An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
As overnight flights go, this wasn’t all that bad (and certainly beat the overnight, Euro-pass train rides of our college days!) despite an hour layover in Brisbane and annoying flight attendants.
We arrived at the Auckland (”City of the Sail”) airport and by the time we drove away we knew we’d arrived in a special, first world place. First, this country is hyper-sensitive (almost paranoid) about any nefarious bugs, diseases, etc. landing on the island so one must fill out a detailed quarantine form (”have you been on a farm in the last 30 days?” “in the forest?”) and all luggage must go through x-ray (we presume) screening. Here, though, the operators actually took all our bags off of our cart for us and put them back on after they were scanned. Then Sarah at the Budget counter was nice as could be, and let us use her phone to call DHL to inquire about the box we’d had shipped from NY that had gotten held up in NZ customs. Then at DHL, not only did a young woman literally run to get the paperwork cleared and our box released, but the desk attendants gave us a slice of their lunchtime pizza and some garlic bread. We then drove away - though on the wrong side of the road - in our Ford Futura (a smallish Taurus) to this hotel, where we were greeted by more lovely Kiwis.
The hotel is situated on a winery about 40 minutes south of Auckland, set among some gently rolling wooded hills. First and foremost, it is such a pleasure to be in cool, crisp weather that we’d almost forgotten what it was like (and call us what you will, it is nice to be somewhere where everyone speaks english, everything is printed in english, etc.). We unpacked our big box feeling like the Mir crew getting re-supplied, but in this case it was more special because it had all been selected by . . .ourselves!! Milton then went out for a bike ride on their just-a-bit-too-small mountain bike. The area around here is quite pretty — very rural, green hills (populated by cows and the ever-present sheep (”baa-ram-ewe”!)) with towering trees and a few rushing streams. How wonderful it was to be once again outdoors in such perfect weather (days in the 70s, nights in the 50s) and so picturesque but uncrowded a setting. It also gives off a homey feel, as the houses are set on large land parcels and all seem to have the residents’ full names and a home title - in english or what we presume to be Maori - by the mailbox (”Walter and Sue Detlow”; “Wai Tui”; “Skyview”). We then showered and went to dinner here.
Perhaps it was the fact that we basically hadn’t eaten a meal in 24 hours, but this was one of the best in a while. We started with the grilled duck liver on a potato/onion tart with carmelized apple sauce and sizzled leek strands, and sauteed vegetables with grilled polenta, accompanied by two of their white wines. For main courses (they call appetizers “entrees” here) we enjoyed lamb and a paella that had lightly grilled and perfectly seasoned scallops, veal, chicken, squid, and shrimp in a wonderfully flavorful arborio rice. With that course, we sampled two of their reds (the Cabernet Franc/Merlot blend being the better). Dessert was a creme brulee with raspberries on the side and the inside; this creme brulee was more jello-like than custardy, but delicious nonetheless. The whole meal was just fabulous, especially the duck! It was a perfect welcome to this beautiful country.
We then returned to the room (absolutely loving the crystal clear star-studded southern sky and cool, nippy night air) and had our once a trip now-my-suitcase-won’t-close-but-I-don’t-want-to-send-anything-back session (though with far less wailing from one of us this time). We finally re-loaded the same box which we’ll ship tomorrow and hope that it doesn’t live at JFK customs for a month. We then perused some of the magazines that had arrived in today’s box, and got some much needed bedrest.