the doors to the elevator opened, I had made it to the observation deck. Now the hard part, leaving the elevator and walking out towards the edge.  I forced myself to exit and headed straight to the railings. The place is completely enclosed and there is nowhere for you to actually fall, but still, I had to hold onto the railings. I am pleased they were there, completely unnecessary but very reassuring.  Slowly I was able to make my way around the observation deck and eventually, even let go of the railing to take some photos.

    View from the Sky Tower Observation deck looking out across Auckland Harbour
    For those who are brave, there are sections of floor you can walk across that are just glass, giving you a perfect view of the city 220 meters below. I was not one of these people. Despite signs assuring me the glass was very think and just as safe and the rest of the floor, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t force my feet to stand on it.

    With uninterrupted views, it was the perfect place to watch the sun setting behind the Waitakere Ranges. I watched the golden glow slowly slip behind the ranges, taking us from dusk to night.

    Just beautiful.

    It’s not often I find the time to watch a sunset. I need to do it more often.

    Sun setting over the Waitakere Ranges

    From the observation deck I was able to spot my next stop, the Noodle Night Market. A pop up food festival that runs in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Celebrating the tastes of Asia, there was a range of delicious food, lanterns and music to be enjoyed under the stars.

    With my tofu pancake in hand, I sat down on the grass to enjoy my picnic dinner. Fresh and spicy (like, way spicier than I had expected) it was a memorable dish that left a zing in my mouth long after I had finished my meal.

    Noodle Night Market, Victoria Park, Auckland

    All the food was served in packaging that was either compostable or recyclable.  It was refreshing to go to an event where there wasn’t a sea of plastic everywhere. We need more events like these.

    I’m not really a city person, I would choose nature over a city centre any day, but my evening in Auckland made me realise there is much more for me to discover here. It’s a place that I’m sure will be calling me again, and next time I answer, I will be sure to stay for longer.

    Details

    The Sky Tower is open 365 days a year (weather permitting) and is located on the corner or Victoria and Federal Streets. Tickets can be purchased in advance online and will cost you $32NZD (adult ticket price) For an extra $4NZD you can upgrade to a Sun & Stars ticket which allows you a second entry within 24 hours so you can view the city by day and night. With 2 restaurants and a café, you can even enjoy the views with a glass of wine or a meal.

    The Noodle Night Markets are pop up food festivals  operating in New Zealand’s 3 major cities; Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Visit their website for more information.