Australia Journal Pages

Ever since I finished my first trip journal / art book, I lost some momentum and haven't been making as much. This book just doesn't feel as cohesive as the last one somehow. Despite that, I am powering through! Here are the pages I have so far for Australia, in the order they appear.

Auckland Food Tour

The title of this blog, "in search of the pomerac," comes from a trip we took to Trinidad about 3 years ago. On this trip, while being driven around the remote rainforested areas, our driver stopped to pick up some pomerac, a local fruit I had never had before. Upon hearing this, he insisted I try, and bought one for me from the roadside stall.

It was red and vaguely pear shaped, and tasted like a mix between an apple and a rose. There is a photo of me eating it--I am smiling, excited, trying something new, and I hope I always look that way. 

This morning, in pursuit of this same adventure, I went on a food tour of Auckland, New Zealand. 

It was hosted by Zest Food Tours of New Zealand, and kindly set up with the help of Tourism Auckland. My tour guide was Kerry Swan, a fantastic and fun woman who I spent the day laughing and eating with. 

We started at the Parnell Market, a Saturfay food market overflowing with fresh produce and delicious offerings. Near one stall, a boisterous man named Terry overheard me say I had never tried passion fruit before and, just like our driver in Trinidad, gave me one to try.

The outside of the passion fruit gives nothing away of the delicious center!

Kerry told me a lot of people use passion fruit as a dessert topping, squeezing the juice over tarts and ice cream. Terry helpfully advised you could also add it to vodka if so inclined.

The passion fruit was just the beginning! We picked up some coffee and wandered the market, sampling so-good-they-look-fake grapes, spreads, pastries, and cheese.

Everyone had samples to share, and there was a band playing soft background music as we wandered the outdoor stalls. 

Eventually we headed out to the CBD--center business district--of Auckland. I have spent some time here, but my tour with Kerry showed me just how little I had scratched of the surface. It was also a good reminder of how touring on your own often means you accidentally miss the best spots. It turns out there is a whole world of delicious coffee and food just off the main drag of Queen street, which I had never seen.

We walked through an old movie-theater-turned-coffee-shop on Imperial Lane. Having just had coffee at the time we continued on our way, but I came back here later on in the day after our tour was over and am actually sitting in one of the tables by the open door as I write this.

Our next stop was at the Devonport chocolate shop, where I was more than happy to sample any and everything they were willing to give me. The woman there have me some background on the company, which makes their chocolates by hand, and I learned there is such a job description as "chocolate polisher," who shines up each piece. I'm definitely in the wrong business!

While we were in the store a woman came in and bought a life-sized chocolate shoe!

My favorite chocolate by far was their salted caramel and dark chocolate mix.

We strolled through the city some more as Kerry pointed out different restuarants and cafés. There are a lot of clever ideas at work in Auckland, including something called "third wave" coffee, involving scientific looking brewing contraptions, and a restaurant that sends you to their neighboring bar if they are full, and calls your cell phone when your table is ready.

There are also more markets! I was amazed to see one right in the middle of the Britomart precinct down town. They are a great way to spend an afternoon, and at the next one I sampled raw honey, fancy granola, and of course more cheese.

At the market they had a stall making mussel fritters, a New Zealand must have, involving chopped up mussels fried with pieces of bread. My photo doesn't do it justice.

After the market we settled in to lunch at a charming little place called Ortolana. It is owned by a couple that also have a farm, and many of their ingredients come directly from their farm to the table, as you can see from this note on the menu:

It is the kind of place where you can just tell the owners love food, and the menu reflects it. I had the crayfish ravioli, adding another food I had never eaten before to the growing list for the day.

I also stole some of Kerry's fish, with couscous.

The restaurant had a completely insane array of desserts, which I took greedy drooly photos of. The desserts are sold in a neat little shop next door, so if you wanted you could just go in and pick something up while out for an evening stroll, or if you are in the restaurant they just go over and get it for you.

They also make their own ice cream bars, which is what I ended up getting. I went for the "Bar Alaska," which is wrapped in a meringue sort of marshmallow coating and flambed.

It was an incredibly delicious lunch. Every now and then I think "how different could one food be from another," and then I have something like this that has been crafted with love and I remember. The depth of flavor is what really gets me--my ravioli was fresh and light even while being made with delicious butter and garlic. 

The prices weren't too bad either, for how fancy the place seemed. My dish was $20, which for New Zealand, I have learned, is actually pretty standard for anything above street food. 

This restaurant is right down town, in an area filled with fairy lights and small shops. 

Kerry and I sat in our cushioned seats eating our fancy handmade icecream bars and chatting about Auckland and life. I really enjoyed my time with her.

When we parted ways she recommended I stop by the Wynyard Quarter, a reclaimed rail line along the harbour that now hosts new restaurants and a Saturday craft market. It was just a short walk away, and I perused the art and clothing on offer, and watched some kids swim in the sea.

I've never gone on a food tour before, and I really loved it. It was such an interesting way to get to know a new city, and it gave me a whole new perspective on Auckland and all it has to offer.

I think it would be most fun to do a food tour like this on your first or second day on a new city, as then spend the rest of the time re-exploring what you learned, and knowing where to go to get the best coffee.

After the tour as I walked around down town before catching a bus back to Epsom, I felt like a new person. I wasn't just a tourist anymore,  I knew what was down those side lanes, and what a flat white is, and how to eat a passion fruit, and now nothing could stop me.

Thanks, Kerry, Zest Food Tours, and Tourism Auckland for helping me find the pomerac once more!

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Book Online at www.zestfoodtours.co.nz

Call Zest Auckland at +64 9 362 0588

Kerry Swan, Director of Zest Food Tours of Auckland Ltd., email at: kerry@zestfoodtours.co.nz

Rangitoto Island

Have any extra uninhabited volcanic islands just laying around? New Zealand does! 

A few days ago while in Auckland, I took a $30 NZ ferry out to Rangitoto Island, a volcanic island about twenty minutes off the coast. 

It is completely uninhabited beyond a handful of small vacation/fishing homes clustered near the dock that have been grandfathered in, as they now represent a dying way of life in New Zealand. 

Beyond that, it is an island to itself, left to the purposes of the plants and birds there. 

The ferry goes out and back a few times a day, taking tourists, and that is it! There are no shops, no food, no water, no cell phone towers. Just you and the black lava and the blue ocean and the green growing across it all. 

The island is only around 700 years old, making it probably the youngest land I have ever walked on. It is young enough that it's creation is still "remembered" in verbal histories passed down in the Maori groups living here. 

It has no fresh water--no rivers, no streams, only the rain to feed its plants. The soil is just what has eroded from the lava. 

And yet! There it is, covered with lush green, different types of plants covering the rough black rock. 

It takes about an hour to walk / climb straight to the summit, but I added on another loop which took me across the lava fields and through the forest. The day was fairly overcast, which helped.

It was amazing! Despite the 20 or so other people who had come on the ferry with me, I was alone. There isn't much animal life on the island, but I did see and hear some new birds. The bird songs in New Zealand seem unusually complicated and strange. 

I also came across the best bird feather I have ever found, a title previously held by Malahide Beach in Ireland:

The island has trails leading out to a few lava tubes--areas where molten lava moved through, leaving behind tunnels as the outer edges cooled and solidified but the hot center kept moving. 

I was afraid of them, honestly, but went through anyway. Luckily they were short, so I could almost always literally see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

They looked almost prehistoric, like you would go through and come out to another world.

Here is the view from inside one of them:

And an obligatory cave selfie:

I covered a fair amount of the island's trails, and then headed back to its ragged edges. It was strange, where the lava met the sea. You could see its shapes, how it had moved 700 years ago, frozen in time.

Around 2:00 I went down to the dock to wait for the ferry, since I had to be back in Auckland to pick up a rental car at 5. The final ferry of the day leaves the island at 4:30, and I'm not sure what happens if you miss it! A lonely night on a sleeping volcano?

It was such a strange and unique experience. What a concept, to take a boat out to an uninhabited island, left for nature to do with as it sees fit. 

The landscapes here in New Zealans are pretty incredible as a general rule, and this was no exception. The overcast shady day didn't result in the greatest photos, but trust that it was quite a view to see the city of Auckland winking in the distance, beyond the ocean and jungle and lava fields. 

It felt great to get out and walk, and be surrounded by nature. Amazingly, this isn't the only island hanging around New Zealand, so hopefully I will explore a few more before our two weeks here is up.

One of the best things about our trip has been seeing just what things are out there. I love even just knowing that there is a place like Rangitoto, just out there in the ocean, doing its thing, the plants growing and the birds singing whether or not you are there to see it. 

Turns out the world is full of such places, and we are all the better for it.