Fourx4 and a bit of LB

Yesterday was our first anniversary :)

Mum and Dad bought us vouchers for Kapiti Fourx4 - a 1.5 hour ride. So Adrian and I booked in for Sunday at midday. The place is set up in the hills south-west of Paraparaumu in an area of native bush and overlooking Kapiti Island so is quite picturesque.The voucher was supposed to be for a 'mountain view' ride but the weather was kinda grey so the guide (Duncan) told us he would take us for a fun mud run down the bottom instead.

After getting kitted out in overalls, gumboots, yellow raincoats, safety helmets and clear goggles, we began our run in the training paddock. This involved mostly first gear, driving in puddles on leans, going down steep banks and riding over bumps. I was a little bit scared, mostly at the sideways lean and the steep bank, but otherwise was feeling confident.

At the end of the 'training' (about 5 minutes) Duncan told us we were confident enough to skip the beginners track and that he would take us on something more fun. Yay! That was pretty cool.

So we had one and a half hours of riding through mud puddles up to our shins, rolling down banks, climbing over rocks, blazing through shallow rivers, bouncing over grass mounds and generally having fun. It's amazing what those things can do, it felt like I was a miniature person on top of a remote control one, that gravity and such things were no match. The bouncing in the grass was definitely a highlight for me; Duncan called it 'the aerobics class' because it was a bit of an upper body workout trying to maintain control over the bumps.

It was here also that Adrian managed to stall the bike. They have centrifugal clutches, meaning you don't have a clutch lever/pedal, but you still have to change gears. So kind of semi-automatic. I checked with Duncan, and he agreed that Adrian's stalling of the bike could be likened to stalling an automatic car :P

All in all, I had a lot of fun and was quite proud of myself for not being too scared. I kinda want to go again, and I'm trying to think of someone I could take with me to show it off to them. It's the kind of thing that makes me proud to be a New Zealander!

[photos will follow, once I get them on my computer].

Last night, we had dinner at Logan Brown. It's one of the best (top two?) restaurants in Wellington, and well known nationally (and internationally?). If you look at the website you'll see the owners pride themselves on being a top-notch restaurant but without the 'pretension'; which means you don't have to worry about dressing too smartly, being the right amount of prim and proper, or using your tuatua shells to scoop up the heavenly white wine sauce lingering in the bottom of the bowl.

We spent sooooo much more than we would usually on dinner (try, nearly 3 times more?) but it was great. Logan Brown has a reputation and it certainly was well worth it and I'm glad we saved it for a special occasion. We had warm bread and tuatuas in white wine sauce to start; Adrian had duck confit and I had lamb rack for mains; Otago red potatoes and portabello mushrooms on the side; Adrian had rum & raisin sponge pudding and I had chocolate and sherry tart for dessert. Mouths watering yet? :P EVERYTHING was sooo good. I never knew that a single restaurant could get EVERYTHING right. The only thing I was slightly disappointed in, ironically was the main ingredient in my main: the lamb. It was cooked perfectly though, and I think it was solely because everything else was a taste explosion that I found mere lamb rack slightly dissatisfying!

The waitress and waiters were amazing also. And cocktails... yum! I had one called Jasmine which was a tangy gin/ cointreau base and then a sweeter one with dessert called Coconut Rough which was creme de cacao, Frangelico and coconut cream. My god, it tasted so good.

Also, I forgot to mention, in between our warm bread and our tuatuas, a waiter bought us two small plates and said "This is a koha from the kitchen" - how cool is that? It was divine, I tell you. Raw tuna slices (marinated?) in fennel, with rocket and caesar dressing and with capers on the side. This was something neither Adrian or I would have tried if it was on the menu, but my god it was good. It was so good, that after I finished I didn't want to take another sip of my also divine Jasmine because I didn't want the taste of the tuna dish to be gone forever.

I think you could probably describe as a first love affair with food. But Adrian was there too, so that makes it ok, right? :P