The Pohutukawa Lodge
We had made reservations at the Pohutukawa Lodge for our stay at Great Barrier Island. Phil and Maire (hope I am spelling that right) are the proprietors of this nice place. Maire is from Ireland, Phil is from New Zealand and they met in Germany. When they settled down at GBI to run this lodge, Maire named their restuarant/bar the Carrach Irish Pub to remind her of home. A carrach is something like a canoe and they have quite a large one in the front of their place.
The picture above has a view of the back of the lodge. The large set of 4 windows is from the restaurant and just to the left of that is the room we stayed in. The first thing you notice (after the beauty) is the thump, thump, thump sound of the generators throughout the island. There is no other sources of electricity. At some point in the night, the generator stops and they switch to battery power stored from the day. There is just enough juice for a few lights to run. Our two sons thought this was great fun to be roughing it without electricity.
We decided to take a quick nap before dinner as we were somewhat jet-lagged. Boy were we in for a treat at dinner. I had already looked at their menu from the states and decided I was going to order Fish and Chips! Though I loved the dish, I wish I had waited one more night to order that. Phil is a wizard in the kitchen and quite an amazing chef. That night the special was an Indian cuisine dish of curried chicken and would only be served that night. Though I was tempted, I dutifully ordered my fish and chips while my wife got the special. Phil would be in the kitchen moving quickly here and there doing this and that. At the key moment, smoke would be billowing from the kitchen doors obscuring our vision. Suddenly Phil would walk out with dishes in hand of the most tasty and delicious variety. We dream of his talents to this day.
After dinner, we observed some of the local folks at the bar and tables. We were to see similar faces over the next few days. Then we would also see some of the patrons in the kitchen on other days. Work on the island is an interesting setup. I don't claim to understand it, but most have several jobs and bartering is quite common. We went to bed and being next door drifted off to sleep with a background noise of the laughter and conversation of the pub patrons and the droning of the generator. We were out solid until morning.
posted by All_I_Can_Stands @ 4:41 PM
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