This week’s small pleasures #394 or the Auckland edition

Kia ora! So the new year begins…and we celebrated by heading up to Auckland for a weekend break. The weather gods smiled upon us, with fantastic flying weather on Friday as you can see below, giving us a wonderful view of Mount Ruapehu as we flew past. We stayed at the Hotel DeBrett in the city centre, a place we have stayed in before and like. There was time for a little shopping and a cold beer before we headed out for dinner.

Devonport

On Saturday, we did our ‘usual’ thing to do in Auckland and take the ferry over to Devonport. The sun was shining as we set off, and we enjoyed walking along the water to the Torpedo Bay Navy Museum. After visiting there, we stopped for some refreshments and a visit to the nice second hand bookshop, where I found an edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses from the 1950s which I am sure was the same as I remember as a child ,but which had long disappeared.

Breakfasts

What is it about over indulging at breakfast when in a hotel? I had eggs Benedict one day (very good – came with greens and smoked salmon), ordinary poached eggs another, and mushrooms on toast with a poached egg on the third day. I may say Karl enjoyed a full cooked breakfast on both days he was there.

Eating

With this weekend half way between our birthdays, we decided to splash out and enjoy some fabulous food. On Friday, we headed over to Auckland institution Cazador for some excellent food and to celebrate Matariki. We started with some of their home-made charcuterie: venison bresaola, an amazing hertiage pork lonzo and rabbit rillettes. For mains, Karl had the grilled Wapiti venison with mushrooms and pine nuts, and I had the flounder, simply cooked with lemon, capers and butter. We shared some crispy potatoes with fennel mayonnaise which were outstanding. For wine, we had a sauvignon blanc with our starter and a shiraz with our main. There was naturally no room for dessert.

Saturday’s dinner was at Onslow, close to where we were staying. I had to try the Chatham Islands crayfish éclair which was amazing, while Karl had the chicken liver parfait, with toasted brioche which I also tasted and can guarantee how good it was. We both opted for the venison this time,with some more crispy potatoes. We enjoyed a glass of champagne on arrival and a shiraz with our venison. This was also a fabulous meal, both restaurants we would return to.

Sunday

On Sunday we headed over to the Auckland Art Gallery. There is a lot to see there, but on this visit I particular enjoyed Taimoana | Coastlines: Art in Aotearoa and The Robertson Gift: Paths through Modernity exhibits. Below you can see a sculpture by the great Henry Moore, and a spirited portrait of artitst Frances Hodgkins.

We also went for a stroll along the waterfront before Karl headed back to Wellington and I stayed on to go to a work meeting the next day. I had an early dinner in the hotel and then collapsed in the room with a smile on my face. I will just add that my flight back was not as sunny or smooth…but you know, it is winter.

Simple things

• Meeting friends for drinks and food at our local pub on Thursday evening.
• Getting away for a short break.
• Eating so much good food!
• Shopping successes for both of us (including a fabulous fine green cord jacket for Karl).
• Seeing blue skies and sunshine and experiencing warm winter days.
• Spotting this giant gnome by the entrance to Onslow…not sure why it was there!

What were your small pleasures this week? Here are some other blog posts from a few fellow bloggers looking at the good things in life. Also entered in the weekend coffee share hosted by Natalie.

• Welcome back Sanch of Sanch Writes!
• Green Dreams shares some of her fantastic produce.
• Jo over at And Anyways….wraps up June.
• Meanwhile, Deb’s World shares the joys of June.
• Mr Tootlepedal has a day of rest.
• Jude over at Cornwall in Colours shares more wonderful pictures from her summer garden.
• Sue over at Women Living Well After 50 shares plans for a July happiness.
• Natalie shares June in 12 photos.
• You can always be sure of a good coffee and conversation over at Trent’s World.
• .…and all the other lovely bloggers out there. Sorry if I have missed anyone…..

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis. If you want to get in touch, email me on lofgren@thistlesandkiwis.com