Chard Farm – Queenstown, New Zealand

We visited many vineyards on our trip but we want to recommend one particular one because the setting is so lovely and the owners were amazing.

Chard Farm is opposite the bungee bridge, you cross over this valley then down a long winding track…

I don’t know what would happen if you met someone on the way in… there isn’t much room.

Then you drive through the vines…

And pull up to this beautiful house, very mediterranean don’t you think?

The old till…
 

 
We got an amazing red called the Tiger for my father in law, that was the name of his squadron in the RAF so we thought it’d make a good present.

Unlike the bigger vineyards there is no charge for tasting here (you can tip if you like) and they didn’t get snooty when we didn’t buy much. With two very full backpacks and two flights to go we couldn’t get more than 1 bottle in.
 

We really love Chard Farm, they are lovely go visit!
 

Chard Farm – outside of Queenstown, New Zealand

The Cow, Queenstown

Another Queenstown gem… I spotted this place one day while shopping on my own and insisted that we ate there.

My husband loves pizza more than anything so he didn’t protest too much.

I just loved how cute it was, I bet it’s the best in the winter.

A little history lesson from the menu…

I loved how simple the menu was, spaghetti and pizza.

They still had the fire going inside, it adds to the atmosphere.

Such a cosy little spot.

We sat in a booth (I really love booths), and were told that there is no booking and they sit people where they can because they get so busy so chances are you could be sitting with strangers halfway through your dinner.

Since we had been greedy we decided to just share a pizza and salad.

And in a token effort to be healthy, ordered half meaty, half total veggie overload.

Perfect pizza. Thin crust, crispy and with lots of great quality toppings.

Highly Recommend – The Cow 

Vudu Cafe – Queenstown, New Zealand

A little recommendation for a casual Queenstown cafe today… this place was right by the lake and we sat out in the sun drinking ginger beer here a couple of times.

The cafe itself was super cute.

I loved the lighting.

The fridges were always full of tasty treats, so hard to pick.

A favourite treat…

The burrito was so great, veggies and sour cream.

And a chocolate brownie.

This town is full of good places to eat but this one had lots of vegan, vegetarian and healthy options and was cheap.

Vudu Cafe 

My full Queenstown post is here

Hopgood’s – Nelson, New Zealand

We arrived in Nelson after a beautiful first day and found our hostel before going for a big stomping New Zealand style walk (see You Make Me Swoon) then we decided to walk in to town to have some dinner.

It was a beautiful evening.

The town at first isn’t very inspiring and I was wondering where on earth we were going to eat until we found this pretty little square.

There were a few great looking places but we decided to treat ourselves, after all that was the reason we decided to stay in hostels… so we went with Hopgoods.

It was a very European feeling square with the sun slowly going down and everyone sitting outside drinking the local wine.

Reading the below sealed the deal, this meal is one we still remember.

We drank some very local Syrah from a vineyard we drove past on our way here.

 

We skipped the starters as the puddings sounded too good and we are always too greedy for our own good.

They sound good though, I would have gone with the stuffed zucchini flowers.

We did order some bread, with marinated olives, dips and frogs end olive oil.
 

This olive oil was amazing, look at that colour!

 
The I ordered Pure Angus Beef fillet with crispy risotto croquettes, crushed peas, mushrooms and bacon which was roasted at a low temperature served medium rare. There was never any doubt I would pick this… the addition of peas will always sway me but served with risotto croquettes? It was love.

I ate as slowly as I could, and it was the kind of food that I wanted to share so that my Husband could taste how good it was.

Also his looked pretty amazing so I wanted to share his too…

He had slow cooked pork belly with parmesan butter beans, roast tomatoes and salsa verde, again beautifully cooked and presented well. I do like pretty food.

As I mentioned we sat in the square but the inside was just as lovely, from the tiny front you wouldn’t guess how big it was.
 

They had a display of a ton of awards near the bathrooms.
 

And dessert… I had to try some cheese and chose the potted Whitestone windsor blue with walnut crumbs, poached pear and fruit digestives from Oamaru.

It. Was. Amazing.

I need to try to replicate these biscuits for cheese.

 
And my husband ate a dark chocolate mouse with raspberry marshmallow and sorbet, we also shared these… that way we both got chocolate and cheese.

Definitely one of the best meals we ate on our trip… and we ate a lot.

Hopgoods – Nelson, New Zealand

The Slip Inn – New Zealand

We are now visiting New Zealand…

We arrived in Wellington first and spent the day there but since it was raining and we went back at the end of the trip I’ll save it until then.

The following morning we jumped in the little tiny car we had hired and got on the ferry to the South Island… the ride was amazing (see You Make Me Swoon for photographs of that) and then we landed and drove through vineyards in glorious sunshine.

Just as we were getting really hungry we saw signs for mussels so we pulled off and found this amazing little gem.

The Slip Inn is located in Havelock which is not far inland from the Marlborough Sounds and so worth seeking out. The location on the marina is lovely.

We didn’t even look at the other items on the menu we were all about the mussels, and we didn’t mess about with any of the other lovely ways to have them sticking with the classic steamed in white wine.

They came with a mini loaf of bread and butter, which was beautiful. There is something about just plain white bread and butter, so so good. Especially after a very early morning and a long ferry ride where I felt very sea sick so I was absolutely starving.

 Then these monsters arrived.

And we sat munching looking at this view, my husband with a nice big glass of local Pinot Noir (me stealing little tastes) and I remember feeling ridiculously happy that we were about to start part 3 of the honeymoon… and we still had so much time away.

Seriously, have you ever seen mussels this big? I’ve had amazing big huge ones in Cornwall but these were another level.

In fact they were so big I did actually get squeamish at the end and couldn’t finish.

 
But I am so happy we stopped here, a great way to start our trip. I mean look at that water and that sky. The bluest blue and greenest green.

We didn’t quite have time to stay for dessert but we grabbed some of their cookies on the way out, they were right by the till and I couldn’t resist.

Once again huge chunky cookies with huge chocolate chunks.

Yum.

So as you can guess I kinda loved it here.

The Slip Inn