Auckland and Regency Cruise

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

A beautiful sunny morning in Auckland and we're off to see if my late night booking of a Zest Food Tour is going to pan out.  We were standing on Ouay Street waiting to check in for our tour.  I was not overly optimistic that a guide would show, but Helen, with Zest Tours was waiting for us.  

Chocolates from Milse

Helen had just moved to Auckland from Wellington and knew our previous guide, Fiona, quite well.  I told her she had a tough act to follow after our experience last year.  But Helen was amazing too.  We started with coffee at The Store, a unique coffee shop that  recently opened in Auckland and has taken the city by storm.  The owners have also opened several bistro type restaurants throughout Auckland that are also quite successful.  After coffee, it was time for chocolate at Milse.  

Rhubarb Dessert from Milse

The hand made chocolates were stunning and I'm getting ready to taste one right now ...  Yup!  They are delicious, too.  They specialize in chocolates, but also desserts in general.  Like this Rhubarb Custard jar.  Helen was quite intrigued by this dessert and dissected the ingredients with each bite so she could duplicate it at home. 

 

Gelato Tasting at Kapiti

Cheese Tasting at Kapiti

Next stop was Kapiti, a cheese and gelato store called.  The owner, Catherine let us sample 5 different cheeses and then we got into the gelato.  More than just plain vanilla, she had many unique fruit flavors that are only found in New Zealand.

Time for Devonport, another chocolate shop, that specialized in a hot chocolate drink.  Slightly thicker than regular hot chocolate, this drink tasted like a melted chocolate truffle.  It was quite rich and very yummy! 

Next stop was a medicinal honey store called Comvita.  The honey samples were thick, like a paste.  

Comvita Honey Shop

Although the honey had a very light flavor, it was very tasty and available in different strengths for various of ailments.  I bought the one that was guaranteed to fix everything.

Wine and Fish Tasting at the Fish Market

Our bag was getting a bit heavy after all these stops, but we kept going to our final stop, a fish market where we had a great Pino Gris wine with a plate of freshly cooked fish, shrimp and mussels.  The fish market had every kind of fish imaginable including octopus, Koi Carp,  (don't we use those in fish ponds??), Eel and Barracuda.  I don't cook, but IF I did, these fish would not top the charts of favorites.

Gourmet food all morning long followed by a great hotdog!!

This concluded our gourmet food tour with Helen, so we were free to wander the streets of Auckland before time to board the ship.  So we found our way back to one of the cute little restaurants that Helen pointed out earlier, Imperial Lane, and had a gourmet hotdog and a bottle of wine.  

George so graciously offers me coffee.

What a great way to wrap up a food tour.  On the way to check in on the Regency, I stopped for a quick coffee with George Clooney.  Why the hell NOT??

Regency Mariner

Time to board our ship, Regency Mariner, and begin the next adventure.  AND to finally unpack suitcases and get comfortable!!