A Mid Winter Visitor

Another fabulous friend has visited this week and we went on some little local outings. The first one was on the inland road to Oxford, small village NZ, home of the famous Jo Seager (Easy Peasy). It was a lovely drive through the back roads. Oxford is an interesting wee town, Jo Seager has put it on the map and a few of the locals have opened stores to enjoy the rewards of the many visitors to the Cafe/Cook School. For me personally it was a lot of what we saw regularly at Millys, from the good to the bad, and what my friend Kirsten, would call landfill. Also there was a small art gallery, currently displaying a wonderful array of beautifully weaved merino scarves, as you can see a great array of colours. I had heard many mixed reports about Jo's cafe, but we opted to have lunch there, after all we had driven all that way! The food was good, a little overpriced, not great ambience or staff. I couldn't imagine myself returning to Oxford unless I received a request from another guest.

The next day we went a little further North and inland to Hanmer Springs for lunch. We left home on a fairly chilly morning, but were quite unprepared for the freezing temps we struck in Culveden (about 1/2 way) where we stopped to check out a new deli, the local store and best of all The Red Door Cafe, where a blazing fire and hot chocolate awaited us. I laughed out loud, when desperate to go to the loo, I discovered it was outside, Cobi, was trying to warm the bottom of her boots in the fire, apparently she couldn't feel her feet. Anyway warmed up we managed a little retail therapy, Cobi more than self any Miss Moneypennies reading this, and headed West. As you can see by the photos it was a glorious day and the scenery spectacular. Hanmer is an Alpine resort famous for its Hot Springs, so visiting during school holidays was not the smartest idea, we gave the pools a miss, which had absolutely nothing to do with the fact we would have had to strip and redress in very cold conditions! Found a bit more retail therapy for 'the visitor' and then lunch at the Power House, the recommended local cafe, very good! Home again for a cracker Kidney and Silverbeet dish out of the latest Cuisine, I love having visitors to stay!