Win Some, Loose Some, but Mostly Winning…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Welcome to my retro-tour of our  recent adventures in New Zealand.

It’s supposed to be a New Zealand summer but a tropical cyclone that’s been doing damage in Australia has now crossed the Tasman and  is how eaking out the last of its fury on the central and upper parts of New Zealand’s North Island.

Basically that means it’s been raining swimming pools in the last day or so and whilst that hasn’t stopped us for doing a few things today it has meant that we now return dripping to the hotel looking  like four drowned rats.

We all had rain jackets on but somewhere in the middle of the guided tour of  Whakarewarewa it became apparent that they were no match for the deluge.

We got back into our room as quickly as possible, I took a hot shower and then a short nap whilst Himself and the kids donned swimming attire and headed out for a warming soak in the jacuzzi. Afterwards  when we all felt warm and rested and the hunger pangs kicked in. We felt too lazy to go and look for dinner outside of the hotel and Himself fancied a glass of wine or two with his meal so we thought we’d try one of the several restaurants inside the Distinction Hotel.

There were several restaurants we drove past today that looked interesting and  since I’m on pain meds for my foot I’m not drinking alcohol at all,  in theory I’d make a good designated driver, but of course my foot injury also means I can’t drive so that puts paid to the best laid plans of mice and men.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Therefore the  restaurant we are going to tonight is called the Pavilion Restaurant and it’s one of several inside the Distinction Hotel: there is a kids menu, so the first thing is on the agenda is to settle in our fast tiring  kids with the meal of their choice. Predictably this means that Little Mr.  goes for chicken nuggets and Kiwi Daughter goes for pizza , both options  served with fries and a small salad.

Himself opted for the rack of lamb with star anise, sze chuan pepper crust on garlic cabbage , onion confit and pinot noir  glaze, which looked amazing and which he said was flavoured and seasoned to perfection… but was sadly as tough as old boots.  Like many students trying to pay the bills I’ve done my share of waiting tables so what happened next really surprised me.

The waitress came over once we had received our meals and asked if everything was ok, Himself  diplomatically said that he was really sorry but that the lamb rack, although it tasted delicious in flavour, was so tough it was an effort to chew, and he didn’t think it was an acceptable meal. Instead of taking his plate back to the kitchen the girl walked off, I thought to tell the chef. Then I noticed that instead of going into the kitchen she just stopped at the bar/reception area and started doing what looked like administration or something.

I told Himself that she didn’t look like she was going to do anything at all about his meal and that I was perfectly happy to go to see the chef myself and explain the situation. As often happens when nice customers complain, Himself was already feeling guilty that he’d had to say anything in the first place so he asked me not to, as not to dampen the atmosphere of the meal.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Coupled with the fact that our kids chose this moment to start showing their tiredness, I decided not to pursue it …

…so I didn’t, but  when a few minutes later a couple came in and sat at the table next to ours and I heard the lady exclaim to her partner “oh the lamb looks nice, I think I’ll have that“… I did quietly lean over and tell her that  I couldn’t help but overhear her remark, and that I wanted to  give them fair warning that on Himself’s experience that the lamb was beautifully flavoured but tough almost to the point of inedible.

Luckily  the lady was delighted to hear the warning and thanked us before making a different menu choice.

The owner/chef that I worked for in my waitressing days told me that  customers should always politely tell the chef if something isn’t ok with their meal… it’s then up to the chef to immediately fix it. If he doesn’t then the patron has every right to tell  all and sundry about their bad experience at said restaurant, so therefore the job of wait staff is to ask if everything is ok with the meal while there is still time to put things right.

It is therefore bad form of the patron’s part to leave the restaurant and then complain if they had said everything was ok, when it wasn’t.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

In our instance however I can clearly see that the chef had no chance to fix Himself’s meal because the ignorant girl never passed on the message that the lamb was tough, and since I don’t expect chefs to mind-read, it’s not fair to afix any blame on the restaurant’s kitchen  itself,  just the silly woman who for whatever reason, wasn’t doing her job for them and the public they served.

New Zealander’s are not in the habit of leaving tips, in fact sometimes the service charge is already added into a bill anyway, but I’ve been long enough in Europe now that when I see really good service I tend to leave a little extra.

Needless to say that didn’t happen at all on this occasion.

Interestingly though,  life is often a matter of swings and roundabouts because the next day when Himself went to Reception to square up our bill, the smiling gent behind the desk looked at the meal of the first night (the Maori Hangi meal and dance show) and told us that actually all of the cost had been already been covered by flat rate fee that the bus tour group had paid, and that since we had been tacked on as a few added extra’s to that group, that they decided that they weren’t going to charge us for that meal at all.

Had the girl from the second night eventually mentioned something about our meal complaint later? …Who knows?

Either way  it all panned out for us more than fairly I thought and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back there to stay or have a  problem to recommend the Distinction Hotel to anyone I knew who might want to stay in Rotorua.  Lack of service from one,  was avalanched by the great service by the rest.

Himself’  doggedly persevered with a small part of his lamb, then gave up, left the rest and at least enjoyed a delicious New Zealand cheese platter for his “desert”…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I opted for “Fish of the day created by the duty chef”  and not only enjoyed it but shared with Himself since his wasn’t  up to scratch…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

… and my dessert was “steam pudding with white chocolate and anglaise sauce”… (anglaise sauce being a sort of custard of course)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Kiwi Daughter ordered a “blue lagoon”that consisted of lemonade and ice-cream  (this is a combination I called a “spider” at this age)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

…and both kids found space for ice-cream despite their tiredness.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

All in a meal of highs and lows… but it all worked out in the end. It’s not even that late in the evening, but we are all tired so it’s back to the room for a very welcome early night. Tomorrow is another busy day…

A Cooked Breakfast and Catching the “Toast” Bug…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

This is a retrospective account of Family Kiwidutch’s December 2011-January 2012 New Zealand travels.

This is about the day when we were in Rotorua (central North Island) just as it was getting hit by the tail end of a cyclone that had been busy doing damage over the Tasman in Australia. To say it was raining hard was an understatement.

We are still debating what we would like to do today, but first things first… breakfast!

For guests used to the ango-saxen style of hot fry-up there is an assortment of bacon, eggs, scrambles and fried eggs, sausages etc .

For the Asian guests there are a whole array of rice and noodle dishes, Congee etc, so everyone is sure to find something to satisfy.

One thing for me personally is really funny in that I’ve lived in The Netherlands for over 18 years now and don’t own  toaster because toasting bread is not a Dutch habit, …the Dutch do eat bread for breakfast…  but always un-toasted.  None of our Dutch friends or relatives owns a toaster.

Since usually I rise early and eat breakfast after I’ve been up for a while, and personally prefer fruit to bread, toast was a habit I was never really acquired when I lived in New Zealand and so one I never missed when I arrived in The Netherlands.

Suddenly I discover that my children  (who have never ever had toast at home) have discovered “toast” in New Zealand and appear to have fallen in love with the stuff…  maybe it’s the novelty of the  self service toasting machine in the corner of the breakfast buffet area that’s grabbed their attention and excitement, but they are now pleading  for us to please  buy  toaster when we get back to The Netherlands.

It remains to be seen of this lasts once we get back home, but since Himself,   until now also a confirmed plain bread addict ,  seems to have caught the “toast” bug too, it’s highly likely that our breakfasts back home will be undergoing a bizarre transformation from Dutch into English breakfast styles.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The Entertainment Turns out to be Entertaining and More…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Family Kiwidutch are staying at the Distinction Hotel in Rotorua and have been able to go to one of the Hotel restaurants to sample a tradional Maori Hangi (food cooked in the ground).

After the dinner there is also a small Maori display of dance and song  and Himself and I think this would be a perfect opportunity to introduce our kids to Maori  culture.

Since my roots are in the South Island (where traditionally only 5% of the Maori population live) I have to confess that my exposure to Maori culture is probably more limited than it should be.

Painfully aware of this deficit, I’ve determined to learn more and to expose my  children to any Maori experiences we can manage… so the chance  to see more is welcomed even if  it is a bit of  a  ”touristic” view.

Back at home in the Netherlands,Little Mr.and Himself  have been attempting to learn the words and actions of the Haka over the last year, an enterprise (especially on Little Mr’s part) sometimes filled with more good intent, face-pulling, noise  and enthusiasm than actual accuracy.

I’ve often had to pretend that tears of laughter were actually tears of fear due to the fervour of their warrior ‘intimidation” but the fact remains that the sight of a “Maori” battle force that consists soley of a 196 cm (6’5″) Dutchman accompanied by a short six year old skinny kid  stamping their feet and beating their chests and thighs and shouting “Ka Mate  Ka Mate” (“it is death, it is death” (pronounced: “car ma tay”) as loud as they can, is more likley to assult your funny bone and give you temours of the mirthful kind, than to make you shake with fear and instill terror to your heart.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Here in Rotorua they can see how it’s really done and to our delight, not only do we get a little show, the performers are also quick to involve the audience… first a young Korean man gets called up onto the stage to be presented with his (pre-arranged) Birthday cake and to receive a “Hongi” (a traditional greeting that involves touching of noses and sharing of breath) and much to the mirth of the rest of his tour party the guy is first timid until he understands what actions are required of him and then gets so enthusiastic that it almost turns what’s supposed to be a very gentle touch,  into a head-butt.

Next the ladies were invited up to learn a Poi dance… well not the dance really, just some Poi actions and Kiwi Daughter went up and gave it a go.

One thing is certain, it looks easy but it definiately is not, she gave it a galent effort as did the other ladies who were also fast discovering that their hand-eye co-ordination skills needed a great deal of fine tuning. They laughed as hard as everyone else at it all and it was great fun.

A little later the men and boys are invited onto the stage to learn a Haka, Little Mr, so full of bravado and noise at home suddenly clings to me in total shyness whilst Himself gleefully goes up and gives it his best shot.

Some visiting Australian tourists (several guys and their sons) make a good attempt too but the most entertaining buy far on the night were several older Korean and Japanese men who had a great deal of enthusiasm but very little coordination at following along in time with the rest of the groups movements and who’s chanted words resembled the actual Maori ones only insofar as they were sounds issued from their vocal chords… not just their group but the entire place were wiping away tears of mirth as they tried seriously and heroically to do a Haka but failed miserably.

They took it all in excellent spirit and beamingly returned to their seats to great applause.

Afterwards some of the peformers came out and posed with the guests so the Kiwidutch family album sports some very amusing family photographs.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

All in all we have had an excellent time this evening, great food, entertaining entertainment and a very small but enjoyable introduction to Maori culture. I took a few video’s and posted them to You Tube but have been less successful getting them to link properly in this post… Do you see clickable links below that consist for strange number /letter combinations or do you see real You Tube “frames”?  At least when I tried, clicking the link took me  to the video… I hope it does the same for you.

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Enjoying a (Mostly) Traditional Hangi…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Family Kiwidutch are staying in the Distinction Hotel (Rotorua).
We’d arrived late in the afternoon in the pouring rain, Himself and the kids squeezed in a soak in the Jacuzzi, also in the pouring rain but  the pool is geothermally heated so there were no complaints and luckily their hunger got them out and drove them back to the room in time to get changed for dinner.

One of the restaurants here hosts a Maori Hangi cooked meal (=cooked in the ground with hot coals/rocks or in this case with natural geothermal steam) and usually the show provided is put on for tour bus parties and not really intended just for passing by, families of four.

We strike it lucky  because tonight’s tour bus contingent is smaller than usual and staff at reception tell us that there’s no problem for us to grab a table and share in the food and fun.

New Zealand sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is very geophysically active, fault lines litter the entire country,  earthquakes abound (as Christchurch residents can attest to only too well), volcanoes are dotted around and several (Mt. Ruapehu and White Island are highly active), and geothermal hot springs are a feature in both the North and South Islands.
In fact, the Rotorua area could easily be called the “Yellowstone” equivalent of the Southern Hemisphere and steam vents, geysers and boiling mud are almost literally a stones-throw away.

Local Maori have historically capitalised on the abundance of natural energy and  taken their traditional cooking style to a whole new level here. Usually a traditional Hangi involves heating large stones over a fire for some hours, transferring them to a prepared pit, placing the wrapped food on top and then covering the lot with earth to insulate it and letting the heat of the stones be released to slow-cook the meal during the course of the day.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

In Rotorua the ground itself is Mother Nature’s oven and the food cooks without the need for the fire preparation stage. I’ve had  Hangi’s before and the food ranged from ‘ ok to fantastic”.

This one was brilliant, probably the best I’ve had…  the surprise of the meal was the inclusion of Maori Bread (which I had heard about but never tried before) and wow, wow, wow, it was delicious!

I asked the restaurant staff about the inclusion of rice and some other non-Hangi  menu items and they smiled…

…it appears that a considerable volume of their bus tour patrons come come various parts of Asia and can be more than a  little reticent at trying things like sweet potatoes, lamb and baked pumpkin.

I’m told that they definitely feel more comfortable with familiar favourites like rice and seafood and indeed many enquire before booking their tour if they can expect these foods, so naturally Hotels learned swiftly that if you want your customers to be happy then you cater for your customers wishes. Consequently this is a “kind-of-authentic” Hangi… but the chefs have done a great job with all the food, so no complaints here.

The kumera (sweet potato) is a New Zealand variety that tastes totally different to ones we get in Europe and I can highly recommend it,  followed by the pumpkin (which I could  willingly have eaten every last piece of, if only my stomach have been big enough and it been socially acceptable to have hogged the lot)  …and the roast lamb was to die for.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Maori Bread…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Fabulous lamb…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We finished off our wonderful meal with Pavlova, fruit salad and gingerbread with custard, Yum! …what’s not to like?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Top marks for an excellent meal, now it’s time to acquaint ourselves with some Maori culture…

A Distinctive Look Around…

We’ve landed for the night at the Distinction Hotel Rotorua… The kids have found the jacuzzi pool, but let’s look around and see what the rest of the place looks like…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A Room of Distinction, (Before The Kiwidutch Kids Strike…)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The rain has really set in by the time we arrive in Rotorua and we set about finding a place to stay.

The first few places we try either are full up or have no adjoining or family rooms available, and one has only a really tiny studio (that’s also not by any means cheap) that sleeps two-three but they would see what they could do to try and squeeze in an extra bed, and the man there paints a very pessimistic picture as he tries to convince Himself that it will probably be impossible to find anything else at this (late afternoon) hour.

Himself  smells the arm twist ploy and replies we will look further thanks and get back to them if we don’t find anything suitable.

Two places later we find a Family room in the  Distinction (Rotorua) Hotel for far less cost than what the studio guy was asking, and with two double beds so less cramped too.

The bonus is that there are several restaurants within the hotel so we don’t have to go far for a meal and the place has it’s own pool and jacuzzi…
…upon finding this later information, our tired kids are suddenly in looooove with the place.

The room is large enough for two double beds and there’s  plenty of space for the bags, a fridge. mini-bar etc. The first item on the agenda for the kids is to beg a swim before dinner,  and that wish granted, throw the suitcases open and rummage for swimming costumes, get changed and disappear off to the outside jacuzzi pool with Himself  in tow, whilst I put my foot up and have a little rest.

Whilst they were busy dragging suitcases from the van to the room, I took photos of the room knowing it wasn’t going to be in this pristine state for long…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

View out of the window…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(apologies for the lens cap or thumb Oops in the next photo…) … the fridge and tea making things are inside the tall white cupboard…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)