#2: The Food!

I've always loved food. NZ is a good place to be if you're a so-called "foodie". This is a picture of the seafood hotpot that Dave ordered in a restaurant known as Fleur's Place in Moraki, SI. The Lonely Planet led us to this establishment and I think it was a real find. Since our visit, I've learned that the woman who owns the place has put out cookbooks (hope to find those through our library system) and been awarded all sorts of prizes. We didn't eat out at a lot of different places, but I enjoyed every meal we ate. We had Thai food in Rotarura and Dunedin (both excellent) and our friend Bede took us to a Chinese food restaurant in Auckland. I'd say it was the best "Chinese" I've ever had and I loved how we could bring our own bottle and pay a corkage fee. Seafood is superb and all the produce in the grocery stores was beautiful to look at. The quality was good as well. I'd say that the local food movement is alive and well in NZ. I guess it has to be! My only regret is that since Dave isn't a lamb eater I didn't get to cook lamb chops 3 times a week. Luckily, the fish helped to make up for that.