Welly Like A Local - Beyond the City

Wellington. The city that just keeps on giving. As a first time visitor, I could’ve spent days and days exploring the cities urban nooks. Not because it is a huge place, but because around every corner there is another cafe, another piece of street art, or another chatty local keen to share tips on their favourite shoe factory or carpark come restaurant to try. Despite the urban fun, it didn’t take too long before those recommendations were sending me beyond the city skyline. The tips became all about ferries, bays, nearby villages in valleys and the hobbit like hilly landscape that rolls out to the sea. 

One afternoon, I headed north west to the coast past those hobbit like hills. I ended up at Boomrock Lodge, an eight kilometre stretch of untouched coastline at the top of a 250 metre cliff. I can’t say I expected any of the afternoons activities to come, but I can say that I’m not sure the last time that I had that much packed in action and fun. I somehow ended up 4WD-ing on an all terrain track alongside many a wooly sheep, shooting claybirds over the Cook Straight (I surprised myself here!) followed by a cosy wine by the fire with the friendly staff and with sunset views over the ocean and out across to the South Island. Heaven. 

Another day was spent exploring around Petone in the Hutt Valley, only 20 minutes drive from the city. My new Wellington friend Alex was kind enough to take the day off work to show me around. First, I was introduced to the character filled and incredibly fun cafe Seashore Caberet, then on to the Dowse Art Museum where I fell in love with the Museum staff and became enthralled (read obsessed) in learning about the protective measures to prevent earthquakes smashing the museums ceramic collection. Lunch was a blow me away bowl of bibimbap and not your average peanut butter on toast at Comes&Goes cafe on Jackson St, followed by a trip to the artisan textiles mill, Stansborough, to see where woollen fabric for The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and Narnia is made. We ended the afternoon in Days Bay with a bit of drift wood scouting on the beach followed by a sunset ferry ride back to the city. 

For those lucky enough to find themselves exploring this cool little capital, I hope you also get to explore the villages, nature and fun beyond the city.  The list is endless (I'm still working through it)
but here are some of my favourites so far:

Boomrock Lodge | 292 Boom Rock Rd, Ohariu Valley, Wellington
Hut Valley
Seashore Cabaret | 160 The Esplanade, Petone, Lower Hutt 
The Dowse Art Museum | 45 Laings Road, Lower Hutt
Comes & Goes | 259 Jackson Street, Petone
Stansborough | 68 Fitzherbert Street, Petone
Petone Settlers Museum | The Esplanade, Petone, New Zealand
Days Bay

Welly Like A Local

I recently I spent three days in Wellington, New Zealand, to experience and shoot the streets as a local. I flew from one cool little capital to another and landed among creative precincts, chatty denizen's, smells of coffee that made me want to drink coffee and food the best I’ve tasted this side of Copenhagen.
Imagine if San Francisco, Hobart and Hawaii had a baby. They would have a Wellington. SF for the hills and houses, Hobart for the weather, harbour and walkability and Hawaii for the vegetation and reminders of earthquakes. I suppose when a place is new on your travel map you search for similarities & comfort by comparing trips elsewhere. Wellington really does stand strong alone though, and its architecture, food scene, friendly people and daily grind impressed the pants off me. Three days wasn’t enough. I could easily (actually) become a real local here. 

Welly like a local would:

EAT

Egmont Street Eatery | 11 Egmont Street, Wellington | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
In an old carpark in an alleyway. Seasonal, simple, local produce. A hidden gem.  Small space - book or arrive early. 

Matterhorn | 106 Cuba Street, Wellington | Dinner
Originally a Swiss coffee house opened in 1963 and now a Welly institution. An all in one restaurant, cafe, cocktail bar and supper club. A favourite of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit stars during filming.

Charley Noble | Ground Floor, Huddart Parker Building, No 1 Post Office Square | Dinner
Wood-fired cooking, local ingredients, natural wine and craft beers. A haven for lovers of both seafood and meat. 

Shepherd | 1/5 Eva Street, Wellington | Dinner  
One of the newest kids on the laneway, Shepherd is brought to you by Shepherd Elliot from Leed Street Bakery and Ti Kouka cafe, and Sean Golding from Golding's Free Dive. Vibrant vibe. Fresh, seasonal, local and big on offal. 

Prefab | 14 Jessie Street, Wellington | Breakfast & Lunch
An all in one eatery, coffee roastery, community hub, events facility and showcase for New Zealand design. The ACME & CO breads and bakery items are baked and served warm from the Prefab oven throughout the day.

Leed St Bakery | 6g/14 Leeds street Wellington NZ 6011 | Snacks
An institution since 2013. Go for baked goods including sourdough & salted caramel cookies. Watch the bakers bake next door as you munch on a handmade sandwich. 

Lorettas | 181 Cuba Street, Wellington | Breakfast Through Dinner
The place I didn't get to eat at but everyone told me to go! Apparently everything is good here and isn't to be missed. Boo. Next time... 

 

DRINK

Customs Coffee | 39 Ghuznee St, Te Aro, Wellington
The coolest coffee kids in town. 'Roasting delicious coffee and creating meaningful coffee experiences for folks who simply love coffee'.

Havana | 32 Wigan Street, Wellington
A Cuban themed bar and haven for lovers of world music. A wide range of beer, wines and spirits, both Cuban and otherwise.

Hawthorn Lounge | Upstairs 82 Tory St, Wellington
Based on a gentlemen’s retreat/public living room. Hawthorn has all the grace one would expect from the 1920s - big band music, nattily attired staff and killer cocktails.  

Husk | 62 Ghuznee Street, Te Aro
Wellingtons latest brewery, bar, coffee roastery & eatery. Expect to see a wide range of experiments pouring across 12 taps, including nitro and 2 handpulls, as well as barrel aged cocktails poured from cask.

Noble Rot Wine Bar |  6 Swan Lane, Wellington City
Non pretentious, ripper wine menu, cosy candlelit space. Delicious oysters, too.  

SHOP

Vessel | 87 Victoria St Wellington
Handmade domestic ware from some of New Zealand’s best ceramicists.

Precinct 35  | 35 Ghuznee St Wellington
Design store. Minimalism and quality, practical and beautiful.

Fix & Fogg | 5 Eva Street, central Wellington
Best peanut butter ever. Go. 
 

SEE

Cuba Street
Cuba Street is widely considered to be the coolest street in New Zealand with upmarket designers, diverse restaurants and craft beer bars coexisting happily. A haven for coffee addicts, buskers, emerging designers, artists and eclectics.

Hannahs Laneway
A former industrial quarter, now home to bakers, roasters, grinders, brewers, chocolatiers, pizza slingers and soda crafters. 

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa | 55 Cable Street, Wellington

Wellington Writers Walk
Eleven text sculptures located along Wellington’s harbour from Chaffers Marina, Frank Kitts Park and along Oriental Bay. Each sculpture contains a quotation about the city from a poem or piece of prose by one of the many talented writers who have made Wellington their home at some point in their lives including Katherine Mansfield, James K. Baxter, and Maurice Gee. 

Oriental Bay
Just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre, this golden sand beach and swanky realestate area is a top spot for a bit of walking, cycling, people watching or dining. 

Thanks so much to @wellington_newzealand for welcoming me and showing me around. 

Uluru- Kata Tjuta

Some moments from a recent trip to the spiritual heart of Australia - the land of the Ananou people and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. 

I spent three majestic days here, during which the harsh May light constantly bounced up from the burnt orange ochre, casting heavy shadows over the dunes and finding its way into my eyes - reminding me that I'm not a fan of deserts. But there was something about being here that dug right in and captivated me. Perhaps it was the magnitude of the space and land. Maybe it had something to do with the overwhelming presence of 'the rock' or the dimming of the harsh sun in the evenings that then opened up the vast night sky. Or perhaps, there was something about the silence.

It was a special time to be here. An unusual amount of autumn rain saw plains of lush spinifex grow. Trees were filled with ili (wild figs) and arnguli (bush plums). Warm welcomes came in the form of a 'Palya' and a full dessert moon.
Dawn and dusk were go times here. Dawn drew in the sunrise seekers, to experience the transformation of pre-dawn silence and crisp morning air into first morning light on Uluru's eastern face. And dusk saw the big sky fill up with the most golden sunsets, celebrated with sparkling wine and views of a the distant rocks, Uluru & Kata Tjuta. For the times in between, we stayed at Sails in the Desert - an oasis of comfy rooms, ghost gum lined lawns and a delicious breakfast buffet. 

The evenings, unexpectedly, was when the place really lit up.
One of the nights, post sunset bubbles, we were led on a bush tucker journey. We followed a secret path to find a hidden grove of tables set up among the dunes and under the stars between Uluru & The Olgas. We dined here on a bush tucker inspired menu designed and cooked by the effervescent Chef, Mark Olive. Our plates were loaded up with the likes of barramundi, kangaroo, salt bush, quandongs & bush tomatoes. The flavours were sublime. 
The night ended with a guided tour of the night sky. It was mostly lit up by the moon, but still, it was incredibly beautiful to sit under and soak up. It became extra special to look out across the glowing terracotta coloured sand to see the soft outline of the rocks in the distance. 

Another evening, after watching the full moon rise, we followed paths and patterns through Bruce Munro's field of light. It's the second time this art installation has forged a mass of colourful intertwined glass spheres and webs across the dune valley in front of Uluru. I lost myself to the glow of the lights and the time to reflect here, and then soon realised that I had become physically lost, too. I even missed my bus ride home. But I didn't mind one bit. The monumental scale of the installation and surrounding scape was truly a humbling experience. It had all soaked in.
It turned out that I am a fan of this desert. 
The views were vast. The land was captivating. And, the sounds were silent. 

Accommodation:  Ayres Rock Resort | Sails in the Desert
Voyages Experiences: Desert Awakenings |Field of Light | Bush Tucker Journeys

Another Long Table | Lunch on Gollion Farm

Location |
Gollion Farm, Sutton NSW

Fellow Hosts |
Sam Vincent: Farmer
Louis Couttoupes: Food | Chef Bar Rochford @boyandspoon
Iwona Bilski: @boyandspoon
Sophie Mico: Maitre d extrodinaire

Menu |
First
Fig, fromage frais, canberra honey
lamb tartare, kocho, wasabi root
smoked duck, thyme, viola

Second
lamb, wild plum, pistachio, rose

Third
tomato water, lovage, nasturtium

Fourth
poachers lamb, wild fennel, figs
grass carrot, labneh, black barley
beets, black walnuts, burnt orange

Dessert
hay pannacotta, milk crumb, pear

Paired Local Wine: Mallaluka Wines

We channeled the produce, views and lazy Sunday vibes of a Yass Valley country farm to host an Autumn long table lunch here on the outskirts of Canberra. The afternoon featured welcome drinks and canapés on the hilltop, a guided walk through the farms organic orchard, a long table set in amongst the trees of the orchard, a menu that showed off the verdant bounty of Gollion farm and the local region including dorper lamb and black Genoa figs, a selection of Mallauka Wines to pair with the dishes and bread baked by energizer bunny and French pastry chef/friend, Coco. Not to mention an impossibly wonderful table full of guests who patiently sat through a wood fired lamb delay and a brief but rather damp rain shower. It was an incredible afternoon full of so much goodness and exceptional work by the team. 

Big thank you's go to Coco, Jenni & Dmytriy for their relentless and generous help behind the scenes, Liss, the Blood & Bones boys and Anisa for the lend of their plates and platters and family Vincent's for letting us completely take over their farm.

---

A summary of the lunch, as seen in the Autumn issue of the Flower Seekers. 
Words by Sophie Mico. 

Simultaneously playful and deferential, Another Long Table at Gollion Farm was a testament to the richness of the Autumn season, and the ability of the long table lunch to promote friendship and good feeling. Half an hour north west of Canberra, Gollion is a second- generation farm run according to the principles of holistic management. The lunch menu, devised by Louis and Iwona of Boy and Spoon, incorporated Gollion's Dorper-cross lamb and organic Black Genoa figs, as well as produce grown and foraged from the Yass Valley, Canberra region and bush. Upon arrival, guests were greeted in a top paddock with views over the valley and a glass of local pet nat from MADA Wines. Future “lord of the manor” Sam Vincent offered a warm welcome before leading guests down past the makeshift kitchen; a Southern barbeque-esque set up featuring four legs of hanging lamb over a coal filled trailer. The table itself was nestled in the adjacent mixed fruit orchard, flanking a profuse 30 year old Genoa Fig. On the table, styled by Lean Timms, the soft pinks and purples of the figs were complemented by foraged blush pink gum and burgundy reeds. Variously textured golden dried grasses, wild fennel, cherry and peach woods, bronze and black tableware, balanced the overall effect of the styling with a subdued masculinity. The lunch which ensued featured figs with fromage frais and Canberra honey, lamb tartare with kocho and wasabi root, tomato water with nasturtium and lovage, poachers lamb with wild fennel and figs, beets with black walnuts and burnt orange. Three select wines from Mallaluka, another local producer, were served as compliments to these dishes and others. Dessert, a hay infused panna cotta with milk crumb and chamomile pears, was served with a nip of walnut wine; the perfect way to end a lazy Autumn lunch.