Headed back to SF via Auckland ...

So we are headed home early tomorrow morning (actually in a few hours from now). We are spending the day in auckland before boarding the late evening flight to san francisco. The strategy is to get this kids exhausted by making them walk / play in auckland, so they sleep for most of the flight home :)

Since we are spending the day in the big city, i had to do some research to find out what to eat and where :) Here is a list of places from NZ Herald. They should do a better job highlighting articles like these on their main food page. It took me some time to find the article even though i knew exactly what I was looking for. I combined this with the Best Cafe List from Cafe magazine (great magazine, crappy web site) to come up with the following list of places under consideration:

Satya, Ponsoby
17 Great North Rd, Ponsonby

Handmade Burgers
455 New North Rd, Kingsland, ph (09) 849 4590

Renkon Express
2/175 Ponsonby Rd, ph (09) 376 3090;

Fatima's
240 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby, ph (09) 376 9303

Raw Power
10 Vulcan Lane, City, ph (09) 303 3624

Otto Woo
47 Ponsonby Rd, ph (09) 360 1989

Sheinken
3 Lorne St, City, 09.303 4301

Ben
57 Fort St, City, 09.308 9338

Yes, its a long list and we only have 2 meals to eat, but i'll figure out where to go by the time we land in AKL :)

Off around the world ...

In a few days we'll be starting a round the world (RTW) trip. The RTW trip made sense since we had to go to San Francisco, India, Phillipines and back to NZ. We were pretty lucky to find a good travel agent at the Nelson Air NZ offices who got us a Star Alliance RTW fare with changeable dates etc. Here's our schedule in case you want to meet with us :)

• Nov 21 - Dec 17: San Francisco
• Dec 18 - Dec 21: New York
• Dec 22 - Dec 24: Zurich
• Dec 25 - Jan 25: Mumbai and other destinations in India
• Jan 25 - Jan 27: Singapore
• Jan 27 - Feb 5: Manila
• Feb 6 - Feb 8: Hong Kong
• Feb 9 - ???: Nelson

We have decided to spend some more time in NZ and Nelson and are part way through with the immigration paperwork. Hopefully things will work out and we will be allowed to return to NZ :)

We have friends staying for a few weeks at our place in Nelson. If you are interested in using the house / car while we are away, send me email

Food in Nelson ...

Continuing with my trail of living in nelson. The past couple of posts and this one are primarily for a friend and his family who will be in nelson while we are off travelling the world (see the next blog post for details)

It is good to go a bit early to the Nelson Saturday Market. On a good summer day it gets quite crowded and makes it a bit less fun. We try to get there by 8:30 am or so at the latest. Our friends Nilakshi, Alec and Tameko are typically done by 8:30 am!. So most locals get there quite early. Here are some of our favorite stalls (the stall are not named, so you'll have to look around and find them)

• There are quite a few good organic veggie and fruit stalls. We typically pick what we are in the mood for and whats in season. The good stalls run out of fruit/veggies by 10:00 am
  
• Fresh Organic whole salmon or salmon fillets from the Marlborough Sounds farm
• Mussel and Oysters from the stall next to the salmon stall
• Eggs (from belgrove farms) / Half baked baguettes from the stall on the other side of the salmon stall
• Small / Family sized pies from the My Pie cart
• Billtong (dried south african jerky) from pete (next to mussels)
• Pears/apples from poppy's pears
• Cheese from Cheesemongers
• Great walnut-raisin Bread from the stall next door
• Cannon bars / Teriyaki Sauce / Satay Sauce / BBQ sauce from Carl and Shannon
• Ciabatta, Whole Wheat, Chocolate Chip Cookies from Artisan Bakery
• Salad mix from stall behind artisan bakery
• Manuka honey from mountain valley honey
  
• Whitebait sandwiches
• Olive oil from kakariki
• Cashews/Almonds snack pack
• Great coffee from divine coffee cart
• Good crepes at Kaffay. Good olleberry (donut) from stall next to crepe(s)
  
• Sausages and german meat products from doris
• Smoked Fish / Salmon Pate from Nelson Nature smoke
• Sheep cheese from Neudorf Cheese
• Good wooden toys from Limpopo

We get most of the stuff at the market (as evident from the list above, and i suspect i missed a few of our favorite vendors). For the other stuff

• Meat from O'Neills Butchery and Deli in Richmond Mall
• Fish from Guyton's at Richmond Mall or Haven Road
• Atomic Coffee for Plunger (kiwi term for french press) from Morrison Cafe
• Bulk items (rice, lentils, cereal) from Bin Inn (Richmond or Nelson)
• Fresh Choice, New World and Woolworths are the grocery stores we visit (typically decided by what park we are taking the kids to). All the grocery stores pretty much carry the same range of items

Places to eat in the Nelson Region ..

Continuing with our theme of stuff to do in and around nelson (or the top part of the south island)

Nelson / Richmond

• Morrison Cafe
• Hopgoods
• Bar delicious
• Sushi House
• Haven Fish and Chips
  
• Kaffey crepes at the Nelson Farmers Market
• My Pie at the Nelson Farmers Market
• Dellah
• Steffano Pizzeria
  
• Crema coffee near cathedral steps
• Ambrosia
• Bouterey's
• Waimea Vineyard Cafe
• Macmillan Ceramics and Cafe (kids do pottery while u sip a latte)

Beyond Nelson

• Monterey House in Orinoco
• Awaroa Lodge in Abel Tasman
• Mussel Inn in Golden Bay
• Norwester Cafe in Amberley (near Christchurch)
• Hapuku Lodge and Cafe near Kaikoura
• Nin's Bin near Kaikoura
• Le Cafe, Picton
• C4 Blenheim
• Arnee Bajee, Christchurch
• Bodhi Tree, Christchurch