NZ D3: Napier and Wellington

Highlight of the day:
1. First cheese platter from The Green House's breakfast. Still remember the blue cheese.
2. Quick tour of Art Deco buildings in Napier
3. Love at first sight, Kapiti ice-cream and Aged Gouda cheese
4. Wellington view from Mt Victoria
5. More New Zealand beers, different brands
6. Heavenly good Bluff oyster
7. Two fruit platters in a day, one from The Green House and one from our friend, Sern-Ty. Met new fruit, Feijoa

enjoying spectacular view of Wellington and its surroundings on the top of Mt. Victoria

It was drizzling in the morning, therefore we could only tour the unique Art Deco buildings in Napier with car. In 1931, a deadliest earthquake devastated Hawkes Bay including Napier city. When Napier was rebuilt, Art Deco architectural design was widely used. (read more about Art Deco here). Taking pictures was also a challenge for us, not only because of the rain and also because of the angle limitation as we stayed inside the car. Anyway, here are the best 4 pictures we have.

public trust office

forgot what building

forgot what building

the daily telegraph

On the way to Wellington, we stopped by Lindale Park, State Highway 1 Paraparaumu for Kapiti ice-cream and cheese.

There were other stuffs in the shops too, but we were attracted by the cheese and ice-cream.

There were 3 type of cheese for tasting on that day and we immediately fall in love with Aged Gouda.

We bought a piece of Aged Gouda and a box of Arnott Harvest Wheat cracker from the shop. Crackers are the perfect accompaniment to fine cheese. :)

Of course we did not forget a triple chocolate Kapiti cone. The ice-cream was so chocolaty. In our humble opinion, Kapiti beats Tip Top hands down. Since then, we started to buy Kapiti ice-cream. No more Tip Top.

We reached Wellington for late lunch. It was such a long journey. Our good friend, Sern-Ty took us to Fisherman Table Restaurant and Bar.

This restaurant has a beautiful beachscape view. But I guess this is pretty normal in New Zealand, stunning views everywhere. We ordered some food for sharing and had a great chat since we did not see each other for years.

seafood basket

grilled fish

new zealand beer

In the very short few hours, somehow we managed to cover few must visit places in Wellington. Thanks to our friend, Sern-Ty. One of it was the Te Papa Museum.

Then, we drove up to Mt. Victoria for the great view.

another side of the view

Before we went for dinner, we also covered the famous Government Building Historic Reserve.

The Beehive - executive wing

Parliament House

Parliamentary Library

Sern-Ty's wife joined us for dinner and they brought us to Capitol restaurant in Wellington Central. It must be a very famous restaurant in downtown as it was full house when we were there. I will always remember this dinner, the excellent food we had, but most important of all, the great friends that made the dinner memorable. Let's see what we had for dinner.

Soup of the day

I could not remember what the waiter had told us about this soup. But it was something that I never had before and it was great.

bread with olive

We had our first try on bluff oyster. The creamy coloured meat was so delicate and succulent, with a medium oil content. These South delicacy are only available from March to August, and only in New Zealand. I was looking forward to try out the oyster in Invercargill, which suppose to be even fresher.

Lamb spiedini

Fish of the Day

Free range chicken breast on a bed of creamed corn

Tuatara beer

soft centered chocolate pudding with creme franche

A good dinner should be ended with some desserts. So we ordered 3 out of 5 desserts from the menu.

fruit tart with vanilla cream and roasted hazelnut

passion fruit semifreddo with raspberry meringue

No, that was not the end of the day yet. Back in Sern-Ty's home, we had some local fruits and some good red wine.

We found something new in this fruit platter, Feijoa. It was the green color ellipsoid-shaped fruit in the picture.

Tomorrow, we would be taking the Interislander ferry to the South island.

Lindale Park
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Gps Coordinates Come back for updates

Fisherman Table Restaurant
245 Oriental Parade Oriental Bay Wellington City
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Te Papa Museum
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Capitol Restaurant
10 Kent Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand
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