I feel like Goldilocks. No, there aren’t three bears about to give me the fright of my  life but I am soaking in a mineral spa and then a few minutes later get up to try the jacuzzi. Finding the porridge -I mean the water too hot I get back in the mineral spa only to recline in a lounge by the pool feeling relaxed and prepped for my upcoming massage. Ahh this is juuust right. I am at Wai Ora spa whose latest awards including Best Luxury Spa Group and Best Luxury Mineral Springs Spa at the World Luxury Spa awards. They specialise in using geothermal mud from Hells Gate in Rotorua.

The 41°-43°C mineral spring bath that I have just hopped out of is filled with spring water mixed with a combination of minerals like sulfur taken from Hell’s Gate and the effect is said to be excellent for skin allergies much like the mud baths are but without using the mud. Every 10 minutes or so, Nui the spa manager checks on me to see how I’m doing and to offer me water. You see you can really only sit in the mineral spa for 20-30 minutes at a time(20 minutes for Hell’s Gate mud bath).

Prior to my treatment I have an infusion of Manuka tea leaves before my Miri-miri massage which is a massage done using traditional Maori techniques.  It’s a relaxation massage that focuses on light massage on the upper tissue layers and focuses on muscle healing in a gentle way and is ideal for pregnant women and they can have this massage until 7-8 months pregnant.

My therapist Richelle uses their house brand Alite on me and it is a range that is not perfumed and without flower essences as they found that many people are allergic to fragrances (me included). For the hour long massage she does extensive work on my upper back which is knotted from travel and also includes a facial and head massage in the process.

Before I know it, my massage is over and I sit up and the tension and knots have faded away to nothing. I get up and float down the hall and get changed. Outside waiting for me is a platter of bread, crackers, cheeses, ham, turkey and divine salmon as well as fruit, caramelised onion jam, pickle salad, green salad as well as dukkah and two flavoured oils. The salmon is my favourite and I enjoy this along with the aged cheddar, crackers and salad.

I promptly book an express pedicure-the spa is open late and there are several therapists and nine therapy rooms and with just 30 suites at the hotel there is a high ratio of spa treatment rooms per guest. This was done deliberately by owner Bryan Hughes because he has travelled the world and realised that many resort or hotel spas are small and only have one or two therapists and as a result are hard to get into (very true). And after I get changed I’m off to dinner at the multi award wining Mokoia restaurant downstairs with him tonight.

The restaurant is named after Mokoia Island which is a wildlife sanctuary that dates back to 1350AD. Bryan’s ancestry is half Maori and half Welsh and his tribe owns one quarter of this island as well as outright owning Hell’s Gate or Tikitere which is a geothermal park and mud spa. It was so named by George Bernard Shaw who saw the steam rising and thought that it was the gateway to hell! With ownership also comes “guardianship” which means looking after the land.

The menu here at Mokoia restaurant is fine dining and on every table is a sign about how they are part of a Silver Fern farms initiative and they are the exclusive restaurant for local venison, beef and lamb.  There are Maori ingredients like kawakwawa (a native peppermint), horopito pepper and New Zealand piripiri (not South African) in the dukkah. The table wine is by Tohu wine which means “The Mark” in Maori and every year they make one to honour a chief from their rich history and make a wine based on the chief’s characteristics and personality.

Open for three years now, Bryan strives to define Maori hospitality or true hosting. As Wai Ora is out of town, any guests are dropped in to and picked up from town as part of the service and if they want breakfast at 10pm they can have it then.  But back to the dinner! You can eat a la carte or they have introduced a tasting style way of eating where you can choose three of the entrees or mains and you get a sharing plate with two smaller portions of each of the dishes allowing you to try more. There is also a full vegetarian vegan menu available.

Mini loaf of gourmet rewana with whipped garlic butter $9.50

We start with breads, all baked on the premises. The rewana bread is a potato bread which I recall liking immensely the last time I had it. It comes as a mini loaf with whipped garlic butter, a home made mango and a kawa kawa melon relish. The loaf is warm and buttery and on top is a deep fried kawa kawa leaf. It’s hard to say no to a second piece.

Toasted foccacia with puri piri dukkah, pikipiko pesto and tomato oil $9.50

The focaccia is coated in herbs and comes with a piri piri dukkah as well as two oils: a tomato oil and a piko piko (edible curled fern) pesto oil  which has a flavour like a basil pesto. They get all of their native ingredients from Mokoia island which spans 760 acres. There they track nine kiwi birds-and did you know that it is the male kiwi birds that sit on the eggs for sometimes up to 100  days? Random interesting fact!

Click here to read the full story

If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?

Picture it: the morning after a dinner party. I woke up and switched on the computer and put my on my computer mouse. It was buttery. Now what were the chances of that? Well if you know me, they’re pretty high. I’m often found reading food blogs with one finger on the mouse and the other feeding myself. So a buttery mouse would be inevitable. And then I got on twitter and the conversation turned to people in public with food on them. I’ve walked out with flour on my skirt and lettuce in my hair. I promised that I would keep an eye out for people wearing food when I was going out for lunch that day. I was hoping that it was more common than I thought (really to make myself feel a little better).

I’m always lost when it comes to the Ivy complex and find staff there varying degrees of helpful. The girl downstairs whose job I’m assuming is to direct lost souls such as myself wandering around the complex barely looks up and moves a bored arm indicating “that way” and could not be less interested. Then when I go upstairs to Uccello, well they couldn’t be more helpful. I’m meeting some friendly people from Whistler in Canada and discussing an upcoming return to Canada and at 12pm there is a smattering of other guests. Come 1pm at the eating hour the restaurant will be full of men in suits with the occasional table of pretty young things.

Balmain bug salad, French beans, artichokes, oven dried cherry tomatoes $26

I choose the Balmain bug salad and we warn the Canadians at the table that Balmain bugs are not in fact insects but really delicious crustaceans that taste like tender lobster tail. Here they are served as small, sweet, deliciously tender pieces amongst a frissee, French beans and artichoke salad dotted with sweet, flavoursome oven dried cherry tomatoes. I found the artichoke a bit too tangy for me and overwhelming in the salad and it was a touch oily from them too. And at $26 this is a bit high for the size of the portion and amount of Balmain bug.

Chicken liver parfait, vin santo jelly, toasted fig brioche $24

I tried a little of the parfait and it was smooth and creamy with a strong hit of alcohol in it.

Risotto with baby spinach, mascarpone, grilled porcini mushrooms

Grass fed eye fillet of beef, sauteeed mushrooms, baby carrots, truffle butter, red wine reduction $48

Click here to read the full story

If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?