Glenys' husband Warren came by to pick us up in his 1988
left-hand drive Mercedes, a rarity here, so he's pretty
well known (including among the coppers, as he likes to
drive fast). We went by their house, which was only
minimally damaged by the earthquake, though four homes
on the same block were shaken down and others partially
wrecked. We had a little refreshment, and then we decided
to take the road to Akaroa, a twisty but apparently safe
route across a mountain pass to what became the port of
Christchurch after the larger port Lyttelton had been
destroyed. When Warren and Glenys had been kids, this had
been a dirt track; now, it's a paved two-laner accommodating
bunches of traffic including dozens of buses taking
cruisegoers to town (we passed numerous ones both ways).

It's their custom to stop by the Little River Cafe for a
rest and refreshment stop; I was ready for the former but
not the latter, and after doing the former I wandered
through the art gallery next door and then to the SiloStay,
a hotel whose rooms are made out of reconditioned metal
silos, a gimmick I don't understand.

On to the charming little town, which has sort of grown into
its role as the cruise port of Christchurch; I wonder what
the bustling bars, restaurants, and gift shops will do when
the larger and realer port is refurbished.

Warren has an in with the parking gods; after he dropped us
off in town, he found a place just a couple blocks away.

We started off at Bully Hayes, a fashionable bar/restaurant
whose prices were exospherically high, so we stayed for a
couple drinks before heading next door for food.

Monteith's Black is a pleasantly smooth German-style black
beer, moderate in alcohol, coffeeish in aroma and flavor.

Church Road McDonald Series are high-aspiring and generally
high-quality reds that belie the New Zealand stereotype of
light rather dull bar tipples. The Syrah was a big fruity
alcoholic wine, a good quaffer but with some depth, plum and
raisin and a pretty long finish. I far preferred the Cabernet,
which could have been from California, lots of black pepper
and spice, just a tinge of stem, lots of blackcurrant and
maybe some eucalyptus - an even bigger wine than the Syrah
but with less of an attack and greater staying power. I looked
them up - both come in at 14.5% alcohol. Lilli was pretty
affected by two glasses. Eventually we wobbled over to

Akaroa Fish & Chips, an order inside, wait for your food, and
eat outside place; the weather was great, and the prices here
were almost half of next door's.

Wanting a taste of everything, I got the seafood mix - one
each mussel, scallop, crabstick, shrimp, squid curl, squid
tentacle (missing but substituted for by a second shrimp),
fish fillet (unidentified), shrimp skewer; chips and salad.
The mussel was delicious, a giant greenlip, just done; the
scallop was big and juicy, missing a corner, and completely
tasteless. You want nasty? I give you fried crabstick - what a
waste of stomach space. The shrimp were pretty good, probably
from far, far away and previously frozen, but crisp, juicy,
and not at all overdone - the shrimp skewer was three little
perhaps local ones, somewhat better. The squid was not in its
first youth and rather tough; fish likewise and of a species
I've not encountered before and hope not to - it was oily and
a bit rank and a bit tough. I am told that in the past, there
was also an oyster on the plate; I'd have liked that. Chips,
which I shared around after taking the two that suited me,
were good. Salad was salad. In the unlikely event I'm ever
back in Akaroa, I'll try to negotiate just a plate of mussels.

Warren and Glenys both had blue cod, an excellent flaky white
fish, lightly battered and lightly fried so tender, juicy,
and delicious.

Lilli of course had a burger, which was big, loaded with
extraneous stuff, and as expected less than an American burger,
rather squidgy in fact; but that was what she gets for not
eating seafood.

We did a little sightseeing and then went back to Christchurch
via Lyttelton and the famous tunnel that runs between them.
On the way some yob nearly killed us by a cackheaded traffic
maneuver, stopping dead in a blind spot. Warren has pretty good
reactions, so we survived okay if a tad shaken.

Chateau on the Park is a fake medieval castle such as were
fashionable maybe 40 years ago, I don't know how old it really
is, certainly less than that. It's operated under the Doubletree
brand, which abroad is quite fancy (as are Holiday Inn and Best
Western, which are pretty ho-hum over here). This one has a full
service restaurant and a full service bar and convention and
wedding facilities - a real hotel. We got a nice but not as nice
as in Wellington accommodation overlooking the fairly expansive and
nicely kept courtyard garden. Our friends Bob and Franny had been
here a year or two ago and had reported good things, especially
about the pork belly at the restaurant, and they are very exacting
customers. But our hosts had other plans for us.

Specifically, they had us over for drinks and what the Kiwis call
Mexican soup, which is actually chili with beans, tortilla chips on
the side. It was pretty good and gave Lilli a welcome recollection
of the Cal-Mex food she loves almost as much as burgers.

Oddly, as they have talked down local reds, they served two:

Te Mata Cabernets Merlot 17 - a little sibling of the Te Mata
Coleraine wines that have won wide worldwide acclaim, this was
understatedly fruity with a bit of oak and pepper, a good
midpriced Bordeaux blend that you might peg as Clos du Val or
something - well made, not distinctive.

The Mission Estate Shiraz 17 was more openly fruity, a bit
sweeter and obvious but by no means bad; it was noticed that
the Te Mata bottle was finished, and this one was not.

I ended up with Corona beer instead.
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)