What to do on a grey drizzling camping day….unplug the power, nail down anything loose and drive the camper a couple of kilometres up the road to Waiau Estate for a civilised long lunch.
http://www.waiauestate.co.nz/
Rosie and The Operator have never been there before and it was a pleasant surprise. The dining room is a large, open plan high ceilinged L shaped room with bi fold doors around the entire periphery that open onto ample covered patio and entertaining areas. The interior decor is pretty sparse but there are various areas to enjoy, the couched area as you walk in the door looks nice and comfy and there are lampshade reminiscent of milk cans with holes drilled in them to let the light twinkle through to give a Moroccan feel. The bar and servery area is fronted with river stones in retaining ‘groin’ fashion and lightly rusting corrugated iron wall cladding draws your eye to the ceiling. The patios are surrounded by beautiful lush (shimmering in the drizzle and looking beautifully green) well established gardens behind which are still the estates original acocado, tamarillo and feijoa orchards, where, on a fine day you could have a wander and enjoy the sunshine filtering through the trees.
Our young hostess explained the popularity of the Estate as a wedding venue, they have 26 nuptials booked this summer alone! You can see the entry to the gardens on the left hand picture that leads down to the delightfully informal formal terrace area that would be perfect for the brides entry and aisle walk. The garden is flanked by three olive trees each side standing sentinel and the periphery is bordered by agapanthas. Gorgeous. Apparently there are fairy lights in the trees as dusk falls and the outdoor fire would be stoked to give that extra ambiance.
The task at hand was lunch, and it was a simple cook to order menu with something for everyone. Rosie opted for the prawn and bacon linguine and the Operator had the beautiful snapper fishcakes on a bed of rocket with garlic aeoli and a poached egg to top it off (pictured).The wine list was small but good, it’s gotta be good if it has the Astrolabe collection, a favourite of Rosie and the Operator as introduced to them by The Boss and Her Majesty. We finished our mains off with a three cheese board and the Kikorangi Blue was sublime with our unexpected complimentary snifter of Port.
The best part of the lunch was the friendly, helpful and knowledgeable hostess. A lovely young girl and and a real asset to that team! Will be back to try the dinner menu and am looking forward to a balmy night on the terrace.
