Roadside raw oysters anyone?
March 20th – Woke up feeling refreshed and ready for whatever was going to be thrown our way. We packed up and readied ourselves to leave Paihia. But, before leaving, we wanted to go back to the Treaty Grounds once last time. All of us, weirdly including the kids, wanted to go back to the museum to finish the story. You know a museum has done a good job when kids want to go back the very next day.
We went back to the little cafe on the grounds for breakfast. There are really no bad places to eat in NZ. If they can make pies at a gas station taste delightful or museum cafes delectable, there is no reason Canada can’t figure it out. Learn from this Canada. Learn.
We headed back into the museum. It really is amazing. I’m a nerd (obviously) and enjoy museums a lot. I like history and art. Any kind of museum really. I love wandering through exhibitions and reading all the signs. I’m that annoying person. A true nerd. But this museum was fun. It had an easy vibe to it which made learning fun. Like I said – even the kids loved it.
We probably spent a good couple of hours there checking everything out. But we needed to get back to Auckland. Busty Bubbles was needed. Madam M had a girls night planned and time was a tickin’.
We wanted to make a couple of stops along the way. The first one being an oyster shack. Oh, you heard that right. An oyster shack along the highway nowhere near water. Now, most people would not stop and go through the little door and walk up to the little window and order a dozen oysters from a lady wearing a blue plastic cap and elbow long, blue rubber gloves on the side of the road nowhere near water. But we aren’t most people. The little Monkey craves raw oysters fortnightly. I mean if he could live on one thing, I think he would choose oysters on the half shell. He is truly obsessed with the little pearl givers. When we were in South Africa 3 years ago, he only ordered oysters for lunch. Daily. Nothing else. He was 7 then. He is going to need a really good job or sugar momma if he wants to sustain that kind of lifestyle.
We order our oysters but there is nowhere to sit. So, we just walk out the door and there is a table that we proceed to claim. No chairs. Just a bar height, wooden table. Not sure who was going to challenge us to that table, because no one stops for oysters on the side of the road that is nowhere near water. We started eating the little suckers. They were insanely salty and not very good. Surprisingly not very good. I know, we should have figured that out PRIOR to ordering from the blue rubber head cap and gloves lady but… we are fun idiots. We each had our allotted number of oysters. It came down to the last one and the Monkey wanted it sooooo bad. Even bad oysters are better than no oysters. Poor kid got a rotten one. He spit it out so fast. I mean it was like a bullet flying out of his mouth. Poor kid. He was so angry and disgusted. He raised his tiny fist in the air and yelled “Why?! Why?!”. It was a dramatic scene. He looked back at the door, sighed and then made us promise to get him good oysters before we left NZ to erase this horrible tragedy. Wow… drama school awaits this kid. Spoiler alert. No one gets sick and dies. Surprisingly.
I really hope no one sees me going into this place. Once you are done eating your oysters, you simply go throw the shells on the pile just up on the hill. A fine dining experience indeed. The last one before the apocalyptic moment for the Monkey.
We get back in the car, not entirely sure of what we just experienced, but happy to be heading away from it. The next stop is Waipu Cove.
There are so many little beaches in NZ. They are mostly tucked away off the road. Hard to find these little gems unless you know about them already or are just lucky and lost. Waipu Cove is considered a great place to boogie board. One of the best apparently. We will never know though. The stupid weather didn’t want to cooperate with us. As we pulled up, it started to rain. Really rain. Lightening and thunder. Everyone was getting out of the water and heading for their cars. Even though we are fun idiots, we aren’t so dumb that we don’t take our cues from locals. Ok. The oyster shack was a different story. Anyway, the clouds finally cleared enough that we could get out and walk along the beach for a few mins before going for lunch at The Cove.
The Cove cafe is top notch. I mean really, really good. I spotted a cool looking cookbook on one of the tables. I started flipping through it. I very quickly realized that it had some awesome recipes and ideas in it. And one of the restaurants featured was the very one we were currently eating in. I told the server that “I needed this”. She strongly agreed with me. She said she would be right back.
You need this. Even the chef says so.
She got the book signed for me by the chef. I love the Kiwis. They are a cool and welcoming people. Just a heads up by the way, I have made several of the dishes out of this book already. Once we get into self isolation posts, you will be inundated with pictures. You’ve been warned.
We got back on the road. Only a couple hours left to Auckland. I drove again as it really helps keep food in my stomach and not roadside. As soon as we got into town, we started to sort out some of the travel issues. Again. Anyway, I couldn’t dwell on that because I needed to get ready for girls night out! The boys were going to stay in, order in and watch a movie with the kids. Perfect.
Drinks with the gals. Oh yeah. The gals included Busty Bubbles, M, Swiss Miss and the Prof. and they are all french speakers. Even better – french gals night out. We got to the wine bar and found a little spot to hunker down. We immediately ordered bubbles and got chatting away. The joy of being out on the town with the gals. But it was about to get better. One of the owners was there and he started a little karaoke. Oh yes. This is M and I’s game. We are in! It wasn’t real karaoke though. He just carried around a plastic microphone and tried to sing over the music. No prob! I got this! We do it all the time. He handed me the mic once or twice but alas I couldn’t participate. It wasn’t an issue of keenness to join in but I didn’t know or even recognize any of the music. So, when that happens, you just take over the sound system.
I chose a couple of classics to get us all started. We all performed well. Then as the drinks increased, so did our enthusiasm and showmanship. With that, I ended on Spirit of the West’s “Home for a Rest”. All I can say, is that wine bar was not ready for our rowdy dance moves or diva voices. And I was going to be slightly hungover the next day. I will never learn.