Roads and bridges…

Driving in New Zealand has proved to be interesting.  So far, at least on the West Coast we have passed over many bridges which are only one lane in width.  

Drive around Hokitika

This means quite often you have to give way to traffic coming the other direction!  One bridge we went over near Greymouth was also used by a train, which cars have to give way.

West Coast NZ

From the photos above you can see the sign next to the bridge, and the smaller arrow refers to the side who has to give way.  Surprisingly enough it does work… But pleased we have not come across a large truck or bus!

West coast whitebait frenzy

  
The west coast of New Zealand and their love affair with whitebait is pretty amazing. Where else would the lateness of their run would make front page news? Where else would a town dedicate an entire festival to these tiny fish – with shops showing kids paintings of white bait. Where else would every restaurant have a white bait speciality? Where else would a hotel lift have whitebait artwork? Where else would you be able to get a glass of wine with the name whitebait (p.s. It goes well with whitebait).

Luckily we love a bit of whitebait. So far we’ve tested..

IMG_5392.JPG

Whitebait pancakes

West Coast NZ

Whitebait fritters on toast

West Coast pizza NZ

Whitebait pizza

Sad demise of trolley buses in Wellington

I was excited by seeing trolley bus infrastructure in Wellington. This was only to be met by sadness on finding the news that Wellington Council plans to shutdown the entire network by 2017. I can tell you that diesel buses impose negatively both in terms of noise and particulate pollution on downtown Wllington. Here is to hoping that the proposed diesel electric buses are run in electric mode in the downturn area. Perhaps, they are better, only time will tell.

Trolley bus infrastructure

When there is a queue….

Naturally a queue in Japan must be for something good.  On our final Sunday in Tokyo we had cycled from our hotel past the Imperial Palace and towards the area around the Tokyo Train Station.  We had read previously of a baker who imported French butter and created amazing pastries…  so we thought we should try them!

We managed to locate the shop (it had only just opened), and naturally a queue had formed outside so we joined.
Tokyo

There was much anticipation standing being in the queue, as you could see inside the shop and the piles of delicate crossiants slowly decreasing. We had read each person is only able to purchase 6 crossiaints each – given our position in the queue we were hopeful. White waiting outside a sign was suddenly put on the door – butter was sold out. Weph. We slowly edged closer to the front as other people emerged from the shop with their large blue Echire shopping bags, then we were allowed to join the queue inside. being inside had a couple of advantages, as we could see what was available, so we could decide before we got to the head of the queue. The second advantage was the strong smell of butter – ah devine.

Here are a few photos from the display inside the shop –
Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo

We had decided to purchase 2 croissants, 1 pain du chocolate, and an chausson aux pomme, and a tin of biscuits to take back home.  One we were outside we sat in the near by square and took the following photos:

the Croissant

 
Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo

… If you are wondering about the taste – they were fabulous.  The taste of the croissant was great, the pastry wasn’t too flaky but you could really taste the butter.  The pain du chocolat was warm, and the combination of the pastry and the chocolate was perfect.  Ah… Worth the wait!