Tuesday, December 26, 9:50 AM
Pencarrow B&B, Queenstown, NZ

So... full..... Must... type blog... before slumping into... food coma. The pressure! Must... loosen belt.

We've had a very relaxing time at the luxurious Pencarrow B&B, whose hosts, Bill and Kari, have gone to extremes to make us feel welcome and well cared for during our stay. They even gave us Christmas presents under the little tree in our room! And the breakfasts have been gourmet heaven: eggs on a cloud yesterday followed by flapjacks, and today baked eggs (wonderfully spiced) and bacon, followed by belgian waffles. And this followed our Christmas dinner out, at Gantleys, a local fine dining establishment:

Clevedon oysters and wild medley mushroom soup with creme fraiche, drizzled with truffle oil

Lamb tenderloin cooked medium rare, served with minted green pea potato cake, fresh asparagus, topped with rocket pesto and finished with a roasted garlic and lamb jus, mint coulis

Pink grapefruit sorbet

Langoustine and tarragon butter ravioli topped with buttered leeks, wasabi caviar, finished with a foie gras sauce and blood orange reduction

Ham with bourbon molasses and pecan glaze, stuffed turkey fillets wrapped in smoked bacon with a spicy cranberry and dried fruit chutney and cider sage gravy

Sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce, white chocolate creme caramel with orange shortbread biscuit, vanilla bean ice cream encased in a pistachio nut tuille ring

Tea or coffee with pistachio, raspberry and white chocolate biscotti


Needless to say, we were still full this morning. We were also very thankful that we'd gone for a nice walk up Mount Crichton yesterday afternoon.

On today's agenda we will be driving around to Deer Park Heights, a nearly park where a number of Lord of the Rings scenes were filmed, and feeding the goats there; and this afternoon we're taking a cruise on the lake on an old steamship, the TSS Earnslow, with afternoon tea and a farm trip to see sheep being shorn. The weather is still largely overcast, but it doesn't look like we'll get much rain today if any, and there are patches of blue sky.

Merry Christmas to everyone! We're having a great time, and hope your holidays are going well also.
posted by Tom at 3:51 PM | link |