Signing off from NZ

As an addendum to yesterday's blog, mention must be made of our last dinner in New Zealand. Pete had had the forethought to book us in for dinner (in a very posh restaurant) as he thought that finding somewhere at short notice on Valentine's might prove troublesome! It only had 24 covers so everyone had some personal attention from the very good staff. It was a 10 course tasting menu (1 veggie, 2 fish (with an alternative for Pete of course), 4 meat and 3 puds). The range of tastes and the presentation were amazing and we both tried some things we wouldn't nornally go for. The quail dish was superb and the strawberry dish, to die for (and, with the exception of the Roquefort cheesecake which wasn't really to our taste, the other courses were pretty good too!)

All in all a fantastic end to our NZ trip (well almost) THANKS PETE for a lovely evening x x

(piccies showing the style of the food.....)



Today was a grey and miserable day in Auckland.  We went to the NZ Navy museum in Devonport, which was very interesting and well set up.  We then decided that a harbour tour would help fill the time - we had a leaflet for an operator running a tour at 2 p.m.  Having found some parking relatively nearby (after a few u-turns), we went to the advertised place, but there was nothing there.  We asked, were pointed to one of the quays where we went and waited.  At 2 we decided that this was not to be and so we aborted that plan, wandered around the marina for a little while and decided to visit One Tree Hill on the way to the airport.  We managed that bit and went to the top of the hill for some views of grey and wet Auckland - an unfortunately damp end to what has been a great holiday here.  We are now back using the airport wifi and waiting for the call for our flight.  Not looking forward to the 19 hours or so that it takes to get to Dubai (via Sydney)!  Love to all at home.