ONE DOWN*

 We drove to Akaroa yesterday and stayed the night. 

The weather was a bit rainy and dull but the roads were well maintained and safe (sensible 80km max  highway and 60km max over the hill road to Akaroa. I wish that we had the same in Whangarei Heads).

The accommodation was superb (pics following) and we had a magnificent meal at a local restaurant Ma Maison.

Our accommodation: Blythcliffe.

An old colonial mansion with great gardens

'The Stables' - our accommodation

We had the whole thing to ourselves - huge area and beautifully appointed.

We had a stroll around Akaroa on Saturday afternoon looking at the shops and the Akaroa Wharf that The Old Girl's been working on a renovation bid for.

For those who decry reversion to Maori place names for some New Zealand locations have a look at this map below. Some fuckwit many generations ago decided to change the Maori name 'Pohatu' to 'Flea'!

On our long walk along the bay we ended up at the relocated lighthouse which is very pretty.

.... but not as pretty as this vase that I spotted in a gift/antique shop:

 

"I like that " I said to which The Old Girl questioned my lack of taste.

I replied that I told her the other day how lovely she looked and received a frosty glare back.

Oh well, we did agree on a couple of sculpture/installations at a gallery at Little River (on the way to Akaroa) and thought that they'd look great - one in the back garden and the other attached to the house.

This is huge, (that's a studio cottage it's attached to so must be at least 10 foot high) made from some kind of metal and supported by rebars. It would look great as a house adornment and stand up to  the Northland storms very well.

This depiction of kea is also made out of metal and is a bit more delicate but would be an ideal garden ornament. I don't think we have a secluded enough garden but I will check it out. 

I've got the artist's details so will check out shipping logistics.

I mentioned earlier that we had a great meal at Ma Maison. This is a stunning restaurant which with its ambience, service, cuisine and wine list would give big city restaurants a run for their money at much, much cheaper prices. We shared a seared tuna entree and The Old Girl had a lamb dish and I had blue cod for mains.  All were beautifully prepared and presented and it was the best seared tuna and lamb fillets we've ever had.  The very fresh blue cod took me right back to my childhood when staying with relatives in Canterbury who took me fishing from Kaikoura to south of Christchurch. The great wine list gave us plenty of choice - a glass each of Pelorus methode and a Babich Irongate chardonnay (Hawkes Bay) for me followed by a Peregrine pinot noir (Central Otago). She had a glass of Black Estate Treble Rose (pinot noir) which was delicious and, to the the eye doesn't look like a rose at all as it is very dense in colour. It was chilled and refreshing and reminded me of when dining out with Richard and Shelley I stupidly ordered a bottle of an Italian red that needed to be chilled. I tell you, this Black Estate rose would knock the socks off of that 'Eyetie' one!

Breakfast (3 courses) was included in the nightly rate and we dined sumptuously (again) at 10 AM - not needing lunch at all afterwards. We had a leisurely drive back to Christchurch, checking out our 'old' house we owned back in the 1990s, dropped the rental car off and went back 'home' to Mount Pleasant.

All told it's been a really nice weekend.

How's your weekend gone?  I know that Richard, poor old guy, thought he was going to Marlborough but ended up in Martinborough! Tsk, tsk. No doubt the airline people are used to this with the very elderly so, no harm done.

* The "one down" refers to the lighthouse. I've decided that I want to visit and in some cases revisit all of the lighthouses in New Zealand. I haven't drawn up the plan yet so was surprised to see the (relocated) lighthouse at Akaroa but it was a pleasant surprise.