Venturing Out

We’re allowed out. Saint Jacinda has reduced restrictions further, and we’ve taken advantage to support local businesses and actually visit some places which were closed to us previously.

On Saturday, I went to Zealandia, this time in an official capacity. Wellington City Council has made the sanctuary free for general admission until the end of June, but word hadn’t seemed to have spread much, and the weather forecast was for dampness, if not actual rain, in the afternoon. The valley wasn’t too crowded, but we did have a bonus ruru roosting in the trees so I was able to point that out to people, as well as the more usual sightings of korimako, kererū, takehē, and kākā.

On  Monday, I went to the dentist, to have my crown implant fitted. Yes, going to the dentist is considered an exciting venture these days! I guess they have quite a backlog to deal with, but I’m also guessing that they’re prioritising high-value appointments so that they can get some much-needed cashflow. Anyway, I’m not complaining, as the hole in my mouth has been filled.

On Wednesday, we took ourselves over the hills and far away, via the Remutaka Hill Pass, to Martinborough, to visit some vineyards and try some wines. As it was midweek, not many were open – but this is normal for what is now coming into winter season, where many vineyards are only open to the public at weekends. We thought we’d beat the rush. First call was at the i-site in the library, to establish which vineyards actually were open; the vineyard map, usually reprinted at the beginning of each season, didn’t reflect current events. There were five open, and we had a lunch reservation at one of them. We first went to Luna Estate, and had a tasting there. We then hit our lunch spot, Poppies, where the eponymous Poppy was clearly away working behind the scenes (we’re at the end of vintage, and the process of making wine doesn’t stop just because there’s a pandemic). We had lunch of a shared platter there. They weren’t doing tastings but I picked up a couple of bottles of pinot noir anyway to add to my vertical tasting. I now have 2013 – 2018 in my cellar. Final call was in at Margrain, which I last visited two years ago when Andrew and Zoe were here. They gave us a tasting, but said “no spittoons because the covids”, which hadn’t seemed to trouble them at Luna. They were also the only place that had a QR-code tracking system in place – everywhere else (including the library) were still on paper and pen systems.

On Friday we did Eat The Film – At Home. The Roxy Cinema, our local cinema in Miramar, organises regular “Eat The Film” events whereby they put on a classic movie, and provide drinks and eats related to the film. On one such occasion we were given food and drink at intervals throughout the screening, but that can get a bit cumbersome so these days they tend to just give you one package and a drink before it starts. Now, under Level 2 restrictions, this isn’t going to work, so they’ve organised a take-away service instead: a reheatable meal, and cocktail, for you to accompany a themed film at home. This week’s theme is No Time To Dine, so we had The Pie Who Loved Me, CIA Salad, Goldenrye, and the cocktail Dye Another Day. Full details here:

On Saturday, Nicola was back at orchestra – they were rehearsing in separate sections to meet the maximum 10 people rule. I was back at Zealandia again in the afternoon, so I pulled into the Birdwood car park where I normally park…full. Up the road…cars parked in every available space. This is due to Wellington Council making the sanctuary free for general admission until the end of June; word has now got out, and as it was a sunny day, many Wellingtonians decided to take advantage of this offer! Unfortunately this meant I had nowhere to park. In desperation I went into the Zealandia carpark itself and observed cars coming out. As I’d hoped, these were people who’d been there in the morning and were now departing, leaving some free spaces. Staff aren’t supposed to park there – the logic being that they could prevent paying visitors from parking and spending. But as they’re not paying anyway, I used Cummings’ logic to avail myself of a space. As expected, the valley was full of visitors, so I had plenty of work talking to people, giving directions and pointing out wildlife. I was the only volunteer on in the afternoon, so I gave both mini-talks. We’re supposed to be limiting the talks to maximum eight people, but if twenty-plus people turn up to listen, what can you do? So long as they’re maintaining social distancing that’s OK, but the point of the kākā talk is…the kākā! So, people crowd around to try and see them on the feeding station. Oh well, there hasn’t been a new case of covid in Wellington for a month, and the last person with it got better last week.

I was back on Sunday morning, and even for the early shift the car parks were full. I managed to find a space on Raroa Crescent, and there weren’t many cars parked there by the time I’d finished my shift, so this will probably be my go-to place from now on. Once again the valley was busy, but even so there was plenty of wildlife for people to see. Next weekend the forecast is for rain, so it will be interesting to see how many people show up.

Monday was a rain day, providing 50mm of much-needed rainfall in Wellington, and hopefully similar amounts to the drought-stricken North, but on Tuesday we managed a visit down to Scorch-O-Rama for afternoon tea and cake. We’ve not actually been there for a week! During Level 3 we were there nearly every afternoon.

Restrictions on pub openings have been relaxed, so we were anticipating our first pub quiz in two months. I’d booked the table in The Old Bailey. On the day, they called me (and presumably everyone else amongst their regulars) to let them know that quiz was going ahead. I explained I’d already booked a table, and we were looking forward to it. Later in the day, however, another phone call: only one other team had booked, so it was cancelled. Boo! Were people really so disorganised that they hadn’t anticipated that the quiz would be back? Maybe they had FOGO? Hopefully we’ll be back to pub quiz next week. As it was, we hastily re-organised our Houseparty quiz night, and ordered online from Gorilla Burger again.

Today we went out to The Larder for lunch. We’ve been supporting them with their take-away click-and-collect offerings, but felt it was time to get indoors with them. This is the last week of their country-themed offerings (they’ve done Greece, Vietnam, France, and now Italy) so we both had items from the Italy menu. It’s nice to be back, and it’s nice to be greeted by the regular staff as well.

Level 2 is likely to around for at least another two weeks, but once again there is agitation from various quarters to relax the rules further as quickly as possible. With no new cases for five days, and only 21 people still classified as active, it does appear to be eliminated; but the government is staying ultra-cautious as they don’t want a resurgence, and possible increased restrictions again. The logic here is that we can withstand one lockdown, but two would be really bad. Watch this space…

Level Two

So here we are at Covid-19 Level Two. Restrictions have been lifted, shops, cafés and restaurants opened, and New Zealand travel allowed. Yippee!

On the first day, we headed up to Zealandia for the first time in seven weeks, for a walk. We got there early, and it turned out that this was a good plan, as by the time we were returning the place was beginning to fill up. Certainly the car parks were full! I will be returning there on Saturday in a professional capacity, volunteer guiding in the afternoon.

We then headed into town for me to get…a haircut! Yes, the Eighties look has been lost, and I’m now back to my Shaun The Sheep style. They were only allowing three people into the shop to wait, so the queue had started to form outside. I was fifth, but as there were three hairdressers we got seen fairly quickly.

For lunch we went out to Café Polo. They’re still offering only a limited menu, but at least we could sit down in there, have a beer or wine with lunch, and generally try to get back to normal. There weren’t as many people availing themselves of this as I’d have thought. The Larder don’t appear to be open for business yet – they’re still passing food out onto a table à la Level Three. They were offering a bubble dinner on Thursday and Friday, but these sold out within minutes and we didn’t make the cut. We’ll be back to them when they reopen properly – probably next week. Meanwhile, we had their Vietnamese lunch the other day – pork banh mi and chicken dumpling soup – which was very tasty.

We’ve also had another meal from Loggy B’s (that’s Logan Brown to you) delivered for home assembly. This time we had confit duck, and again it was a restaurant-quality experience. We’ve ordered again for next week.

On Friday morning we went down to Scorch-O-Rama for brunch. Again, oddly quiet. I’d have thought that people would be flocking to these venues again, but either they’re back at work, or staying at home afeart. Maybe they’ll be busier over the weekend.

In Covid-19 news, we’ve had three days on the trot with no new cases, followed by one case today...but this turned out to be someone who had symptoms two months ago, tested negative, was isolated anyway, is now no longer infectious, and now tests positive. Not entirely sure how they get this to be a “new case”, but hey, what do I know?

Next week will see further relaxations, with pubs and bars allowed to reopen. Some are open already if they're serving food, but there are no drinks-only establishments open at the moment. And no, crisps and nuts are not a meal (they checked). The Level 2 restrictions will be reviewed on Monday, 25^th May.

Level Two Is Coming

Saint Jacinda announced on Monday that New Zealand would be going to Covid-19 Level Two at 23:59 on Wednesday, 13^th May. This means that from Thursday, more businesses can open, we can sit in cafés and restaurants again, and people can go back to work and school, with appropriate spacing measures in place. Woohoo!

For us, this means we can go back to volunteering at Zealandia (me), and possibly taking tours (the level of demand for tours is still being worked out – watch this space!), and going back to chorus and orchestra (Nicola). Pub quiz is going to take a little longer – pubs are closed for a further week, so we’ve got at least two more virtual quizzes before we can even contemplate the possibility of actually going to the pub for a, you know, PUB quiz.

Of course, this has only just started, so over the past week we’ve continued taking deliveries from our favourite cafes and restaurants. Whilst we’ve been keen to spread the love, we do keep coming back to those that are our particular favourites, and that provide a service that we’re happy with.

Scorch-O-Rama: We continue to support our local café when we go out for a walk, getting coffee and tea there and doing the crossword by the beach. We’ll get a proper brunch there when they open up again. Total cost: $9.00.  Overall rating: still 8/10.

The Larder: The Larder were offering “Greek Week” last week, as many people had commented that they were planning to be away in Europe/the world/anywhere else but here. Jacob cooked up a selection of Greek treats, so we had a Greek lunch on Friday, consisting of lamb gyros followed by galaktoboureko. Next week is Vietnam, so we’ll be going back for another lunch. Total cost: $41.20 (including $1.20 card charge). Overall rating: 9/10.

Field & Green: The first time we’d ordered from them, but we’ve been there regularly and their beef cheek goulash looked like a tasty option. They delivered at 7:30pm (having promised 7:00pm) but had texted to let us know of the delay, so can’t really fault them for that. Also, a delivery charge of only $5 to Eastern Suburbs is cheaper than everyone else. Whilst it is supposed to be delivered hot, I suspect it had been in the vehicle a while so we needed to reheat. Not a problem, except the lids of the containers turned out not to be microwave-proof! Fortunately I caught this before any damage was done. The beef cheeks were delicious, there was a creamy mash and sauce as well, but I decided we needed to add a side of peas to round out the dish. Still, a very good option, and it comes with pudding included as well – a slice of bakewell tart. The only problem is…it’s really the only option on their menu (they’re also doing a vegetarian goulash, and kedgeree, but that’s more of a brunch thing) so we’ll probably make this a one-off. Total cost $75.00, including $5.00 delivery. Overall rating: 9/10.

Day 42

Day 42 of lockdown passed in a blur of meaninglessness. The weather has improved from the storms of the beginning of the week, although it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of the days.

The day started with what is now the normal Wednesday morning activity of tuning in to Lenny Beige (broadcast on Facebook on Tuesday evening in the UK) with my coffee and toast. This week’s edition was slightly different from previous weeks’…it included a large segment of the show in a pre-recorded chat between Lenny and impressionist Lewis MacLeod. TBH I prefer the “standard” Lenny Beige show where he includes songs, chat, shout-outs, facts from Max Factor, and the like. It was noticeable that the production quality of the broadcast has been seriously upped, though, which is good. This Friday’s show is the London Show, with songs about, or made in, London.

The Covid news was that there were two new cases, breaking the previous two days’ run of no new cases. However, it is looking increasingly likely that the announcement next Monday will be for a return to Level Two by Wednesday 13^th May.

The sharp-eyed among you may notice that we're reporting negative numbers of new cases on some days. This happens when suspected cases, included in the new daily total, are subsequently reclassified as not Covid-19 related. These are deducted from the current day's total and, on some days, outnumber the new cases.

We continue to support our local businesses, heading down to Scorch-o-rama for coffee (weather permitting) as part of our daily routine. We’ve also ordered out to Gorilla Burger, so were able to have burger and fries immediately before our Tuesday Night Quiz.

Gorilla Burger: have only just opened up in Miramar, on the site vacated by La Boca Loca. I had the OG Single with fries, while Nicola opted for the Congo – halloumi and mushroom. It’s probable that under Level Three they’re not operating under optimum conditions, but I suspect that it had been cooked and ready for some time before my chosen pick-up time specified on their web ordering system, as it was all a bit cool by the time we ate them. Nevertheless, it was a tasty burger, and we’ll definitely be back for more. It’s nice to have a decent burger place in Miramar. Total cost: $39.00 (no delivery charge as I picked up). Overall score: 8/10.

Logan Brown: Logan Brown are offering Logan Brown At Yours, which, rather than delivering a ready-cooked meal, is more like a Woop deal – they provide you with prepared ingredients and sauces (rather than just the raw ingredients like My Food Bag), and you simply have to do the final cook and assembly. We ordered the venison noisettes with pumpkin risotto cake. Delivery was specified as a vague “between 12 and 5pm”, but we must have been near the top of the list as we received it at 12:45. I followed the cooking instructions on the Logan Brown website, and served it with a bottle of Fromm 2014 pinot noir – I felt it deserved something a bit special! This is by far the best restaurant meal we’ve had on our forays into the Wellington hospo scene’s Level Three service. We’ll be back next week. Total cost: $60.00 including $10.00 delivery. Overall score: 10/10.

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Support Local Businesses

Since moving to Covid-19 Level Three, cafés and restaurants have been allowed to open and supply take-away or cook at home foods, either to be picked up or delivered. Naturally, we want to support our local establishments because we want them to still be there when restrictions are lifted completely and we can get back to whatever the new “normal” will be once this is all over. So here’s what we’ve had, and how I’ve ranked them:

The Larder: This was the first place that we went to on Tuesday, as it’s our local and we wanted to show our support. They have a limited menu, so we went for a burger (me) and prawn risotto (Nicola). I picked up from the restaurant – it was ready after about a 10-minute wait. The burger was good, the fries crispy, and the risotto also good. I’m giving this 8/10. Why not 10? Well, they’re not burger specialists so the burger was OK but you wouldn’t write home about it. Wait a minute, that’s exactly what I’m doing, isn’t it? Total cost: $41.20 (incl. $1.20 credit card surcharge). Overall score: 8/10.

Scorch-O-Rama: On Wednesday, we took in our normal walk around Scorching Bay and, having checked all the details yesterday, were ready and prepared to order via text. They also allow ordering via the Regulr app, which allows them to bill you once per week, thus reducing their credit card fees. Unfortunately the app is a piece of shit that doesn’t work, so instead I’ve been direct crediting them via my bank’s app. They can make coffee and tea for takeaway, we’ve not tried any food yet. Also they accept keep cups. Total cost: $9.00. Overall score: 8/10.

Café Polo: Another local café, and one providing a reheatable menu service. We tried them for dinner on Wednesday evening, having collected the food earlier in the day. We had a large serving of Scottie’s sausages, mash and peas. The sausages were good, but due to being reheated in the oven, didn’t have a crispy skin. The mash was fine, but there were precious few peas in the portion, and the gravy had become incorporated into the mash. I augmented it with a serving of frozen peas, but frankly this was a bit disappointing. Once I get some decent sausages again I can do better than this at home. I also ordered a loaf of their five-grain bread, which was good, but at $12.50, a bit overpriced. Total cost $33.50. Overall score: 5/10.

Jano Bistro: One of Wellington’s top-end French bistro restaurants, where we’ve been supporters of their cuisine almost since the day they opened. They are one of Wellington’s unsung heroes of hospitality, and I was more than happy to support them with their menu offering. We chose the salmon and leek crayfish bisque gratinée. This was a dish that sounded great on paper, but disappointed in reality. I’ve read a book called “The Billionaire’s Vinegar” – Jason bought it for my birthday a few years ago – which describes the experience of drinking wines that are over 100 years old, and are sold for many thousands of $$$ a bottle. Occasionally, one of these bottles is opened, and an expert wine-taster delivers his verdict. Naturally, some of these bottles aren’t really drinkable by this stage, so the oenologist declares “it is wine”. I felt the same way about this dinner: “it is food”. Sorry guys, and we will be back once you’re properly open again, but your delivery offering wasn’t up to scratch. To add insult to injury, they’re using a delivery service called Pandemic Pack, which promised to deliver between 6-8pm…they eventually showed up at 8:15pm, after I’d already started to prepare another dinner, assuming it wasn’t going to arrive (there was no answer on their phone, other than to inform me that they would be open for business again on Tuesday next week). If you’re using Pandemic Pack, order for lunchtime delivery if you want to eat dinner at a reasonable time. They’re also the most expensive delivery option at $15. Total cost: $67.00. Overall score: 1/10.

Next week: Logan Brown and Gorilla Burger, and possibly food from Scorch-O-Rama.