At High Tea

Today I did another first: I went with some of the family for High Tea at Zealong Tea Estate, which is located not very far out of Hamilton. It was a fun family outing.

It's actually the first time I've been to high tea in New Zealand, though the place we had my 60th birthday party, which was was a relatively short drive from our last house, did high tea and Nigel and I wanted to take his mum there for that, but we never really had the chance. Lesson learned: Never put off what you can do today, and all that.

The food was really nice. Even though I seldom choose to drink tea, the one I had was also nice. The photo up top is of the three-tier serving thing in front of me (each of us participating got one), and I’ll talk about what was on each tier under the photo of each one, starting with the bottom tier:

At left, in focus, is a finger sandwich with venison pastrami, caramelised onions, pickles, and mustard. In the background on the right is a pumpkin flan, blue cheese mousse, and walnuts. In the back, mostly obscured, is a black truffle croque-monsieur with smoked chicken and Emmental.

The middle tier, at left: A silverbeet and buffalo ricotta Mediterranean tourte. At right is a crayfish and prawns roll with celery, wasabi, and avocado, which I gave away because I’ve had issues eating prawns in the past, and I haven’t had crayfish in years and decided it was best not to take a risk on it. In the background is a Ora King smoked salmon and herbs waffle with mustard cream.

The sweets were on the top tier. The pink thing standing up is a Lady Gatsby tea macaron (Lady Gatsby is one of their tea varieties). At left is a pistachio and lemon tartelette, and in the background is a chocolate croustillant (which several people thought was too sweet, but I liked it).

There was noting I didn’t like, though I of course liked some things more than others. I really wanted to try the crayfish and prawns roll, since I actually like everything in it, but I didn’t want to risk an allergic reaction, even though I think it was unlikely. I suppose the best part is my curiosity is satisfied: I’ve known about their high tea for years, and now I’ve finally had it (I’ve eaten in the restaurant before, but that was a meal, not high tea (and it was also really nice).

I was thinking this morning that high tea is kind of like an English tapas—small plates. Though served in a tiered thing. The one time I made tapas for the family back in 2013 I discovered how much work it is, and doubt making high tea like we had today would be any easier. So, I have huge respect for the chefs.

That’s one more new experience checked off the list. I’ve been pretty slack about going after adventures in Hamilton, but, then, there have been a LOT extenuating circumstances over the past four years since I moved here. As I always say, though, “what I can, when I can,” and that applies to adventures, too: One day, one adventure, one high tea at a time. Of course.

Adventures happen

I still have adventures, mostly small, and I usually talk about them here. Sometimes, however, I simply forget. Last Friday was one of those times.

Last Friday I met up with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and cousin-in-law for lunch at a place none of us had been to. I shared the photos on social media—Instagram, my personal Facebook, and also as my first post on Threads (as an Instagram share). But I forgot to share it here, something I only realised today when I was looking at my photos and saw the one above. I’m going to fix that now.

The place we went to is called Saints Public House in an area northwest of Hamilton called Te Kowhai, which is a ten minute (or so) drive from my house over country roads. The building is a repurposed church from 1906 that had originally stood in central Hamilton. It was closed due to earthquake risk, and was eventually moved to Te Kowhai where it was refurbished and made earthquake safe.

The fact the place used to be a church amused me, and I joked, “You can tell the building was deconsecrated: I didn’t burst into flames when I walked in.” Of course I don’t think that’s a real thing that can actually happen, but as a now secular heathen preacher’s kid, it was funny to me—and others, of course.

The place had a really nice feel to it—welcoming, cosy, and fun, all in one. I liked being able to see the original construction details, including the iron rods used to tie the exterior side walls together, something that was often done in churches of that era so they could have large, open roof spaces without rafters. The organ pipes at the front appear to be from the church, too. There was a book of photos for customer to look at, and it showed that before it was closed the ceiling was painted. There were no antique photos of the inside to show if the ceiling was originally just wood, as it is now, but natural wood was quite commonly used in New Zealand churches during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. To me, one of the most spectacular examples of that is Old St Paul's in Wellington, formerly an Anglican “provisional cathedral” and now a government-owned facility and tourist attraction.

Free phone charging station.

The food and coffee at the cafe was very nice. I had the Crispy Chicken Waffle, which was great. The good food, friendly service, and nice vibe led me to say on my social media post, “I’m definitely planning on going back,” because I am. In fact, I may even take myself there on a lunch date.

As I was sitting there, I couldn’t help but think about how Nigel would’ve liked the place: We had similar reactions to public spaces like cafés, and we both appreciated the sort of vibe this place had. I also know he’d have noticed the phone charging station—the first one like that I’ve seen anywhere. And, of course, I know he’d have liked the food. These are the sorts of thoughts I have whenever I go somewhere new like that; I imagine I always will.

It was a good time, with good food, good company, in a place with a good vibe. And yet, I forgot to mention it here at all. That’s a shame because part of the reason I share such things here is so I can go into more detail than I do in social media posts, and to provide relevant links. But this blog is also where I chronicle this new life journey I’m on, and I think it’s very important that I also share details of the good experiences I’m having, the fun times when my mini-adventures happen. But I’ll probably continue to forget to share some of them. That happens, too.

Important Note: I used the name of the café for purposes of description and clarity. No company or entity provided any support or payment for this blog post, and the meal and coffee I had were purchased by me at normal consumer prices. So, the opinions I expressed are my own genuinely held opinions, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the owners, operators, or any known human being, alive or dead, real or corporate. Just so we’re clear.

An adventure that became a dud

A year ago today, I went on what I called “A mini-adventure”. The title was tongue-in-cheek, because it was about a trip to a nearby part of Hamilton I’d never spent any time in. I went there for the very specific reasons I talked about in that post, but, what happened next?

It turned out that I went back to that shopping area a few months later and had a very bad experience: I went into the NZ Post agent there and the woman sitting at the till completely ignored me and sat watching videos on her phone. I walked out after a few minutes (I stayed a bit longer than I normally would’ve just to see if she ever acknowledged my presence, but she never did). I just wanted to ask her what time the letter boxes were emptied (vandals had torn the stickers off, possibly not the same ones who graffitied them) because I needed to post my ballot in the Local Government Elections. I took my chances and posted it (there are very few boxes around any more, since few people post anything anymore).

I decided I might as well pop in the Countdown while I was there, just to see what they had. The store was small, very dark, and much of the stuff they carried (frozen food in particular) was aimed at the lower-socioeconomic clientele of the area. The beer and wine aisle was extensive and well-stocked, I noticed. There appeared to be anti-theft barriers at the checkouts (to slow down shoplifters, I guessed).

I read on Stuff recently that Countdown is closing that location because it’s old, too small, and the building needs unspecified earthquake upgrades. Local shopkeepers said the “real reason” was how much they were losing due to theft. Whatever, it’s the only supermarket in the area, and to get to another location people would have to drive (if they have a car…) or take a bus—and bus service in much of Hamilton is pretty bad. So, that food store I mentioned last year will probably pick up some customers, and the poor people in the area will be doing it a bit tougher in already very hard times.

Last November, the bottle shop (“liquor store” in Americanese) that had been in the shopping area for a decade lost its license, as the Stuff article put it, because of “its ‘vulnerable and deprived’ neighbourhood, employment record, and police and health concerns.” Among other things, objectors felt it might create a “relapse risk to nearby residents in alcohol and drug treatment”. I bought things from that bottle shop one of the two times I was at that shopping area (I forget which time).

I didn’t go back to that butcher. It turned out that the meat I bought a year ago had a lot of water, and I ended up throwing out some chicken I bought because it went off quickly, before the use-by date. Maybe that was just an isolated unfortunate bad experience, but I’ll never know: I’m not driving there just to save a few cents per kilogram on the meat I rarely buy when I wouldn’t get anything else at that shopping centre—I may as well just buy everything at a supermarket. I said in my post last year:

[Shopping at that butcher] would probably erase all or most of the savings if I wasn’t buying other things at that shopping centre, too, especially because I eat very little meat. If I was feeding a family—or even two people—it would make more sense to make a special trip. Still, other shops in that shopping area may provide the rest of what I need in a routine shopping trip, and, if so, it could be worth stopping at the butcher, maybe stocking up and freezing stuff.

Clearly, things didn’t turn out that way.

When I got back to my car the last time I went to the shopping area, I rang NZ Post to complain about their agent, and while my call was very important to them, the wait time was estimated at 29 minutes. I hung up and drove home, in a rather unpleasant mood. Leo’s happy greeting when I got home fixed that.

I have another close-to-home mini-adventure planned for after the current school holidays end (for good reason), but more about that later. That mini-adventure one year ago today ended up being a bust, but I’d never have found that out if I hadn’t gone there. Now I know. On to the next adventure.

A mini-adventure

I went on a mini-adventure yesterday: I went to a neighbourhood shopping area a relatively short drive from my house, closer than the big name places I normally go to, and with far less traffic and congestion on the roads—even at the end of the school day, it turned out. I didn’t know all that because I’d never spent any time in that area before. It proved educational in a lot of ways.

It all started because I wanted to pick up some chicken for tonight (I’m making my own-style chicken stir fry; “own-style” means not a recipe as such, just a bit of this, a bit of that, whatever I have that I feel like putting in it). I could’ve gone to a supermarket, but the Thursday before Easter is usually crazy busy (the shops are all closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, as they are every year, and yet somehow masses of people manage to forget that—every year—and mob supermarkets).

It made me wonder if there was butcher shop near me, since all I wanted was chicken, and it turned out there’s a fairly large one in an area of Hamilton called Nawton. I didn’t know there were many shops in that area (because I hadn’t been there), but I knew it wasn’t exactly an upmarket part of town. Still, I don’t let that stop me (not in daylight, anyway), so off I went.

It was really well-stocked with diverse cuts, including cheaper things like bacon bones, brisket, and large bags of frozen chicken drumsticks, for example. The prices seemed pretty good, but I wasn’t certain because prices for meat and vegetables have soared in recent weeks, and I no longer have any idea what supermarkets charge for the same things. However, I noticed that they seemed to pack most things into packages priced at $15, and some packs were marked as “bargain packs” at $13.99 (same use by date). Personally, I’d find that easy for budgeting. As A result, I bought a little more than I’d intended. [I later did a price comparison, which is at the bottom of this post]

The same little shopping area has some food places (like a sushi shop), a branch of a Waikato-based bottle shop (“liquor store” in Americanese), a pub/cafe-ish looking place (it had a “gaming lounge”, which might influence the clientele they get), and it also had the Nawton branch of Countdown (I forgot there was one), and a small independent food store (“supermarket” doesn’t seem like the best term for it).

I plan to go back again, on a less busy day, at least to go back to the butchers, but I’d also like to look around the Nawton Countdown, too (the one I usually go to sometimes tries my patience…). So, when I need my next supermarket trip (next week or the week after), I think I’ll go there, maybe have some sushi for lunch, too. I like supporting local businesses, especially independent ones, so I’m willing to give it a go.

I guess more mini-adventures await.

A footnote: Price comparisons

Today, I decided to compare the prices I paid at the butcher with what two supermarkets charge, so I went to the websites for both Countdown and New World and tried to match same to same. The short version is that in every case, I paid less at the butcher than the current non-discounted prices at the two supermarkets [Important note: Supermarket prices were accurate at the time I checked, but they may change quickly. Also, in the case of some prices for Countdown, I had to work out the unit price because the supermarket didn’t provide that information, displaying only the price for a small pack. I may have made errors in those calculations, but I doubt it]. One kilogram (kg) = 2.2 US pounds, and today 1 NZ dollar equals around 68 US cents. 

Chicken: I bought boneless/skinless chicken breasts and thighs, and both were free range. At the butcher, the breasts were $13.99 per kilogram, at Countdown it was $18/kg, and New World charged $24.99/kg. The thighs were $17.99/kg at the butcher, 25/kg at Countdown, and $22.48/kg at New World.

Premium Beef Mince: This is the top-of-the-line sort of beef mince (“ground beef” in Americanese), with the lowest percentage of fat. I paid $19.78/kg at the butcher. Countdown didn’t have premium beef mince available on its site, but New World charged $24.99/kg.

All three suppliers sold basic versions of the meats (in this case, meaning non-freerange), though I had to look at the butcher’s website to find out their price for ordinary versions. Chicken breast: $13.99/kg at the butcher, $12.90/kg at Countdown, and $11.99/kg at New World (the price listed at the butcher is the same as free range chicken breast—maybe that’s all they offered at the moment?). Chicken thigh: $16.99/kg at the butcher, $22/kg at Countdown, and $22.99/kg at New World. Beef mince: $13.99/kg at the butcher, $14.90/kg at Countdown, and $14.99/kg at New World.

All up, the directly comparable products were usually considerably less expensive at the butcher, and, with the possible exception of chicken breast, the prices for non-freerange products were also cheaper at the butcher. It’s important to note, however, that supermarket specials, promotions, and package deals (like Countdown’s “3 for $20” offerings) can make supermarket prices competitive with the butcher’s prices (putting aside issues of personal preference).

The lesson I take from this is that if I’m not making a special trip, it probably makes sense for me to buy meat from the butcher, but it would probably erase all or most of the savings if I wasn’t buying other things at that shopping centre, too, especially because I eat very little meat. If I was feeding a family—or even two people—it would make more sense to make a special trip. Still, other shops in that shopping area may provide the rest of what I need in a routine shopping trip, and, if so, it could be worth stopping at the butcher, maybe stocking up and freezing stuff.

As it happens, I’ve been researching budgeting for food as a single person, and that’ll be the subject of an upcoming blog post. This turned out to help with that research. Not bad for an unplanned mini-adventure.

This post began life as something I posted to my personal Facebook yesterday, but this blog post is greatly expanded from that, including the price comparisons.

Shearing time

Last week, the dogs were shorn again. Neither one likes it, but sometimes it’s the only way to do it. Like when they’ve been neglected, for example. Jake always gets over it fairly quickly, but Leo? He becomes neurotic for about a week. Next week they should both be back to normal.

The dogs both needed grooming for quite some time, but so did Sunny. I didn’t want to groom her because she was so unhealthy, and because she’d look even worse after: She was nothing but fur and bones her last few months. But the bigger truth is, I was so wrapped up in caring for her (and worrying about her), that I just didn’t have any room in my head to figure out how to get the other two groomed.

I knew I couldn’t leave Sunny at home alone while the other two were done because she’d become a bit more emotionally needy as her disease progressed. Ordinarily, if I wasn’t there, Jake and Leo were. So, I could get a dog sitter to stay with her all day, or I could get a mobile groomer to come to the house. This latter one is a good idea because Leo gets car sick, and their usual groomer is now located about an hour and a half away. It was all too difficult for me to figure out while I was so focused on caring for Sunny.

Sunny died before I could resolved the dilemma, and instead my cousin-in-law arranged for us to take Jake and Leo, her dog, and a friend’s dog all together to be groomed. We’d have a human day out while they were at the doggie beauty parlour. She drove so I could hold Leo the whole way: My mother-in-law and I accidentally found out that if someone holds Leo, he doesn’t get car sick. It worked.

My cousin-in-law and I went to Te Aroha first and had a late breakfast, wandered around a little bit, then headed off to the larger town of Morrinsville. There we had a coffee and wandered around the shops. I also took a photo of one of the many cow statues in town, and I also posted one with me and of the more unusual cow statues. I originally planned on sharing them here, too, but—yeah, this time getting away from me thing is really, really common.

At any rate, we picked up the dogs pretty much on time and headed back to Hamilton. One of my sisters-in-law requested before and after photos, and those are above. Jake always looks so much older after he’s been shorn, but not so much when his fur is a bit longer.

Leo always looks like a completely different dog after he’s shorn. I don’t mind—his fur grows out soon enough. But when he gets groomed—shorn in particular—he’s neurotic for around a week afterward: Running from one end of the house or the other, hiding under the bed or under a pillow on a sofa (photo below), jumping up in my lap in any chair I happen to be in (and sleeping there for hours if I let him), and often compulsively licking himself (usually his forearm). This usually takes about a week to go away, so by the middle of this coming week, he should be back to normal (he’s part way there already).

I’d like to have a go at maintaining their look, but I don’t know how that’ll go. Jake will let me, but he can’t stand for very long anymore, and Leo—well, the very last time Nigel and tried to groom him he bit us both and drew a little blood. He’s mellowed since then (I think he was two at the time), but he doesn’t like me to trim the hairs over his eyes when they get too long, so I’m not optimistic this idea will work.

Instead, I’ll probably need to get them trimmed professionally, and I’ll do it much sooner this time. The last time I had them all trimmed was in June, not long after a lot of Sunny’s teeth were removed. That’s an unusually long time between groomings, but just like late 2019, whne they were also were also way overdue, there were extenuating circumstances that delayed me getting them.

Still, they’re shorn, and that will make it easier to maintain them, whoever does the actual grooming. That’s the main thing.

The Raglan Adventure

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Today’s adventure: Raglan, NZ.

A post shared by arthur_amerinz (@arthur_amerinz) on Jul 4, 2020 at 4:22pm PDT

Today was a more or less impromptu adventure: My first trip to Raglan, a surf community approximately 48 kilometres (around 30 miles) west of Hamilton. The trip was the first of what I hope will become occasional day trips on weekends, mainly to spots that are an easy drive from Hamilton. The plan is that they’ll be a mix of new places to see (or some to see again), markets, etc.

My cousin-in-law and I hatched the plot last night when went out for dinner. We were both free, and thought the idea of day trips was a good one, since we’re both keen to take some photos as well as see different places. Raglan was just the first.

The GPS said it would be about 35 minutes from my house to Raglan, though most estimates say it’ll be 45. Some of the roads are winding and/or hilly, and that may account for the difference in time estimates: If I’d been driving, it would’ve taken longer because I feel less confident on challenging roads.

A Raglan tourist information site describes it this way:

Raglan is a town like no other. Equally popular with tourists, surfers, artists and hippies Raglan is all about the lifestyle. You can wander the cafes and shops, hang out at the beach or catch a wave at the world famous point breaks. Raglan life moves at a slower pace than the rest of New Zealand and those that live there wouldn’t have it any other way.

That’s a pretty accurate description.

We first went to the beaches to take photos. It was cold, mainly due to strong winds. The photo up top is of Manu Bay, and the one below is a selfie looking toward Whale Bay Surfing Beach (we didn’t actually go to that beach because it looked like it was difficult to get to). The photo up top is darker and moodier than the day actually was because I set my white point in the glare so it wouldn't blast out the photo. I kind of like it that way.

After the visiting the wild coast, we headed into Raglan itself, heading to the wharf. We stopped at Soul Shoes, a handcrafted leather goods place (neither of us bought anything), and then went on to lunch: Fish and chips at Raglan Fish, which gets good ratings. It was very nice—and appropriate.

The next stop was Tony Sly Pottery, where we both bought something. After that, with the weather starting to close in, we headed home.

I liked visiting Raglan, and next time I’d like to buy more artisan stuff, and I’d like to visit some of the art galleries there. That’ll take some nicer weather, and maybe on a weekday when it’s not as crowded. We’ll see.

I thought Raglan really did have a laid back, arty vibe—as well as also being like many seaside holiday communities. It was a nice blend.

While we were wandering around the wharf area, I saw a gay couple in one shop, though I didn’t know that at first, since I don’t normally pay much attention to other shoppers in a store. I only realised it because I had to get out of the way of one of them—precisely because I wasn’t paying attention. I saw them again later at another place. The thing is, I always like seeing gay couples because it makes me feel good to see couples enjoying doing stuff together, like Nigel and I did. However, that also make me a little sad because they have what I used to have until nine months ago. Still, it’s entirely possible that seeing them helped influence my generally positive opinion of the place.

I hope to get back to Raglan, but it took me all these years to get there for the first time. Still, I have no idea where these adventures will take me, but I’ll no doubt document what those adventures are.

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Obligatory selfie. 🙂

A post shared by arthur_amerinz (@arthur_amerinz) on Jul 4, 2020 at 4:40pm PDT