It’s been a long day – a great day, but a long hard day of driving and we are really happy to get to Hamilton – our stop over for the evening. It’s the 4th largest urban area in New Zealand, with a cute little downtown and lots of green space.
We roll in through the strip malls (NZ style) and get turned around in a couple of roundabouts, but finally do end up finding our motel for the night: The Colony City Motel. This place is adorable – the word quaint just doesn’t really cut it – but it’s the best I have! The motel looks like it sprouted from a large Gingerbread style single family home –and has spread out with gingerbread posts and rails and odd little wood cornices. And the room! It’s like going to Grandma’s house – for real! It’s a huge 1 bedroom apartment – with a sitting room – complete with 2 old fashioned over stuffed chairs (one a rocker) and an extra bed which we told them we didn’t need, but, well, we got anyway!– a little dining area, a kitchenette with a bizarre electric grill stove, bedroom and the bathroom! Oh the shower! It has a metal base pan, raised off the floor, so that every time you step in it it moves and sounds like a timpani drum! It’s totally kitschy, but it’s clean and it’s in a perfect location for downtown – which is the only place we’re going tonight – for dinner!
We get ourselves organized, freshen up (awesome shower – even though it’s a metal drum!), then head downtown to Gothenburg – a tapas restaurant Ed has scouted out that looks great!
Downtown is literally 2 minutes away. We could have walked, but it is mostly up hill on the way home and I wasn’t up for that in my cute wedge sandals – so we drove. PITA. Parking is a joke – there is nothing anywhere. We circle the block a few times and can’t find a thing – and it’s parallel, which makes it doubly hard. We end up wussing out and going to the parking deck.
It’s gorgeous out – the weather here is just fabulous! 70’s, sun, warm, with a cool breeze. Really great – but then again this is the middle of their summer so how cold does it get in the winter?
This area of Hamilton is all restaurants and bars – for maybe a 2 block square radius? There is everything you can imagine or want. All different types of food, drink – oh and the “only free striptease bar in New Zealand”. All righty!
We settle in at an outside table at Guthenburg where we can listen to a singer from the next bar down. The sun is shining warmly (sunset is late – we’re below the equator and it stays light here late – but again – I keep forgetting – it’s summer!), and we relax over our beer and wine while perusing the menu.
We end up ordering 3 Tapas plates: Duck fat nuts with shallot salt, slow braised pork belly with a seasonal vegetable puree and whiskey maple caramel sauce and crispy calamari with chili salt and lime aioli. We’ve passed up the bacon popcorn with sage and butter – hey – we can do that at home! We have the bacon salt…so…..
Everything is superb! The nuts are salty, meaty and sort of silky from the duck fat. The calamari is moist, surprisingly light and delicious. But the Pork Belly – oh my word – it is the best we have ever had. Not only are the cuts meaty and tender, with just the right amount of fat and crispy outer layer – that sauce! We were worried it would be too sweet – the maple caramel – but oh no – it is so perfect. We can’t stop eating it – we’re almost ready to order a 2nd it is that good!
But – we refrain! We decide to head back to Grandma’s house and hang out with our beer and wine, and maybe micro some of our own popcorn (minus the bacon salt which is in Hilton Head!). So, we head inside to the bar to pay (NZ has this weird semi-British Pub deal going – you don’t have to order your drinks and food at the bar, a waiter will come to you, but you do have to pay at the bar. Odd.) We talk to the Manager/Bartender/guy who takes our credit card, and he asks us what our plans are for the evening. We tell him we are crashing because we’ve driven the Forgotten World Highway – which he is not familiar with – but he does say – oh so they were “hearty” roads were they? Love it! From now on – “that’s a hearty road, mate, yah?”
Back at the hotel, we do indeed indulge in our popcorn, and hang out on our little porch in the cool summer breeze. Tomorrow – Auckland!
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