Last weekend things

Last weekend I did a few cool things which I posted pics of in the previous two posts BUT I realised that I didn't really write anything about what I was doing so here goes ...

Saturday breakfast at De fontein in Mission Bay

This was a pretty cool surprise. I've been to beer-o'clock at the down stairs bar and I've eaten their mussels but I never knew that it was possible to get breakfast here. We had picked a beautiful day and so despite it being the middle of July we sat out on the balcony overlooking the bay. AWESOME start. We started with hangover busting glasses of coke and then on to the coffee. It was totally fine coffee but not amazing or really much to write about. My friend got an omelet which was also a bit underwhelming but essentially fine. I had a raspberry waffle and WOW it was soooooo good. It looked beautiful and tasted perfect. The location and the great service really made this a great experience.  

The average omelet and coffee lets them down a little but to be honest it was such a relaxing and enjoyable experience that I will still give them an 8/10 :)

Matariki celebrations at Orakei Marae (KITE DAY)

This was very cool. The Marae is in perhaps the best location in the city with sweeping views over the ocean. The kite day was a simple event ... literally flying kites on the hill :-) There were a few professionals there with some pretty eye catching displays. What I loved about this was that there were no hi tech anythings and yet the hundreds of people there were having a ball. FANTASTIC.

Rekorderling winter lights pop up pub

I was really looking forward to heading into the pub. It had been all over my face book and blog roll. They had taken over a small corner of down town and claimed to have a bar that evoked a winters night in Sweden  The claimed snow and warm fires and it just sounded awesome! 

I have to say that frankly it was crazily over hyped. It was cool with the fir trees and fake grass. There was a little bit of fake snow falling when you first walked in but I was expecting it to be covering the place. This ended up being the sort of place where young people in their party clothes were sitting on the floor and the giant glasses they served the alcohol in were littering the place. I don't know why I was so underwhelmed. It worked on paper but in person I wasn't into it. Perhaps because it was such a warm night in the city or perhaps because there was nowhere to sit even though the place wasn't packed when we were there... I reckon the problem is that everybody was expecting so much and were determined to have fun despite the fact that it was .... at the end of the day just another pub. 5/10

Matariki lights at Maybury Park in Glen Innes

Now THIS was really really cool. Another free event put on by the local community board that was very well attended by the community. There was a trail laid down around the park and all the way around were sculptures made from neon lights. There was even a mirror ball in a tree which I LOVED. It was really fantastic and as Saturday was the last night of Matariki it was topped with a fireworks display. FANTASTIC. Awesome firstly that it was free and awesome secondly that it was so well attended :)

Silo park markets and dinner at Wynyard quarter

Definitely love me some Silo Park.  The markets were on and at almost every stall was some little treasure that I wished I could take home with me. The weather was awesome and so the beer garden was busy. Such a lovely way to spend some time and again its always awesome to see the public spaces being so enthusiastically used. We went to the fish market for dinner. My friend had salmon and chips. It was so simple - a salmon steak and chips for $18. Absolutely perfectly done and given the price of fish in this country it was really reasonably priced.  I had the kids fish and chips and the first great thing was that they gave me the option to have it battered or crumbed. Again a simple dish but elevated by it's perfect execution. 

Lilac gelato at Smiths in Glendowie

On Sunday I went for a walk around the spit in Glendowie. Again it was pretty fab weather so we stopped in at Smiths for some gelato.  I'd never really had gelato before so it was a very new experience. The Lilac flavour is so hard to describe .. a little strawberry a little minty and perhaps even a little chocolate. Very sweet but not intensely so. .. Quite the mystery but VERY delicious :)