In this month’s update, I want to share with you what I’ve been up to during the month of October. I’ll warn you now, there are quite a few photos I’ll be sharing. I’ll also be sharing details of an author we met while on vacation. Christopher Burt is the head chef at Netley Hall, near Dorrington and he’s published a cookbook. His Japanese inspired meals were delicious, if you like Japanese food, give it a look (I provide his details below). When we finally got home (once the rain stopped) I had to tackle knee high lawns. We did a 20km walk with Pembroke and by the end I was aching. Also, I had a brief trip to Fiji to run a workshop and when I got home, spent a few days in bed with man-flu. Definitely not Covid. So, October has been a busy month.
We started the month while on our European vacation. For the latter part of our vacation, our plans changed because of Covid. Friends who we were to catch up with in Cardiff contacted us and said they’d returned from Prague and had contracted the illness, as a result, our get-together was cancelled. While disappointing, it was understandable.
From Cardiff, we were due to head to family in Shrewsbury for a few days. However, my brother and sister-in-law reached out and said they too had contracted Covid and advised us to stay away as they said they were quite ill. That meant Cathy and I needed to find somewhere to stay. The upside was we could enjoy a little “mini-break” of our own without being around others. I found a lovely 16th Century Inn, called The Crown Inn, in Wentnor. However, we could only stay there for two out of the four nights, as they had been booked up for a wedding. I booked two nights at the Inn and then two nights at Netley Hall. I’ll talk about Netley Hall in a minute, in the meantime, back to The Crown Inn.
The Crown Inn was a little off the beaten track and our navigation system led us down narrower and narrower, remote, steep sided country lanes until we came across a cluster of houses in the small village of Wentnor, and there we found the Inn.
After parking at the rear of the Inn, we checked in and lugged our cases up the very steep stairs to our room. The room was functional and without a view, but the location, friendly staff, great local beers and excellent food more than made up for this.
After reading the information pack which was waiting for us, we headed downstairs, ordered two pints of beer and drank them outside in the beer garden.
That evening we had our evening meal (I went for the homemade steak and blue cheese pie while Cathy went for the fish and chips) washed down with some more local beers, we sat in the warmth by the roaring wood-burner. In an adjacent area, the village domino’s team played in a competition. We gave our breakfast order and since we’d decided to go for a walk on the following day, we ordered packed lunches (which they presented lots of options) to take with us on our walk.
It was clear to us that the Inn was well frequented by villagers and locals to the area, and with it being close to the Long Mynd, was also popular with walkers.
The next day, after a hearty breakfast and with our packed lunches, we headed out on our walk. Walking in the UK differs from New Zealand. For starters, in the UK it’s easy to see landmarks and pick out buildings, churches, hilltops and road junctions. In New Zealand, most of the time you’re walking in bush where there are no landmarks apart from track junctions, river crossings and bridges. Also, in the UK, the hills aren’t as brutal as they are at home, where an hours near vertical climb over a tree root infested muddy track which is sometimes difficult to find, is pretty common. While in the UK, paths are well maintained, void of roots and the hills a lot lower. The local weather forecast (always check the weather before you head into the hills/bush, regardless of where you are) said that a cold front was coming across late morning and that would bring rain and strong winds. So, we made sure we took with us our waterproof jackets and warm fleecy tops.
Our route from the rear of the Inn took us across farm fields to a road which led us to the Long Mynd. After a brief climb, we looked back and could see the weather front approaching and could feel the wind picking up.
The above picture was taken at Pole Bank and as you can see, the visibility was poor, so no views for us that day. We headed down the ‘Cross Britain Way’ and over to Coates Farm. We were pleased to drop lower to get out of the more extreme wind and rain. Then, we headed towards Medlicott and back to the Inn. While it wasn’t a long walk, it was great to get out and to stretch our legs. Back at the Inn, for a warm shower, a change of clothes and a cup of English Breakfast tea. That evening we headed downstairs for another locally brewed beer and delicious pub food.
The next day, the weather had improved, and we drove away from Wentnor in brilliant sunshine as we made our way to Netley Hall. I’d been reluctant to book Netley Hall because Cathy might have thought it was very expensive. However, at this short notice, it was the second cheapest option (I really didn’t want to stay in a Travel Lodge next to the bypass). So, Netley Hall in Dorrington it was. Since we had time to kill prior to check-in, we headed into Shrewsbury to have a look around the city.
We got off to a poor start when we attempted to park in the city. We found a car park close to the city centre, but the parking meter wouldn’t take cash, or even credit card payments and displayed an error message. There was a queue of people either trying to make the machine work or on their mobiles to the parking company to figure out what they could do. Some people muttered that the parking company used number plate readers as part of their detection methods and if you don’t pay, they have your details and will send you a “fine” for not paying for parking. So, with limited options, I downloaded their mobile app, loaded my details and paid for our stay, which took an extra ten minutes on top of the twenty minutes queuing and figuring out what to do. Once the parking debacle was resolved, we had a pleasant walk around Shrewsbury and took in a small tea shop (avoiding the major chains/brands) for a pot of tea and a sticky bun which we shared between us.
Refreshed, we took our time browsing through various shops, even spending an hour in the museum. This appeared to focus on the Roman occupation of Britain, the settlements which they created and the local artefacts which had been discovered. If you are interested in Roman history, a great place to visit. Next stop Netley Hall.
Think Downton Abbey, but without all the staff waiting on you. You’ll kind of get the idea. When you pull off the A49 just south of Shrewsbury, you reach the hall via a long, tree-lined drive, which is very cool and slowly reveals the hall itself.
Inside was stunning. The high vaulted ceilings, marble staircases and chandeliers really made an impression.
The above pictures set the scene really well. Our room was spacious, though the television was rather small and they provided three different remote controls to use with no instructions as to which did what. While the village of Dorrington has (we’re told) a great pub which serves excellent food, we decided to enjoy the ambiance of the hall and eat in. So, with pre-dinner drinks, we decided not to use the billiards room (yes, they have a full-size snooker table with seating for each player between breaks) and headed into the dining room, our meals were excellent.
The chef, Christopher Burt, who was new to the hotel, came out to speak with us. He spoke passionately about the menu he’d created and what influenced his cooking.
Speaking with Christopher, we found that he too is an author and has published his own cook book and during Covid, his publisher wasn’t interested in the other two cook books he had ready to publish.
Check out his cook book, Momo No Ki which has five, five star reviews. The book is available in hardback (ISBN – 978-0-9576292-6-4).
https://www.amazon.com/Momo-No-Ki-Christopher-Burt
While staying at Netley Hall, we went for a walk around Attingham Park, located just outside Shrewsbury. It’s a National Trust park and we were surprised to find how popular the park was, as the many extensive car parks were full and the overflow was also filling up too. While on our walk around the grounds, we saw sheep and lots of deer. We enjoyed walking through the park as we walked through different woodland and crossed several open meadows. It made for easy going and probably helped explain why it was so popular. There was also a well-maintained walled garden within which were flowers, fruit trees and vegetables. I’ll admit, we saw some of the largest pumpkins we’ve ever seen. If Cathy grew just one of those sizes, we’d be living on pumpkin soup for the rest of the year.
After our second night at Netley Hall, we headed North, to Manchester Airport and arrived very early for our EasyJet flight to Amsterdam. This gave us time to buy a newspaper, find an airport café, and relax with a strong coffee before the bag-drop opened (as I’d already checked us in some days earlier). Priority Boarding gave the opportunity to join a shorter queue for bag-drop and I’d paid a small extra charge (£5.00 each) on the airport’s website for FastTrack. This, my nephew assured me, would save time queueing at security. With our bags dropped, TastTrack worked a treat and made for only a slight delay. Manchester Airport had the reputation for the second worse airport in the UK for long queues, passengers missing their flights and baggage going astray. By taking those active measures, getting through to the comfort of an air-side café was about an hour.
I’d booked a hotel in Utrecht which was close to the main railway station, so we caught the train from the airport and had a short walk in the dark to the hotel. We arrived late and ate at the restaurant next to the hotel lobby. We had a Dutch beer and shared a pizza between the two of us before hitting the sack for the night. Next day, we’d never seen so many cyclists, there were masses of them. Trying to cross the road outside the hotel, there were cyclists approaching the junction from all directions. Everyone appeared to know how to merge seamlessly without colliding. It was a sight to see. However, you took a leap of faith and put your life in your hands when crossing the road. Near to the hotel we found a converted church which offered accommodation and had a popular restaurant called Bunk so we had a delicious breakfast.
After breakfast, we took the train to Amsterdam. Outside the railway station, we took a canal boat tour of the city before exploring it on foot. On the cruise, we learnt a little about the city’s rich history, and see the city from a different perspective. After the cruise, we explored on foot and came across many of the sites we’d seen from the canal.
Amsterdam was filled with tourists and had a good vibe to the place. And, like us, lots of people moved around on foot, some used bicycles, though not as many as we’d seen in Utrecht. We headed back to Utrecht and had an amazing evening meal at Bunk. We definitely recommend it.
The next two days we explored Utrecht, first by canal tour and then on foot as we checked out some of the café’s and many museums.
The Graaf Floris Café on Vismarkt served the best coffee we’d had on our vacation. Living in Wellington, we’re not short cafés which serve great coffee. So, each time we had a coffee, we’d compare it to what we’d experience back home. But the coffee from Graaf Floris was right up there.
On our last night in Utrecht we had dinner at Bistro Madeleine in the old part of the city and close to the Gothic Cathedral. The food, wine and the atmosphere made for a memorable last night. Even more so by the fact it poured with rain (not forecast on my phone’s weather app), so we got soaked as we walked back to our hotel.
We were up bright and early and out of the hotel 40 minutes earlier than we’d intended, which wasn’t a bad thing as Singapore Airlines had emailed me to tell me that the queues for security were two hours and they were opening the check-in desks four hours before departure. Arriving fifteen minutes after the desks opened and there were already large queues. Fortunately, Business Class meant a smaller queue. It also meant a smaller queue for the security screening (the main queue wound itself a long way around the terminal building). Just over an hour after we arrived at the airport, we were enjoying breakfast and the first coffee of the morning in the lounge.
Boarding our Airbus A350 was straightforward, and we were soon in our little pods, enjoying a glass of Champaign.
This flight was a long ‘day’ flight, which meant we arrived in Singapore after midnight Central European Time and, with only a few hours of sleep on the plane, we were tired. With a 14-hour transit via Singapore, I’d booked us into the Transit Hotel for 12 hours in Terminal 3 and the booking provides two meals each (though we only felt like having one each as we wanted sleep).
The Ambassador Hotel was functional. However, it served its purpose
It took only 30 minutes between arriving at Terminal 2, getting the SkyTrain to Terminal 3, booking in and finding our room was less than 30 minutes. About 10 minutes after that, we were both sound asleep.
The room had no windows (since it is in the middle of the Terminal), but a very comfortable bed and good air conditioning (which you need for a room with no windows). The shower was very welcome, complete with fresh towels.
Refreshed after 8 hours of solid sleep, a bite to eat and an invigorating shower. To pass some time, we watched the Japanese news (in English) and a wildlife program before heading over to the lounge for some more wine and to relax before our flight to Christchurch.
On board the Airbus A350, we made ourselves comfortable, watched a little television, enjoyed a meal and slept some more (as we’d be landing in the morning). As we approached Christchurch, even though we were not in window seats, we could see the jagged, snow-capped mountains of the Southern Alps. We were nearly home. After passing through Immigration, gathering our bags and clearing biosecurity and customs, we were dropping our bags off for our domestic flight to Wellington. From landing to enjoying a fresh orange juice in the lounge was 30 minutes. As a traveler, this was absolute bliss.
A short time later, our last flight was called and we headed through the gate onto the tarmac to board an Air New Zealand ATR-72, which was our flight to Wellington.
Our daughter met us at the airport and took us home via the supermarket for essential supplies. After unpacking and going through the mail, we headed to the kennels to collect Pembroke and Brecon. We both had a double take moment with Pembroke as he’d put on so much weight we didn’t immediately recognise him. Now, a few weeks later, he’s back to his ideal weight and size.
The lawns hadn’t stopped growing while we were away and for the first week back it rained each day, when it stopped, I had to use the hedge trimmer to cut through it as if I were using a scythe before mowing it multiple times.
We had a Public Holiday (Labour Weekend), so an extended weekend and we took Pembroke for a longer than usual walk on the Sunday. Where we wanted to go had notices up advising dog owners to stay clear because 1080 poison had been spread in the nearby area to kill possums, rats and mice. Hence, we quickly changed our plans and walked to the summit of a disused railway line. This would be 10km out and 10km back on an easy going surface. Since it was a beautiful day, we’d made sure we’d slapped on plenty of sunscreen and gave Pembroke the opportunity to cool off in the river.
Before we reached the summit, the wind picked up and standing still for too long wasn’t a good idea. Fortunately, at the summit there was a shelter with benches so we could take a short break before heading back.
There was a flurry of work activity (day job) which saw me travel to Fiji at short notice to run a half-day workshop. This was a Tuesday to Thursday trip, flying Air New Zealand via Auckland.
I arrived in Nadi and grabbed a hire car for the drive to Suva (the capital). The reason for hiring the car was to avoid the 6 hours wait for the domestic flight, which would have also seen a 45-minute cab ride when arriving in Suva. While driving is just over three and a half hours. I was staying at the Grand Pacific Hotel, a refurbished colonial-style hotel and that’s where I’d booked the workshop.
The thing I found odd was that the Grand Pacific Hotel was just $1.00 more per night than the Holiday Inn next door. The experiences between the two were like chalk and cheese. Hence, the extra dollar was money well spent.
The view from my hotel room in Nadi
Back home from my trip, my muscles developed an ache, and I had a persistent cough with a sore throat. Good signs I’d caught a cold. Covid tests confirmed it wasn’t Covid, but I spent three days in bed trying to rest as sleep had been elusive.
That was my month of October, as you’ve read, I’ve had a busy time traveling.
If you like Japanese cooking, then check out Christopher Burt’s cook book, Momo No Ki.
This is what some of the reviewers said:
Amazing book, amazing chef … Chaz
Amazing book, amazing chef! The way he fuses flavours together is second to none. I would reccomend this book to professionals and begginers alike. It’s easy to read and you can tell by reading it how passionate he is about what he does. Giving it 5 stars doesn’t do it justice!
It contains great recipes that are a beautiful fusion of Modern British … TK
I’ll start by saying I’m a fellow chef here, with bookcases and bookcases of culinary literature. Chris Burt’s book is completely up there with the other greats, unlike anything else on my shelves.
It contains great recipes that are a beautiful fusion of Modern British and Classic Oriental cooking styles, illustrated with great photographs for every dish.
Would recommend this to amateurs and professionals alike, it really gets the mind going. Inspiring.
Mouth-watering … N J MacDonald
Excellent mouth-watering recipes lovely images with clear simple instructions.
The book is available in hardback (ISBN – 978-0-9576292-6-4), or click below to buy your copy.
https://www.amazon.com/Momo-No-Ki-Christopher-Burt
That’s all from me for this month. If you want to reach out to me, you can email me at contact@peter-kozmar.com