Unexpectedly surprised

I was up early and managed to leave before 10am as I had a big drive of about 2 hours that lay before me. Some of the journey was twisty with a sheer drop on one side. The mountains were quite brown as new Zealand has had a very hot summer. Google maps nearly said that I had arrived but it didn’t look right so I kept driving, thankfully Google maps corrected it self and I arrived at the right destination. I was greeted by Liz who owns the most exquisite house overlooking the estuary of Havelock. The weather had turned grey and very blustery but that didn’t take away the breathtaking view that I have from my magnificent bedroom window.

The room is stunningly designed, the bed is sensational and the pillows are pulchritudinous! The whole house is very well designed and attractive well with careful thought out little touches.

I quickly sorted my washing which dried very quickly with the wind. After a quick tour and a chat with my host Liz who gave me the low down of the tour I will be doing tomorrow. I hope it doesn’t get cancelled because of the strong winds. I walked into town and had lunch at the Blue cafe and booked a table at the mussel pot 7pm.

I then meandered down to the harbour and saw some elegant black swans as well as some other types of birds.

I came back to the house and chilled until it was time for dinner

As I was walking down I could hear strange chirping, I managed to locate a few of the strange insects  and recorded them in action.

At The mussel pot restaurant, I ordered a pineapple juice, some tap water, a starter portion of different types of prepared mussels, a taster portion of mussel chowder, 1/2 kilo of mussels in corrander, ginger, chilli and coconut milk. I had been seated in the middle of the restaurant which I find very intimidating as I feel very exposed.  It was very noisy at first but thankfully I had booked at the end of serving so people were leaving and the noise levels started to dip slowly.  After my starter, I noticed that there was a small table near the window so I asked to be moved.  Unfortunately there was no Internet so I made myself busy looking at photos and making notes.

The starter mixed platter consisted of mussels that were marinated, smoked, grilled and steamed.  The grilled mussels were 3 different types of toppings.  They were sweet chilli, melted cheese with bacon and garlic butter. I ate the mussels the correct way by using the first empty shell like a pair of tweezers. They were amazing, lots of flavour and each type with its own mouth watering taste, divine!  The mussel chowder was delicious and just right for a taster size.

The main course arrived. 1/2 kilo of mussels and gluten free bread.  There was a lovely thick creamy coconut sauce that covered the mussels which were so fresh that they just melted in my mouth.

Alas when it came to choosing a dessert, the waitress would not waver on making my portion smaller and would not even let me order a child’s portion.  This is a big problem for me as too much sugar overloads my system and my body cannot cope.  The sugar would keep me awake at night and even if she offered me a doggy bag, I cannot eat it that day.  This is where I miss Tony as he would polish off the remainders of my dessert.  He has his uses!
I opted for a chai latte made with soya milk which made up for the disappointment about ordering a pudding.  The total bill came to  50.40  NZD!!! Very good value 😊

The weather taken a turn for the worse, still windy, raining gently, good job I bought my triclimate jacket it has been very useful since I have come to Kaikoura and Havelock.  Fingers crossed that the boat will not be cancelled tomorrow.