Meat Pies, Coffee, and Lamingtons

 

It's been soooo long since I added a blog here, i've almost forgotten how to do it! It's been a pretty hectic few weeks as I suddenly found a house to move to and so had to run around like a headless chicken getting my house ready to sell, and also getting tons of paperwork together for the bank.

There was also a 5 day trip to the mountains to escape Nice whilst my house there was rented out for the Monaco Grand Prix, and then packing for a 2 month trip to New Zealand to contend with.

My 5 day trip to the mountains around Valberg was so perfect it was magical. The official summer season hadn't started up there yet, so the town was a bit sleepy really, and the supermarket had empty shelves, especially where there should have been fruit and veg! But that didn't matter. We had 5 perfect days of sunshine, lots of fresh air, several superb mountain walks, and a wonderful Sunday lunch in a restaurant on top of a mountain in Sauze. All the alpine meadows were in bloom and the array and variety of the flowers hidden amongst the green grass or the shale or the rocks was truly amazing. I think it was my favourite trip so far.. I explored quite a few roads, and made it to Entraunes, and Estenc, the Source of the Var river, and several Cols.. Col de Champ, Col de Collioure, Col de Cayols.. the last still having a fair bit of melting snow, and several marmots scampering down the mountainside. Every turn brought a stunning view, with empty roads, and new discoveries. I realised how lucky I am to live where I do. Sadly my camera had been thrown away mistakenly in a trash bag so no evidence was taken.

One of my walks there was punctuated by a text message from hubby asking what colour Netbook I would like. This was tricky as I had no ideas what colours existed. But then he sent another message saying it had to be black anyway as all other colours had to be ordered online. So I jokingly replied that I wanted a pink one really.. and then he texted back to say he had bought me a pink one. Well much as I probably never would have chosen a pink one initially, I am really pleased with it. And I have now gone and bought a pink wireless mouse as well.. this could be the start of a pink phase for me.. have to say though that they really need to get up to speed with some girly accessories as well.. why would I want a black or red cover for something so girly?

Suddenly it was the day before leaving for New Zealand.. surprisingly I had prepared everything and it all seemed under control this time. I managed to get on the plane to London with no sense of panic about what still needed doing, and enjoyed the flight.

48 hours later and I arrived in Auckland, after a 24 hour stopover in Malaysia, feeling reasonably good. The customs dogs were there to sniff us, but they let us through.

The first thing we saw on entering the airport was a packet of crisps called 'Kiwi As' , with the rather amazing flavour of meat pie and tomato sauce. Also a hot cabinet of various meat pies greeted us, and hubby tucked into a bacon and egg pie in the blink of an eyelid.

 

New Zealand does have a much greater array of savoury snack items than I think anywhere else in the world I have been to. And a huge selection of slices and cakes as well. Cheese scones, cheese muffins, savoury muffins, fruit muffins, fruit scones, Lamingtons, Anzac biscuits, ginger crunch, lolly slice, Rocky Road, Brownies, caramel shortbread, apricot yoghurt slice.. just a few of the wide selections you can get here in most coffee shops.

This is a coffee nation. It takes an age to get a coffee here though.. as each one is a work of art, or their coffee machines are just down right slow! How can breakfast be served and almost eaten before a coffee is served? I think it's because they froth the milk up for each order.. it HAS to be at exactly the right temperature. The standard coffee order here is a 'Flat white' or a 'Long black'. The flat white isn't actually that flat at all as it has a froth of milk on the top..but then they also serve cappucinos, which I think is just slightly more frothy than the flat white. The long black is usually a good choice.. a longish expresso.. not too long however so you can still taste the coffee.

The other big food difference here is in the kiddies meals.. they actually try to make them healthy.. no burgers and chips, or sausage and chips, or pizza.. it's a mixed platter of carrot, cucumber, celery, fruit, cheese and biscuits, with juice and probably a little cake as well.

I am always amazed at the creativity here. There are of course many square or rectangular sheds, but every now and again there is a decorative corner, or postbox that makes you jump or smile. They love bright coloured paintwork here, red, blue, green, purple, usually a mixture of several colours in one room or building if they can. It gives the place a cheerful, youthful feel so often missing in Europe.

The plan tomorrow is to take a horse riding lesson with Leon.. my first in ooohh about 35 years! Read the report here..