When my husband and I decided to sell off everything we owned and pack our bags for a year or more of travelling around the globe (this time around) and decided New Zealand would be one of our main ports of call - we naturally started asking around to everyone we knew who had visited, lived, or was from New Zealand.
Now I have to say - the majority of the information we got was vague to useless - or utter nonsense. However, one thing still shines true above all else, and this we heard from a New Zealander herself.
You can not beat Fish and Chips (and I cringe to write it, but the local dialect dictates it as 'fush and chups' ...just so that there is no confusion to the jet lagged traveller) in New Zealand.
We sat in a great little bar in Edinburgh, Scotland weeks before we set off for the other side of the planet, trying to get a feel for what that place might be like from a local. And though it was hard to make out for the most part - one thing she said was crystal clear. They do fish and chips infinitely better in New Zealand.
Coming from the US, myself, I had no real qualms with this challenge to my adopted home's local specialty. Though I did see my husband recoil with disbelief. (That is, perhaps, a slightly strong way of putting it, but I felt the indignation at the suggestion all the same...) And admittedly - we have had the same reaction from Brits since we've returned and reported our findings.
But, the very certain and rapid realization we came to (whilst sitting on the shoreline of Paihia with the meal laid out before us) was that that was the single most true bit of information we would have about New Zealand.
If you've never yet experienced the UK's staple of Fish and Chips - don't feel you've missed anything if you are headed to New Zealand to do the same. And if you are along time lover of the UK dish, then you should hop the very next flight to New Zealand to sample it - new world style.
I bring this up in this particular review, not only because this was my first experience of New Zealand's fish and chips (something I enjoyed heartily through out our visit) but also because you simply can't get a better venue than the Bay of Islands for doing so.
If you take one of the day cruises out, many of them serve lunch on board which (finger's crossed) could be fish and chips. However, if you don't come across it naturally - wander your way down to the little town centre where there are a number of options.
We stopped at a little shop facing the water (which unfortunately I can not remember the name of - however it's the only one in the town centre - next to the souvenir shops - which does face the coast, so it should be easy enough to find.) where we had a ten minute wait for freshly battered and fried local fish (there is always a good selection on the board of fishes to choose from - something no often found in the UK - and it all depends on what's coming in off the boats. A rather reassuring measure of quality.) We ordered up two big local sounding fish (again I can't remember the name, though they were glorious) and an extra large bag of chips.
I was advised by the local that 'Fanta' is the drink of choice with NZ fish and chips (as Iron Bru is in Scotland) and so getting a few cans of those as well we walked down to the beach and found a few tables to sit and enjoy the sunset with our meal.
Everything is quite pricey in New Zealand - but this is a meal you can enjoy relatively cheaply. And it is divine.
And - I strongly recommend that once you have finished your meal and managed to get most of the fishiness off your fingers - wander back up to the town centre to the little ice cream shop around the corner and sample one of New Zealand's finest offerings - Hokey-pokey ice cream.
It's something you will see a lot in your visit, and is a beautiful concoction. New Zealand ice cream - across the board - is pretty wonderful. But hokey-pokey is especially nice. It's a very creamy vanilla ice cream filled with little crunchy, melty delightful bits of honey-comb like sweets.
It's a thing not easy to describe, but that must be sampled. Have a go at their boundless selection of flavours if the hokey pokey doesn't do it for you. It's the perfect way to round off the seaside meal.