Kiwis and Fairy Bread

20 December 2023

So with good byes to the little kiddies at Momorangi, and wishes of bigger fish to be caught, we started our journey to Able Tasman National Park, a popular destination on the north west section of the island.

Halfway there we stopped in the city of Nelson. We parked at a Countdown supermarket, picked up some groceries and asked a kind customer and cashier some of “Burning Questions “ (see the answers in a post later today). Then we headed downtown in search of a birthday coffee. What a cute shopping and dining area! We settled into a walking plaza that reminded us a lot of Division Street in Somerville. Relaxing under a tree we sipped our flat whites, people watched and listened to people playing songs on a public piano: the 3 year olds in particular showed lots of promise! As did the middle school saxophonist playing Christmas Carols for charity. In fact, there was some kind of live music on almost every corner. What a cool place!

Just outside of town is Pic’s Peanut Butter World. Although the tours of this factory were all booked, we enjoyed walking around a bit and had a taste of the famous New Zealand brand. It really is very good. Very smooth and toasty. Yum!

Time to be off again, on a thankfully smooth drive through wine country to The Marahua Beach Camp on the edge of Abel Tasman Park. The center of this busy hub is an office that handles camping, excursions, the water taxi service, shopping, even change to pay for the shower (the area is under strict water restrictions).

A walk on the beach with the lowering tide. We walked out to an emerging sandbar and relaxed under a driftwood teepee (almost every beach has one!)

Birthday dinner was Shepherds Pie made with some excellent local Lamb mince (all those sheep farms, you know) followed by dessert of Pavlova with Hokey Pokey Ice Cream!

Pavlova is THE national dessert. A meringue base is covered in whipped cream and fruit. The grocery stores have stacks of these meringues in all sizes. The toppings are really up to you.

Mike declared the Pavlova to be like eating cheap styrofoam. I didn’t disagree. I have read lots of recipes and was expecting it be soft in the middle, more like a marshmallow. Perhaps if we’ll give it a try in a cafe sometime. However, the ice cream was creamy, sweet, fantastic!

The sky did not get dark until after 10pm. Mike went out late to take photographs. The moon’s rabbit head was starting to peak out. The southern cross was bright. Happy 60th birthday, My Love.