Dunedin 26th December. This was our first port to get off and explore. Pine timber logs piled high is a major export from several of the ports we visited up the east coast of the south island.

Morning walk into the town and as you can see it’s up hills so my steps counter is working overtime!

The main street certainly has maintained its old-world charm.

High above town for all to see sat a beautiful church dating back some 120years.

The stained glass windows towering up the tower was truly lovely to see up close.

We did a small boat trip for 2 hours out to see some wildlife and we were not disappointed.

 Dunedin is the home of a large albatross colony, there wing span reaching some 3.5m across. What an amazing sight as they flew by our boat.  

Seals every where sunning themselves on the rocks.

The mist gave a calm feeling to our morning on the water

Back on teraferma to a little junk shop in the main street which was lost in time just super charming and a great spot to brouse.

Not sure if much gets sold … maybe they should have a cover charge!

So after cruising extremely calmly for 2 days and 3 nights we arrive at Milford Sounds on the west coast of the south island for Christmas Day. Grateful for our jackets as it was about 12 degrees, sitting on our balcony with blankets on our laps and the cool breeze on our faces what a beautiful way to spend Christmas in such a pristine place.

A cocktails or 2! always helps to while away the hours.

Holland America Cruise on the Westerdam Sunday 22 Dec 2024

We are off again, this time cruising out of Sydney around New Zealand and back to Sydney on a 14 night christmas cruise. We are in room 5137 which is an ambient accessible room with its balcony looking 45 degrees forward certainly allows for a great view of whats coming. The sea crossing of some 2000 km over The Tasman Sea took two nights and was very calm so that makes for very happy Pete!. The only down side of the 45deg balcony was on the trip over the balcony was not as usable with the winds hitting straight on with sea salt and wet chairs so a bit more time spent indoors. Once we hit the south island coastline the ships balconies were wash down ready for our 2 weeks rounding New Zealand.

Hobart - Tasmania - Fico Resturant

So here's cheers to having time for a long lunch on a warm autumn Sunday at Fico restaurant in Hobart. It takes us back to our travels in Italy were the Sunday long lunch is a tradition 

Some days you just want something sweet

Kwan Ho Chinese - Wrest Point Casino - Tasmania

Hobart

Sichuan Kou Shui Chicken - Commonly know as mouth watering chicken.

We had this amazingly tasty dish back in March 2023 so have had to come back to Wrest Point Casino in Hobart to go to Kwan Ho Chinese's restaurant to excite our taste buds again!. Our food memory was not disappointed, although sometimes in the past it can be! 
That sometimes could be -  because of a different chef working in the kitchen that day - a seasonal change or perhaps as simple as the phase of the moon, where the werewolf's are howling at a full moon!.

In all our years of travel and eating around this amazing world today our palates were just so happy to know that there are still some tasty culinary surprises to be experienced. To-date we have never had such a flavour and yes it was truly mouth watering. Your mouth surely does salivate from the tangy Asian flavours, then your outer lips tingled with a numbing sensation that neither of us had ever experienced before, (... well, there was that one time in Fiji were we had a Cava drink and yes there was some mouth tingling going on that day and perhaps some hallucinations!).
 
We were told that this is from the Sichuan peppers, hmmm we both thought, we have had Sichuan peppers in other Chinese dish before but not with this lip tingling experience so there has to be a cheffy trick or some other added ingredients that was omitted from the description on the menu. 
The dish on the menu read as - A cold steamed white cut chicken, peanuts, pickled cabbage, shallot, Sichuan chilli oil. 
Ok, we can see the white cut chicken, which was a super moist breast with the skin on poached and sitting proudly on some kind of Asian pickled vege, but not the mentioned pickled cabbage. It was a yummy little island surrounded by but not totally flooded in a fragrant broth with an orange oil slick that once you smelled it you can tell it is sesame oil (one of my favourite Asian tastes), topped with finely cut shallots, fresh chillies and sesame seeds.

So with more chatting with the chef about the tingles it is from the Prickly Ash Oil, ah so there is a tricky little ingredient that was missed on the menu.

So now when we get home to our kitchen www.retreat@froogmoorepark.com.au we can do a test run to try and see if we can get the same flavours.
 

The Kiln, Ranelagh, Tasmania

The Kiln eatery offers a unique breakfast and lunch dining experience. Housed in a converted barn dating back to 1862, with the addition of the oast house or hop kiln tower that was built in 1911. The restaurant is super charming, great historic ambiance with a modern architectural twist. Located in Ranelagh, in Tasmania's stunning Huon Valley, and just a 3 minute drive from Huonville.  

Pistachio crust and oven roasted pumpkin, tahini custard 
and pomegranate. 

Great dish, after chatting with the chef the Jap pumpkin was roasted but not caramelised, the tahini was loosened with apple juice and then you can add some honey or maple syrup for sweetness to cut through the bitterness of the tahini.

They used honey and to me it was just a bit too sweet a style of honey or to much, so maybe try the maple syrup.

8 hour Cuban pork Mojo Marinade, Pulled Pork, Crackle Crumb

and pickled red onion. Never heard of Mojo so googled to find out - This signature marinade of Cuba, pronounced "MO HO", is just a mix of some citrus juice, fresh onion and garlic with some herbs and olive oil. This is one marinade that you will find in every Cuban household, though you will likely find each family has their own little variation. For example, some use olive oil, some don't depending on how fatty the meat is.

To finish we enjoyed the Apple Tarte Tatin

 

To go with desert we sipped a cheeky little Eau de Coing which is a French quince liqueur that was just like drinking quince paste! 

All great dishes at this eatery, the food outstanding! the ambiance welcoming yet stimulating and great staff all added to a really good dining experience.