what's been happening at Tiritiri Lodge

A wonderful trip to New York and Washington in May 2008

Steph and Denis went to the US during our break in May, whilst Tiff held the fort. The highlight was meeting up with some Tiritiri Lodge guests.

Stopover in Los Angeles

We loved the Getty Centre, particularly Richard Meier’s architecture - enjoyed wandering around the building and the landscaping - some great use of Australian native plants. A highlight was a Mahler concert at the Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall We ate at Comme Ca in West Hollywood – a great recommendation from Travel+Leisure Magazine and it was superb.

New York

Apart from all the must do things in New York like shopping and art galleries (the Frick is still my favourite), some highlights were a dinner at Babbo’s with previous guests Charlie and Tina – what a fabulous restaurant – both the food and service were exceptional.

Caught up with friends - Jill and Michael Lester at Hell’s Kitchen - had the most marvellous food – a thick cut slow roasted pork chop that was so delicious. Jill is now CEO of the Hunger Project – such a wonderful initiative and is loving both the job and living in New York.

Wednesday was the most perfect day- the New York Botanic Gardens are a must see. A marvellous Darwin Exhibition which included a recreation of Charles Darwin's garden in the middle of a magnificent glass conservatory - so beautiful and an added bonus was the installation of a number of Henry Moore's sculptures in the gardens. Back into town for afternoon tea at Cafe Sabarsky in the Neue Gallerie - with real Viennese pastries!
We pretended to be Eloise and enjoyed a glass of champagne at the newly opened Rose Bar at the Plaza Hotel.
2 great musicals- Passing Strange which was very good and then after standing in the cancellation line for South Pacific at one minute to eight we got tickets!!! The show was the best thing I have ever seen - I was in seventh heaven.
De rigueur is a breakfast at Balthazar in Soho - a wonderful place where we caught up with Max, one of guests from last Christmas. Had wonderful oysters (Hama Hama) at the Oyster Bar under Grand Central Station.
We wandered up a street fair on 9th Avenue and found so much marvellous food we wanted to try everything from pirogis and a Cuban empanada of slow roasted pork to alligator sausages...
The finale was a superb dinner hosted by Max and Leyli at Wallse -an Austrian restaurant - the best Wiener Schnitzel I have ever eaten, stunning Austrian wines and for desert -Salzburger Nockerl with huckleberries - a magic concoction - so light – absolutely divine.

Amazing Washington

We were overwhelmed by the grandeur of the buildings, the magnificence of the collections in the array of amazing museums and the richness and depth of American history! Historic Georgetown was delightful – even a great cupcake shop and we found the best hat for Denis.
A private tour of both Congress and the White House, thanks to our guests Meredith and David, was so wonderful. They then joined us for our 28 th anniversary dinner at a fabulous Indian restaurant Rasika– it was all wonderful.

Denis catches his first trout  - April 2008

As you may have gathered from elsewhere on the web site Denis has taken up the arcane art of fly fishing. Kindly guests and our operation manager’s patient husband have taken him on outings to varied local river or lakeside fishing spots where he has practiced his casting with limited success. (unless willow trees and branches are counted) With the odds heavily in favour of the fish his only strike to be reeled in was a fish so small it was hard to see how it had got itself hooked!

A week before, one of our guests, Mark, had a great day fishing with Jake. See photos and results below. For Mark's description of his day click here.

A few days later Denis accompanied Gavin, an Australian guest on a fishing trip guided by Jake. They headed off to the top of Lake Wanaka, into the boat, and set down at the mouth of the Makarora River. While Jake and Denis were chatting to a local identity who had pulled up his dingy and taken time off fishing to saw up some driftwood for the coming winter Gavin was casting from the Lake edge at some promising splashes. Before the others had put their rods together he landed a very lively 2.5 lb rainbow.

Handing out polaroids to improve the sighting chances Jake led the party up a branch of the braided river keeping well inshore to not spook the fish and pointing out at good 7 or more prospective catches for them to try on the way back down stream. With Jake spotting the fish and directing the casting Gavin (a very tidy caster) soon had his fly taken by a feisty rainbow that gave him plenty of fight and some spectacular leaps. When finally coaxed into the net by Jake it was found he had taken the hook too deeply and was cut so he was kept for eating.

Now it was Denis’s turn and with some encouragement he finally got his casts into the zone Jake indicated to be pleasantly surprised by an immediate strike of a very decently sized trout. His arm was feeling the strain by the time he got it close enough for Jake to deploy the net, the wily trout had other ideas however and just as he was being coaxed into the net he made a great leap and broke free. Denis thought it a fair outcome. The next fish he hooked was not quite so smart and was landed and weighed at a good 3 plus lbs before being released to fight another day. Gavin’s next catch was another fierce fighter and after a lengthy battle it broke the line with a spectacular jump.

Thanks to their guide an excellent day's fishing, food for the chef, and a new angler to tell tall tales of one that got away and the one that didn't’t.

Warbirds over Wanaka -Easter 2008

Easter is always a special time in Wanaka and this year it was the turn of the Biennial Warbirds Over Wanaka Air Show to delight the visitors. Always a special show of vintage military planes from WW1 to today’s supersonic heroes the format delights both the historical experts and rank amateurs alike with its mock battles featuring the Red Baron's Fokker Tri plane lining up against his old foes, through WW2 Spitfires, Hurricanes, Corsairs, right up to a spectacular display by the RAAF F1 11. Tiritiri Lodge was full with aviation aficionados augmented by a very special artist in residence in the person of Paul Gibens Australasia’s leading Jazz composer, arranger, and saxophonist. Paul and your host Denis played together for 12 years in residencies and an almost famous Jazz Fusion band far longer ago than either of them care to remember.

One of our guests was an historian with a special interest in the 75th Squadron RAAF which was the major element in stemming the Japanese advance through New Guinea. Not only did he get to see his beloved Kittyhawks in action but he was able to organise the flight of his life the day after the air show in the sole surviving Kittyhawk from the New Guinea campaign. He did admit that the low level simulated pass over enemy territory at 500 m.p.h. was more than thrilling!
With one practice day and 2 days of the air show open to the public all our guests had a relaxed opportunity to see all the live action and wander around all their favourite planes in the parking areas.

For Sunday night Denis had organised a local rhythm section and a gig at ‘The Local’ pub where he and Paul blasted away together as though the last 30 years had never happened. A fun night was had by all and the lodge guests had the added bonus of a morning rehearsal the day before with the sound of piano, sax, and flute accompanying them as they set off for the day’s diversions.

March 12 2008- Our first winemaker’s dinner featuring Jo Mills from Rippon

Rippon vineyard on the shores of Lake Wanaka was featured in our first ever winemaker’s dinner at the Lodge. Our guests were 2 couples from the US who are great wine buffs.
Pre dinner drink on the terrace overlooking the lake and mountains were a lovely refreshing Osteiner (a variety in its own right, a Riesling/Sylvaner hybrid) matched with smoked salmon blinis.

Dinner started with cayenne pepper calamari with a herb, citrus and strawberry salad (except the citrus, all from our organic garden). This was to showcase 2 Rippon Rieslings – the first, the Rippon Jeunesse young vines Riesling 2006 – or as Jo puts it a wine of youth, the child expressing the essential characteristics of variety if not yet of site. This was placed alongside a Rippon Riesling 2006 which was from vines aged between 15 to 23 years. The contrast was so interesting – by this stage the vines have their roots deep in the schist rock below and the wine truly reflects its terroir; the soil and surroundings from which it came..
What better way to showcase the wonderful Pinot Noirs of the region than a Pinot Noir 2005 with a Jeunesse Young Vines Pinot Noir 2005 to match the peppered venison with a pinot and raspberry with wild thyme jus. Again the contrast between the young vines expressing their pinot noir characteristics, and the older vines with their roots deeper in the ground speaking more of their site was fascinating.
Over dinner we laughed about the difficulties of comprehension that can occur when traveling. Mike was offered ‘homeo’ bread at Blanket Bay the night before he politely inquired what this was? Wholemeal bread with a Kiwi accent!
Meanwhile Jo explained Rippon’s philosophy : everything that goes into the vines come from the land. They do not irrigate and farm the land as an organic and bio dynamic whole.
To finish, a bottle of the amazing Emma Rippon methode champenoise 1995 was paired perfectly with a duo of Chili chocolate and lemon tarts. Made and bottled 13 years ago, the Emma sat on its lees for 11 years before it was finally disgorged and released; something special to round off the evening.
The next day our guests just had to visit the vineyard and see the stunning location and that wonderful compost first hand !

Our guests commented:
‘The four of us have enjoyed many winemaker’s dinners around the world ,but honestly, Jo’s enthusiasm for her wines, coupled with the warmth of our hosts and the marvelous food, make this one we’ ll not forget!
Linda W Reno N.V.

Tuesday 17 July 2007  -curling in a an amazing hoar frost

We drove from the Lodge through the Maniototo covered in amazing hoar frost - a magnificent white wonderland to Naseby.

At Naseby is New Zealand's highest indoor and outdoor curling rink. We had a great fun learning to curl. The younger members of the extended family aged 9 and 11 could play equally as well as the adults, so we divided into 2 teams and learnt this arcane Scottish sport of hurling 20kg polished granite stones on the ice.
Then by a wonderful stroke of timing we drove to Idaburn pond near Oturehua which had just frozen over sufficiently for a major event - the Bonspiel to take place. This outdoor curling event only takes place rarely (the last time was 10 years ago) when the pond freezes (the area has been experiencing up to - minus 17  centigrade so it was on). What a sight!
I particularly loved the tam o'shanters and matching jumpers in team colours - beautifully hand knitted and the unique sleds each team of 4 men had for their refreshments during the day - plenty of Green's Ginger wine, Speights ale and at least 4 bottles of Scotch whiskey!