Being a Tourist in Sydney: The Rocks

One of the things you just have to make time for on a visit to Sydney is a visit to The Rocks and the Rocks Market which is partly under the Harbour Bridge.  Mo and I spent a morning there before Fiona eventually caught up with us and took us off to our afternoon adventure.

By the time we were ready for coffee it was packed - and there was a huge garden at the back.

Lots of the old properties have been renovated and turned into shops of all sorts.

How's that for a body?

There were many stalls selling arts and crafts of every description and a lot of food stalls too

The Rocks Market is to the left of this picture under the bridge.  This part of the port area is The Rocks.

On top of the Harbour Bridge (One to jog Kate's memory)

Sydney's oldest pub

Brave and Confident?

When I was passing through Tirau on the way to Tauranga a few weeks ago I decided on a comfort stop and to have a coffee.  This café is sited next to the Information Centre so I decided to see what it was like.  Excellent was my verdict.  What I also liked was their blackboard for customers to leave their comments.  It certainly showed a high level of confidence.

Too Late

We went to the Tauranga Art Gallery this afternoon.  Two decades of Paramount Award winning works from the Wallace Art Awards were on show but I particularly wanted to see the Victorian paintings which were on loan from various art collections in New Zealand because I'd had popped in on Saturday to see what was on and espied what I took to be a Pre-Raphaelite and a Millais and was very excited to return for a more studied look.  When we got there today the Victorian Exhibition was closed and being dismantled.  There was, they told me, a Pre-Raphaelite and a Millais.   I was rather disappointed.  I didn't really take to any of the Wallace exhibits but I did like the collection of work by the New Zealand-born, Australian-based artist Emily Valentine who uses feathers for her artworks.

She creates mythical beasts - winged dogs, cats, lizards and airplanes - and wants to "stimulate the viewer with the uncomfortable nature of the feather, to question our callous treatment of animals and birds, and ask how we subconsciously classify animals - pet or pest, valued or worthless, beautiful or plain, and why".

After we popped into the Comida, a new Tapas Bar by the Art Gallery, the for a cold drink and a coffee.  We were tempted to have a Spanish Donut or Churros with hot dipping chocolate though. It was absolutely wonderful. What really struck me was the superb service.  It's a new place and I hope that it does really well.

The Flip'n Bear Café

On the way back from Miranda we did a bit of sight-seeing (well you would, wouldn't you?)  which I'll blog on in due course and then we stopped for coffee and a bite to eat at The Flip'n Bear Café near Katikati.  The café had a wonderful setting and lots of atmosphere.  We were the only customers and the service is slow which suited us because we wanted to see and photograph the Short-finned Eels Anguilla australis in the river running nearby.  

The outside deck - surrounded by native forest

A comfortable interior with bears a plenty

The 'ah' factor

And a Manic Pancake Eater (by our standards the pancake was too huge to finish although I know that my friends in California will not be impressed.

Meet You At Ujazi

When I first came to New Zealand if Wendy and I were meeting in town it was always “Meet you at Ujazi at….”.  It seems that Ujazi is an iconic institution in Napier’s café society;  particularly as the café extends along the pavement in front of a prestigious art gallery.  We don’t meet in town so often these days because Wendy is at the Practice in Hastings most weekdays.  But when we do it’s still a case of “Meet you at Ujazi”.

Wendy waiting patiently whilst I take photos

The Journey Home - Pauline's to The Cottage

It's history now but one the journey home I did take some photos and I thought I'd share a few with you. 

I stopped in Taupo which was bustling.  All the water activities were taking place.

 

 Mt Ruapehu - a live volcano - in the Tongariro National Park South of Lake Taupo

 

 The Ernest Kemp on which the family sailed round Lake Taupo in January 2008 (and upon which I naturally posted).

Friends Café - where we always stop for coffee or lunch.  It is an excellent meeting place on the lake front and I've never yet not managed to park nearby.  If I'm meeting someone in Taupo this is where we meet.  The coffee and food are excellent.

The Great Adventure: Day One: Baylys Beach

After Dagaville - not the most photogenic of places - we went to Baylys Beach on the coast just to the West of Dagaville and had a coffee at The Funky Fish Café: and they don't come much funkier!

      

 

Lunch At Café Ahuriri

We had lunch again at Café Ahuriri today.  When I first came to live in New Zealand I used to cycle right around the seafront of Napier from the first place I stayed to Ahuriri and there I used to have coffee and do the crossword before cycling home again.  It was a good distance but a 6am start would see me home and showered ready for croquet at 0930.  I was fitter then!!  At that time the café was in the 'village' centre.  Last winter Cheryl who has the café acquired a largeish old property out of the centre (which I have it in my head used to be a cinema but I must check that) and converted it into the new Café Ahuriri.  It has lots of shelter and an outside walled area as well as inside space.  It's lost none of its old homely character and home cooking but it now also has a lunchtime chef and new dishes for lunch each week.  It's also about the least expensive place to eat in Napier.  I absolutely love it.

The café with Bluff Hill (Napier Hill) behind it

 

 At Christmas each table had a tiny tree of its own

Wendy's latte came in a bowl today

Eutopia

When Pauline was showing me around Northland we arrived in Kaiwaka in a torrential shower.  I wanted to go into the famous cheese shop there.  We parked in the area between the Eutopia Café and the Cheese Shop. I managed to get a photograph of the café despite the rain but it was closed. It's definitely somewhere to revisit.

Revas On The Waterfront

When Reva and Doug Meredith opened the first Revas in 1976, it was just a little hole-in-the-wall pizza joint in downtown Whangarei. But thanks to Revas legendary hospitality, and her love of delicious food, live music and local art, Revas 'Pizza Palour' soon became the meeting place for local musicians, artists, travellers and anyone who appreciated great food, great company and a great time.

"See you at Revas" became the farewell cry as cruising yachts left foreign ports to cross the Southern Ocean. In 1988, the pizza joint became a licensed restaurant in a new premises near the waterfront.

In 1995, Reva and Doug were invited to open Whangarei's first waterfront restaurant in the new Town Basin development - Revas on the Waterfront was born - and the rest is history.

We went for a coffee after the trip on Friday afternoon.

 

And the coffee - art in a cup

Because I Can

On a Thursday I take two of the children to the gym and a couple of hours later bring one of them home (Martin picks up Fraser on the way to Sea Scouts). So I have a couple of hours in which to do my shopping or whatever else takes my fancy. Sometimes I take a book or crossword and sit and alternate between reading and watching the gymnasts practice. Sometimes I just fancy a coffee in the sun. Napier has a plethora of wonderful coffee shops. Almost all of which are closed by 5pm. In their defence many open at 0700 and before. But that does not help me when I want a coffee at 5.10pm.

So I go to the ubiquitous Starbucks. They remain open until 10pm. They serve good coffee. They are comfortable and generally have good toilets (a must in my book). Sometimes they even have friendly staff. On the minus side I absolutely do not like standing in queues to order and then to pick up my coffee. Especially as there is rarely enough room when they are busy. I'm not sure whether it's a minus or a plus that whether you go into a Starbucks in Toronto, San Francisco, Inverness or Napier you are guaranteed the 'comfort' of uniformity. You cannot even necessarily tell where you are from the accents of the staff because, in my experience in those particular cities, a local accent behind the counter is unlikely.

But, hey, I have my coffee there and do my crossword and sit and enjoy the sun... Because I can.

There's a New World Opened Here This Month

We have an abundance of large supermarkets in the area and can shop from 0600 until midnight in many of them. The suburb of Taradale used to have a moderately sized New World supermarket. A few weeks ago that closed and was replaced by a new one about a kilometre away. This is probably my nearest supermarket. It is certainly my favourite. It is light and airy, well laid out and just an overall pleasant place to shop. It also has a lovely coffee shop in the huge bay window. It is very tempting after a shop to stop for an extra 10 minutes with a coffee and a crossword.

Breakfast in Wanganui

One morning in Wanganui we decided to go out for breakfast. I just love street café life and the weather was ideal so off we set:

No it wasn't wine - just water - even we don't have wine for breakfast!

I usually have muesli, honestly

I love arcaded shops: dry in the rain and shady in the sun.

Bulls: A Good Place To Eat

When we arrived in Bulls on our way to Palmerston North from Wanganui we stopped because I wanted to take photographs and it was a good place to stop for a bite of lunch. There will be a lot more photos to come but this is where we ate. For some reason I haven't fathomed it was called Mothered Goose and was excellent.

On a wall was written: "Life isn't about dawdling to the grave, arriving safely in an attractive, wrinkle-free body but rather an adventure that ends skidding in sideways, champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, totally worn out, screaming "Yee-ha. What a ride!!" "

It was here, too, that we saw something that cracked Jayne and I up - the othere didn't see it. One of the waitresses noticed fingerprints on the entrance door (above) and decided to clean them (it was that sort of a place) with a cloth on one hand and a spray of cleaner in the other. She held the door open with a foot so that she could clean both sides. With a hand on each side of the door she sprayed one side and rubbed the other. It took her a few seconds to realise why she couldn't wipe the spray off. It's just the sort of thing I could have done.