What’s on our sightseeing list today? First up was a revisit to the Mapua Wharf, quite the trendy place, we remembered. Originally a fruit shipping port, the old cool store buildings are now home to shops, galleries, and cafes and restaurants.
Cool store buildings on the wharf
The wharf was a hive of activity, splash, splash, with locals busy jumping into the water and climbing back up the ladder. Teenagers, adults, and quite small kids were all having a great time. We watched as a young lady and her dog both jumped into the water and started swimming to the shore, oh so effortlessly, and several times in a row. Perched at the end of the wharf was a life like sculpture a white heron, created by local man Arthur Hawke about 10 years ago. This is in memory of Hamish, who visited the Mapua Wharf each winter from the 1980s till 2010.
Hamish the heron
Views from the wharf
Eating fish and chips on the wharf from the Smokehouse is a great casual lunch, and one we were keen to repeat after our previous visit several years ago. The fish of the day was Ribaldo, not one we had ever heard of before, and yes, it was delicious, covered in tasty crunchy batter. The Smokehouse also specializes in smoked fish, and I purchased some salmon pate and smoked mackerel to take home. We noticed a couple of day before Christmas panic buyers rushing in to purchase several packs of smoked salmon for their Christmas feasts.
Fish and chips for lunch
My copy of the “Great Kiwi Pub Crawl” book is tucked away in the caravan, and we discovered one of the featured pubs not too far away at all. So of course we had to stop at the Moutere Inn. This pub is a contender for being the oldest pub in the country, construction started in 1850, and it still bears the authorization of the license from the original grant in 1850. Cordt Bensemann and his wife arrived from Germany in 1843 and built and ran the pub for many years. The exterior has had a few small changes, the original dormer windows have gone, and the timber shingle roof has been covered over with corrugated iron.
A group of enthusiasts purchased the pub in 2008,and decided that it should reflect the history, removing the pokies and jukebox, and updating the interior. It was decided to source only local wines within 10km radius of the pub and sell contract brewed German style beers. There was a wealth of history, photos and newspaper clippings adorning the walls. It’s good to get another one of the pubs ticked off in my book.
While we were busy taking in the sights, Jan and friends had been out at the crack of dawn to go line fishing, and arrived back with several rather large snapper. As non fisher folk we were most impressed.
Then they set to and busily got filleting – it was to be fresh snapper for our evening meal tonight.
Jan and Conrad hard at work
We ate our meal out on the deck, delicious crumbed fish, salad and chips. What a great way to end the day. As an extra bonus, we were given a bag of vacuum packed snapper to put in our caravan freezer for a later meal.
Fish for dinner
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