Us girls spent a few minutes window shopping and then I whisked everyone away to High Tea at a favorite Wellington restaurant. Now I've said it before and I'll say it again I don't really understand the Kiwi, or British for that matter, fascination with tea but High Tea is something to be experienced and so I booked us in for this special treat. Upon arrival we were directed to our reserved table right in the window and I remember feeling nervous because I had had High Tea at this same place, at this same table, with some friends a year before and even though I had a good time I didn't know if my mom, aunt and niece would like it. I need not have worried because as I looked around the table the faces looking back at me were nothing but smiles and cheerfully excited expressions. :)
The waitress came by our table and explained how High Tea works. That is, you start off with bubbles (sparkling wine) or a fizzy, non-alcoholic, cocktail, that day's offering was an elder flower infused concoction. Then everyone would order their own pot of loose leaf tea that would accompany a sweet and savory course of nibbles (small bites). So Ange and I started off with bubbles while Linda and Josephine had the elder flower cocktail. I wasn't sure if Josephine would enjoy it as it's a unique and fragrant flavor but she tried it (and even drank some of it). Then our old fashioned china teapots arrived holding a different flavor for each of us. I had a basic chai tea and to my delight it came with it's own tiny pitcher of heavy cream. Yum. The best part was that Josephine's tea arrived in a tiny teapot about half the size of the others - beyond cute and as you might expect, just her size. :)
Soon after we had carefully poured the first round of tea into our teacups with matching saucers the first course arrived on delicate, tiered dessert stands. We perused the goodies and found fluffy, freshly baked scones dusted with powdered sugar and served with a heaping dish of real whipped cream and jam. Then we had finger sandwiches stuffed with chicken salad and fluttery leaves of butter lettuce sprouting artistically out from the top.
Now this was an assortment for Ange, Josephine and I while Linda had her own tiered dessert stand of specially made treats. Recently, she found out that she has a gluten, egg and dairy allergy so many foods are no longer an option. When booking this reservation I asked if the chef could make something for her and what they prepared exceeded all my expectations. They worked a small series of miracles and served a specially made gluten free scone dusted with powdered sugar and served with jam. With that she also had a beautifully presented array of cucumber slices topped with pieces of salmon and beetroot. After admiring the chef's offerings we set to sampling everything between sips of tea alternated with our sparkling bevvies. Everything was delicious and I have to admit that I was even enjoying my tea. The waitress came to check on us and bring out the second course. For Ange, Josephine and I we had our choice of a raspberry and chocolate tart, ham and egg finger sandwiches or a mini lemon-orange pie. For mom they had prepared colorful fruit kabobs complete with strawberries, pineapple and of course kiwifruit. Alongside they had arranged a tall, slender shot glass filled with raspberries and blueberries. And finally, the chef had prepared a corn fritter topped with a perfectly prepared sun dried tomato.
Now I don't remember feeling too full after High Tea last time but this time around I was definitely stuffed. This was probably because I had drank my entire pot of tea! This from a girl who doesn't drink tea. :) Full and contented we gathered our purses, paid the bill and set off down Cuba Mall to do some window shopping. And wouldn't you know it, that was when Wellington decided it needed to have a downpour. I wasn't sure what to do because if we took the bus back to Kilbirnie we'd still have to walk 15 minutes in the rain from the bus stop to the rental house. So I took us down the street to where I thought there was a taxi stand. Alas, there were no taxis in sight so I stopped right there, pulled out my phone and called the first cab company that popped up in my Google search. Now understand this was new territory for me because we never take taxis in Wellington. Like a ray of sunshine beckoning to us the taxi arrived within two minutes and I hustled everyone inside. Soon we were at the rental house running inside happy to be out of the rain.
The guys didn't fare as well as they got caught in the rain, bused back and did walk the 15 minutes from the bus stop to the house. But when they arrived they were soaked but not too worried about it. :) While we were living it up at High Tea they had made the rounds to check out some bike shops and then made their way over to our apartment so they could see where we lived. Later I learned that when Landy saw our little place he remarked, "Woah, our bedroom at home is bigger than their entire apartment.......". Yep. It's minuscule. After that they picked up the steaks from the butcher and headed home as it began to rain in earnest.
That evening we sat down to steak and veggie kabobs, corn on the cob, and a variety of salads. We surprised everyone by offering to watch a Minnesota Wild game that we had missed the day before. Since moving to NZ we learned that through NHL Center Ice you can reasonably purchase a subscription and view all the games live or after the fact. We love this feature as we're not always home and with the time difference we can't watch games live. So we cued up the game and the fam couldn't get over the fact that we could watch US hockey in NZ. :) It's funny but we actually more hockey here than we ever did when we lived in the US.
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