Falls Retreat Bistro

We worked up a serious appetite while walking the Karangahake Gorge in the morning and were keen to discover the old railway station converted into a cafe for our lunch – specially for our visitor, Spence, whose lifelong interests have included railways. I think the railway station cafe may have been the information centre straight across the road from the carpark. Imagining a building that captured the romance and charm of a bygone era, we failed to notice what was right in front of our eyes and set off in the car on a railway cafe hunt. In the process, we happened upon the Falls Retreat Bistro in Waikino,  a few kilometres up the road from Karangahake Gorge. Up a tree-lined drive and into an ample carpark. This was the shady summer lunch spot of our dreams.

I was intrigued by the gingerbread house cafe.

Iggy watched the chef at work, stoking up the fire for his pizza order.

We cleaned up the olives and dips that came with a fresh, whole, small loaf of warm bread.

I couldn’t help myself. I nicked a slice of Iggy’s meatlovers’ pizza. He really wouldn’t have managed all that pizza by himself, would he?

My salmon on potato mash was also a generous serving and absolutely delicious.

We had a great waitress, all the way from Scotland, who provided just the right level of friendliness and service. The frequently topped up water was especially welcome.

Top marks to Falls Retreat Bistro for having an exciting place for the ankle biters to entertain themselves while families enjoy a leisurely lunch.

Well rested and refuelled, we set off for our afternoon Karangahake adventure. That’s a whole new post …

 

Karangahake Gorge walk

It is worth putting aside a full day to visit the old gold mine and tunnels at Karangahake Gorge, between Paeroa and Waihi. When you park your car, you step out to a view of the Ohinemuri River.

Walk across two suspension bridges to reach the ruins of old buildings.

 

The rock walls offer an ever-changing colour palette.

The walk along the disused narrow gauge railway tracks is comfortable.

Before long, we were looking back towards the road, far below.

Original wire rope hung down the hillside.

New Zealand’s national emblem, the silver fern, so named because of the colour of the underside of the fern.

We all wished that the light at the end of the tunnel was always as clear as this!

Looking towards the suspension bridge further up the river. Previously we crossed the bridge and returned down the other side of the river to the carpark. However, a rock fall meant that on this trip, the pathway was closed.

So this is where we would have walked if we could have.

From time to time we encountered abandoned machinery. I wonder what this was used for.

It was hard to imagine the thriving mining establishment that had once existed along the pathways we had just walked.

It took maybe an hour and a half to walk this part of the Karangahake Gorge tracks. That included multitudinous breaks for taking photos. We returned to this view of Ohinemuri River, beside the carpark ready for lunch and a walk through a disused railway tunnel – but those will have to be the subject of future blogs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bush fire sunset

It has been a tough time for the people of Sydney, Australia, with record-breaking day time temperatures in the early 40s and terrifying bushfires. Iggy tells me that the vivid sunset last week was most likely caused by smoke that blew across the Tasman Sea.

Bracu

An elegant villa, set in an olive grove 4.5km off SH1 at the Bombay Hills, Bracu was the restaurant of choice for my birthday lunch. Bracu appealed first of all because of the flawlessy elegant setting. We sat on the verandah on cane seats, enjoying our gentle surroundings.The subtle Bracu branding printed on the waiters’ aprons, on the paper napkin holders and on the classy menus set the tone.

I loved the quiet. Apparently music was off the menu because of sound system problems. Usually there is classical background music. We revelled in the silence of the summer day and the ease with which we could hear each other throughout our three and a half hour indulgence in Bracu’s delicate dishes.

On arrival we were served our glass of wine and warm crusty bread with delicious oil from the Sumonivich Estate – Bracu’s olive grove setting.

It took little persuasion from VJ and our waiter that we should all – Iggy, VJ, Mum and I – try the degustation menu. The waiters were impressive, able to explain the complex combination of elements on every little dish – combinations and contrasts of texture, taste and temperature, mostly served with delicate edible flowers from the Bracu gardens.

Three dishes of tiny canapes were first. Seafood surrounded by five impeccable corn kernels served in a teaspoon, macadamia and cheese on a tiny crouton, pate on a tiny circle of toast topped with a caramelised walnut. The pate was so smooth. VJ thought the next dish – tuna with papaya, cucumber and a quenelle of cucumber sorbet was her favourite dish.

Before deciding on the degustation menu, I had decided to try the market fish (gurnard on the day we visited) with clam, courgette flowers and a tiny tartlet, served on a puree with a dressing of foam. It was great that we could all try this dish as part of the larger menu.

Gnocchi with a light sauce, tiny tomato and poppy seeds (not little hard things like the supermarket packets, though!)

Succulent beef on a rich reduction with baby vegetables fresh from the Bracu garden.

The sorbet and berry pre-dessert, garnished with an edible viola flower.

 

VJ changed her mind about the ultimate dish of the meal when we were served a perfect mandarin souffle with mandarin sorbet, to complete the meal. The souffle was risen to twice the height of the dish, had a perfect golden crust, and the softest, smoothest most intensely flavoured centre. I would find it hard to name any one dish as a favourite. For me it was the whole experience, the tiny details, the sheer indulgence of spending a day tasting, sampling and the happy chatting.

All credit to Bracu’s stunning chefs and friendly, attentive waiters. This was a birthday to remember!

 

 

Trade Aid shops

There are many reasons I am a big fan of Trade Aid shops:
They are exciting shops to browse in – colourful and full of affordable handcrafted treasures and fair trade coffee and chocolate. I seldom walk out empty handed after a visit to a Trade Aid shop. I especially like their hand-made gift wraps. I have just discovered you can also shop online for Trade Aid products. Oh no! How am I going to be able to resist?
The focus of the organisation is on the producers, ensuring they are paid a fair price for their craft work so that they can help support themselves and their families in the world’s most impoverished economies.
The shop assistants – who I understand are volunteers – provide consistently pleasant, friendly, helpful service.
I can always find a gorgeous gift there (sometimes a gift for myself)! Among my most admired scarves and jewellery are presents from my oldest school friend, who also makes the Trade Aid shop her first port of call when buying gifts.

Check out where the nearest Trade Aid shop is in your area!

 

Iggy, what do you think about buying this wonderful carved rocking horse for when our grandchildren visit?

 

Photography course

I have a confession to make. I have a beautiful Canon 550D camera and, despite using it for some months, I had never had the courage to move it off automatic. Worse than that, the setting that I thought was automatic was actually the setting that returned the camera to the default settings. I have to say that given my ineptitude, the digital camera has been incredibly forgiving.

When I discovered that WINTEC, our local technical institute, was running a three-day photography course in using DSLR cameras run by Mark Hamilton, I knew the course was a must attend. My goal was to discover what the various knobs and settings on my camera meant and how to maximise the quality of my photography in a variety of light conditions. Objective achieved, thanks to Mark’s patience and infinite knowledge.

In addition to teaching the group of us some of the technicalities of photography, Mark blew us away with slide shows of his photojournalistic images from trips to Palestine, Israel and Bosnia. Mark loves structural designs and black and white photography. His portraits, many of older faces, were deeply compelling and moving.

Mark also experiments with the art and science of using basic cameras and traditional methods, creating images that are somehow less blatant than modern digital photography. These crafted images were reminiscent of the grainy images of my youth, with flashes around the edges where the light got into the film. So retro. So nostalgic.

On the final afternoon, Mark showed us a television documentary of the work of the late Robin Morrison. Robin’s style was to capture provincial New Zealanders, dressed in their choice of everyday clothing in or outside their homes. No glamour shots here! But what intriguing personalities and places.

Something else I learned on the course – I have so much to still to learn! However, I do hope you like this selection of some of my first efforts experimenting with manual settings.

First of all, some portraits:

 

I asked Mark how to make the light bounce off shiny surfaces to make sparkly star shapes. This is how my image of a motor scooter’s chrome turned out:

The early evening low light conditions were perfect fo capturing the sharp focus of the geranium against a blurred off background.

I enjoyed the shapes and colours in this tatty corner of Hamilton.

I think learning to use the camera properly is going to be a bit laborious, like learning to touch type after years of seek and peck typing. There’ll be plenty of photographic “typos” for sure as I refine my craft. However, just as touch typing delivers more professional results, perhaps one day I will have the same kind of efficiency with the use of my camera. Thank goodness for the multiple attempts that digital photography allows.

Pohutukawa – the New Zealand Christmas tree

Every year the pohutukawa shines out along our coastline right on time to celebrate Christmas. The pohutukawa at Maimai Bay, Rotoroa Island, was thick with blossom. The ancient tree clung tenaciously to the soil, its weary limbs resting on the sand below.

Maori legend has it that a young warrior, Tawhaki, tried to find heaven with the hope of avenging the death of his father. He fell back to earth. The pohutukawa flowers represent his blood.

An especially significant pohutukawa tree grows at the tip of the North Island where Maori believe the spirits of the dead depart from the land.

My childhood memories of pohutukawa centre on playing on the North Shore’s Thornes Bay beach in the 1950s and reading Avis Acre’s stories of Hutu and Kawa, the pohutukawa fairies. This image from one of the Hutu and Kawa books was downloaded from the internet.

An illustration from a Hutu and Kawa book.

More recently, I have enjoyed Rod Slater’s sculpture in Auckland where the Southern and North Western Motorways converge at Nelson Street. The sculpture has 105 fibre glass wands as stamens, each five metres long. This image was also downloaded from the internet.

Rotoroa Island

While on our sailing holiday, we came ashore at Rotoroa Island, formerly an Salvation Army drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre and now a conservation estate. Impressive evidence of new plantings, especially of pohutukawa, could be seen at various sites around the island.  The island can be reached by ferry.

It is worth dropping in on the visitors’ centre to learn about the island’s earlier life as a rehab centre. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the rows of established Norfolk pine trees, palm trees and baby pohutukawa.

Iggy had to give me his most pleading look to be released from the bleak solitary confinement cell on the visitors’ centre site.

From part-way up the hill, we looked back at the yachts moored at Maimai Bay.

From the top of the hill we enjoyed a view of some of the other islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

Hanging precariously from the top of the hill was the Chris Booth sculpture. From out at sea, this looked like the prow of a ship from one angle and like the Roman numeral IX from another.

Moonlight at Ponui

A magical moment off Ponui Island – a balmy evening, the company of friends, soft music, fine food, a glass of Pinot Gris and the moon rising from behind the hills.

Sailing in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf

We have just returned from the quintessential Auckland experience – going away on a yacht for a few nights with friends on their Lagoon 38 catamaran. Over the next few posts I will share some of the highlights of exploring Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.

To meet up with our friends on Waiheke Island, we took a ferry from Devonport Wharf. We looked back across the harbour at Auckland City as we waited to board our ferry.

Our friend gave us a wave from the catamaran as we disembarked from the ferry at Matiatia Wharf on Waiheke Island. Her husband was waiting for us in the rubber duckie to take us across to the yacht.

The interior of the yacht was generously proportioned and elegantly appointed. Our hosts had their berth and facilities in one hull and we had a full-sized double berth and our own facilities in the other hull. There was a remaining berth where we could store our gear. Luxurious.

Iggy took the helm as we set off across the Firth of Thames to a bay just north of Coromandel. He was impressed with the state of the art navigation suite and autopilot.

I took in the coastline …

…and viewed the landscape from a new perspective.