With this thought in mind we recently spent 2 wks in one of our favourite places — New Zealand.  Close to home, and great value for money (the exchange rate is very much in our favour at the moment), NZ offers relaxed touring on uncongested roads, great food, wine and accommodation options and fabulous scenery … not a grey gum tree in sight.

International carriers like Emirates are only charging about $200 each way to Auckland, a city remarkably like Brisbane in size and feel.  We had two outstanding meals there – at the French Cafe (not a bit like a cafe, but a quietly elegant upmarket restaurant), and Soul at the Viaduct on the harbour.  Both remarkably busy considering that New Zealand has been in recession for over a year now.

Whilst in Auckland try to spend time on a nearby island called Waiheke, a charming 45 minute ferry trip from Auckland harbour. There are some excellent overnight accommodation options or just go over for the day. Besides being very scenic, there are wineries and olive oil producers — have lunch at Mudbrick Restaurant or Cable Bay Vineyards. Take a private tour of the island in a 6 seater bus with Christine Gisby www.seewaiheke.co.nz

A 40 minute drive north of Auckland is Matakana, a small village with an exceptional Farmers’ Market every Sat morning. Introduced to us by Lauraine Jacobs, a food editor with Cuisine Magazine (one of the best food mags in the world we believe, and comes bi-monthly out of little NZ). She has written a book about Matakana (recipes, where to stay and eat) so tap into some local knowledge and buy it directly from her: jacobs@ihug.co.nz

New Zealand is an easy place to discover yourself, but here are a few tips:

* Do rent a car and do a bit of research for yourself. Guided bus tours just take you where all the other tourists go.

* You need 2-3 weeks to get an overview, then re-visit and concentrate on specific places that took your fancy.

* For us standout places to visit were Bay of Islands, Hawkes Bay, Napier, Wellington (north island), and Marlborough wine area, Queenstown and surrounds, Dunedin (Lanach Castle and don’t miss Olveston House, a home in Dunedin built in 1905 and now a museum) and Oamaru in the south island.

* We tend to go Jan/Feb/March but you can fly direct to Queenstown in winter for the skiing.

* Another place to consider in Summer or Autum is the Marlborough Sounds. Walk bits of Queen Charlotte Track and stay at Bay of Many Coves Resort ($300-500 for 2 people per night for an apartment, but very special) www.bayofmanycovesresort.co.nz

* New Zealanders consider possums road kill (they are an introduced pest from Oz) and make the softest possum/wool knitwear out of it.

* Cuisine Magazine put out Cuisine Wine Country 2009, the perfect guide to all the wine regions — wineries, restaurants/cafes, accom and activities.  You wont go amiss just aiming your activities around these wine regions because they attract all sorts of other interesting things.  www.cuisine.co.nz

* I have a more detailed fact sheet which I can post you if you want more.

Set in over an acre of lovely gardens, with sweeping views to the coast, the house and separate loft accommodation is suitable for one to four couples.

Go to www.french-cottage.com.au for more pics, prices and maps.

Coffee Facts: Fresh is best so buy little and often and buy beans to grind as you go. Buy beans in foil bags with a one way valve ystem. This allows CO2 to escape without letting oxygen in, increasing the shelf life of the coffee. It will remain relatively fresh for up to 3 wks or a mth max. Store in airtight in a dry dark place — not the refrigerator.

The make-over began in September and was completed in an incredible 2 weeks. High priority was given to two issues that many restaurants get wrong … acoustics and lighting.  I simply wont go to a restaurant where I have to shout or where the lighting is too bright or too boring.  We bought beautifuly tables (the tops look like tortoise shell but are in fact made from coconut shells) and tossed out the table cloths. Replaced the floor with acid-washed black marble, all new lighting with huge, sexy pendants, deleted the art gallery and threw some interesting French pieces into the mix to add character.  People are telling us that they love it and I hope they are being honest because what we did was risky business.

When I first married I couldn’t cook at all but having married a Frenchman that situation had to change, and fast.  It was also the era (is it returning?) when the dinner party was was the thing to do when it came to entertaining friends.  We didn’t go out to restaurants that much in those days.  You spent a full day prior to “the big night” laboriously preparing tricky (over-worked) dishes, was most of the evening in the kitchen and then the next day cleaning up.  Nothing was spontaneous and freshly cooked – couldn’t cope with that!

But one of the things I did learn to do well was a French terrine.  There are endless varieties, they are better made ahead of time (the flavour develops) and make great left-overs.  Here is a classic recipe from Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion:

Country Terrine

250 g chicken livers

40 g butter

1 small chopped onion

1 thick slice wholemeal or sourdough bread, crusts removed

500 g minced fatty pork (shoulder, neck or belly)

250 g minced skinless poultry or rabbit

2 cloves finely chopped garlic

sprig thyme, leaves stripped from stalk

2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground all spice

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

3 eggs

50 ml brandy

1 bay leaf

Preheat oven to 180C.  Cook livers quickly in half the butter until just stiffened, then remove and cut into chunks.  Add remaining butter and stew onion until soft. Process bread in a food processor to form crumbs. Mix all ingredients except bay leaf very well and pack into a 1.5 litre earthenware or cast iron terrine mould. Mound slightly and press bay leaf on top, then cover with terrine lid. Stand terrine in a baking dish and pour in water to halfway up sides of mould. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out hot when you touch it to your bottom lip. Place a light weight on the terrine itself when it comes out of the oven and allow to cool overnight. Serve with cornichon and toast.

Lined terrines: It is traditional to line a terrine mould with either thin strips of hard back fat, caul or bacon. It makes the pressed terrine easier to cut.

Tricks:  fry a teaspoon of the raw terrine mixture to check the seasoning — remember you need more salt/flavour when food is cold.  You can layer the terrine with strips of rabbit, duck or pork.  

You have quite a choice of accommodation and we stayed at the charming Diamondvale B&B Cottages (www.diamondvalecottages.com.au). Kerrin and Tony Cridland give genuine country hospitality and a cooked breakfast that was hard to go past. The property is on a creek, very private but close to Stanthorpe, and an easy drive to all the vineyards. 

This is a great place to go to with some friends, each having their own cabin and then you all get together at night in the fire hut (see left), where you can cook a BBQ, enjoy the fire and wax lyrical about the wines you have bought.

There are now outstanding wines to be found in the cool climate Granite Belt (the Queensland wine region based around Stanthorpe). This is not a difinitive list, but our favourite vineyards are:

Boireann which received 5 red stars in James Halliday’s just published ‘Australian Wine Companion’. Hallidays says “Peter Stark is a winemaker of exceptional talent producing cameo amounts of red wines which are quite beautifully made and of a quality equal to Australia’s best”.  This is a tiny vineyard and only sells via cellar door or mail order.

Symphony Hill Wines has state-of-the-art technology and the quality of their 06 reds is excellent — a number of their wines receive a 90-94 rating from Halliday. This is the highest vineyard in Australia and well worth a visit.

Robert Channon Wines get several scores of 90 from Halliday and are particularly famous for their Verdelho which Halliday saying “by far the best Verdelho I have tasted”. They have an excellent cafe for lunch overlooking a vast dam and have concerts in the winery once a month (see info@robertchannonwines.com for the program). The one Brass and Wine on Sun 12 Oct is free.

Kominos Wines and Bungawarra also get a 4 (black) star rating from Halliday.

Places to eat are Vineyard Cottages & Cafe, Patty’s on McGregor (lovely eccentric people), and if you are into more old fashioned food than you can step over, Anna’s. 

The mudmen were fascinating and the trip also involved visiting a coffee plantation, museum and the local Goroka markets. 

Since the Australians departed PNG the economy is fragile with, we’re told, corruption rife.  The traditional clan (Wontok) system does not blend well with democracy and it will probably take a couple of generations for this country to get its act together. Nevertheless, the people we met were happy, healthy and many spoke English — compliments of the various church groups that still hold sway in PNG.  Of course we did not visit Moresby and Lae where things are more chaotic.

In the Milne Bay area we visited a tiny island on Easter Sunday and attended the lovely stone church for a service.  The harmonising voices of 100 locals soared above the pounding of a tropical storm.  These people are strong, with deep faith.

The ship goes only to small, remote locations – having first organised the villagers to welcome us with special dances, firewalking, historic tours (related to World War 11), and just to show us their way of life.  We mostly did “wet landings” via Zodiacs and the ship has very knowledgeable expedition leaders who have great local knowledge.  Highly recommended.

On a small ship like this you meet everyone, it’s quite a personal experience.  One amazing 92 year old gentleman, who had been in the area during the War, went on all the tours including being transfered from Zodiacs to traditional outrigger canoes for a paddle up the Sepik!

Genuine, well-priced artifacts (carvings, pots, baskets and shells) were a bonus of our visit. 

Fortunately he chose lifestyle over celebrity status and brought his family to Brisbane 6 years ago.  He owned his own restaurant here (Bruno’s Tables) which won 2 stars from Gourmet Traveller, and then went on to head up the kitchens at Berardo’s at Noosa, awarded Best Regional Restaurant in Australia by Gourmet.

Now at Baguette, his food is simply superb — modern French — and you can find his menus at www.baguette.com.au/restaurant.

This “find” is described by Elizabeth Meryment in The Australian

Charming waiters, almost as gorgeous as the clientele, keep the meal flowing. The prices ar eminently reasonable, with entrees from 7 euros and mains 16-29 euros. The menu is decidedly exciting, unlike most steak-frites and poulet-ftrites Parisian brasseries.  There’s one hiccup: some of the food disappoints.  But such disappointments hardly matter.  As we step back into the night feeling decidedly more chic than when we entered, the twisting green iron-railed footbridge across the Canal St-Martin invites a late-night jaunt.  This, we agree, is Paris.  www.hoteldunord.org