Havelock North

Havelock North

Elegant Breakfast at Art Loft B&B

We’ve now visited two Havelocks in New Zealand. Havelock, the aquaculture centre of the South Island  (featuring green mussels), and now Havelock North, on the North Island. The towns are poles apart in terms of size and focus. Havelock North is a bustling visibly prosperous town, like Nelson only much smaller. It is very near Napier, the city that was leveled by an earthquake in 1931 and completely rebuilt in the Art Deco style in a relatively short time. The buildings have held up very well and many are now designated as heritage properties. Napier is a distinctive town that holds an Art Deco Festival every year in January. From what I can gather, this event is similar to the Henley Regatta or Glyndborne in the UK where people dress to the nines, have elaborate picnics, drink copious quantities of champagne from flutes and enjoy having their photos taken.

We arrive at the Art Loft B & B in the early evening where we’ve arranged to share one of Iris and John Spittle’s delicious dinners. Our last visit we did the same for our first night and went out the second night to a restaurant in Hastings. This time we opt to eat with them both nights as their cooking far surpasses the usual restaurant fare. They returned only five days earlier from a five week house exchange in Sedona, Arizona and share their experiences and Iris’s photos over hors d’oeuvres and glasses of Hawkes Bay wine. It’s great to see them again, and we’re grateful that they agreed to have us stay so close to their return and the Christmas season. They must have been rushing around decorating the day before as their home looks appropriately seasonal. Theirs was one of the first B & Bs we visited on our last visit, and we remember it well. Our exquisite ensuite bathroom has a glass ceiling through which I saw the stars, I’ll never forget that experience.

Unfortunately no stars this visit because the weather turns cloudy then stormy at night, but we don’t mind having a quiet time while here. Apparently Nelson had torrential rain last night and the small town of Collingwood in Golden Bay we recently visited, was cut off by floods so we aren’t complaining. The following day after a delicious breakfast of fruit juice, muesli, fresh seasonal fruit, poached egg on wholegrain toast spread with spicy salsa (a nice touch), bacon and freshly ground coffee, we decide to follow the Havelock North “Food Trail”, if you can fathom that!

To work up an appetite we head into the heart of town to browse in the shops for an hour or two before eating a modest lunch at Adam and Eva’s (clever Kiwis). We enjoy salads, flat whites with double shots and share a small mince tart with whipped cream on the side.

This is a town for women who like “bling”. The boutiques are full of smart summer ensembles each dramatically accessorized with necklaces, handbags, scarves etc. ostensibly to tempt one to buy the whole ensemble. Probably due to the town’s level of prosperity and its proximity to Napier, locals and tourists keep the shopkeepers here happy, I’m sure. The women in town are very well dressed; I’m tiring of my black jeans and white shirts, perhaps I should reinvent myself.

 After lunch we follow Iris’s advice, visiting local farms cultivating limes and olives. I’m not sure what to expect at St. Andrew’s Limes, but I don’t mind buying a couple of limes; we can always squeeze the juice on fish or chicken. Well, I’m in for a surprise. The friendly lady who greets us, pulls out bottles of lime dressing, hot and mild lime pickle, lime chutneys, both date and peach varieties, and a lime splash with the secret ingredient she reveals is fish sauce. We purchase a bottle of lime salad dressing, and I remark that we probably won’t be able to finish it because we are nearing the end of our trip and our opportunities for self-catering. She replies, “I bet you will! Put it on fish, chicken, asparagus, potatoes, salad, anything really.” She’s right, we’ll probably finish it, I was thinking of using it in such a limited way, and she is positively inspirational. She helpfully provides directions to Telegraph Hill, olive farm in the vicinity.

At Telegraph Hill a young woman greets us with a big smile, recites some statistics about the farm and invites us to try whatever we like from the free samples available while watching a six minute informational video. We note that we can “adopt” an olive tree for $120, and the farm will send us the produce from the tree. That sounds like fun, but would Canada Customs allow those Kiwi olives into the country? We purchase Manuka smoked olives and some olive tapenade before heading to Arataki Honey Farm. We visited here on our last trip, but we’re out of NZ honey so I taste all varieties again before deciding upon Pohutukawa – it’s Christmas after all.

That evening we enjoy another fine meal of venison meatballs in a delicious savoury sauce with seasonal vegetables. Iris has made a semifreddo style fruit dessert and serves it with a chocolate covered biscuit as a garnish. We talk well into the evening then retire to read and blog for an hour before bed.