Although New Zealand has a relatively low population density – even for its capital Wellington, we were surprised that it would be a challenge dining out. As we made a day trip out of town we didn’t make a dinner reservation in order not to be bounded by the appointment time. On the other hand, it would meant that we had to walk in and wait for a table instead.
I shortlisted The Crab Shack for our last dinner in NZ to have a seafood feast. In fact we had recceed the outlet in Auckland as we were staying in the hotel nearby. The casual restaurant had quite a good business in the more populous Auckland – heard that it was an outpost (or franchise) from the Wellington store.
Thankfully after a modest 30 mins wait, they got an available table for us.
The eatery is housed in one of the wooden warehouses on Queens Wharf and decked out in some fishing village inspired decor.
We started with a shellfish pot for entree. At abt S$15 for a 500g scoop, it sounds like a good deal! There are three sauces for us to choose how we would like it to be done and we opted to have our Marlborough Green Lip Mussels to go with the safe option of White wine, chilli & garlic cream.
After being impressed by the freshness of the mussels, we ordered another pot. And this time round we went for the S$16 500g mixed scoop with Mussels and 3 types of Cloudy Bay Clams: Diamond Shell, Tua Tua and Moon Shell. Feeling more adventurous we opted for the Tom Yum: tomato, kaffir lime, chilli.
Without surprise, the Tua Tua was our favourite amongst the three types of clams. They are so chewy and sweet. The moon shell was more meaty but less crunchy. When we ordered the Tom Yum sauce, we already moderated our expectations that it would not be the authentic Thai Tom Yum. So we found it quite acceptable and the sweet-and-spicy kick was something we are beginning to miss about Asian food.
For main, we ordered the Crab Shack signature Crab Pot. Similarly there were choice of: Blue Swimmer Crab, Jonah Crab Claws or Scottish Dungeness Crab to choose from. Being lazy bums, we chose the most convenient to eat option – Jonah Crab Claws in The Classic: chilli garlic butter finished w lemon and parsley.
The other two sauces were Black pepper: cracked black pepper, garlic sweet soy & spring onion or Tomato, ginger, chilli & lemongrass: sweet, rich & spicy, finished w coriander & fried shallots.
We were slightly disappointed with the texture of the crab as it was probably imported frozen crab? The meat tasted bland and I didn’t like the texture which was too firm and lean. At about S$46 for 500g of frozen crab claws, its not worth it.
So our take? Go for the shellfish pot and skip the crab. If you want something filling, order a burger or fish & chips.
Earlier Photos Taken:
Took a light breakfast in our hotel and we were off to start our day trip. A visit to Putangirua Pinnacles Scenic Reserves which requires a closed to two-hour’s drive from Wellington.
That’s not all. Upon arrival, it takes a 1.5 hours return walk to see the geological sight used as a filming location for the ‘Paths of the Dead’ scene in (you are right – Lord Of The Rings).
To the local New Zealanders or people who are used to hiking, this distance should be a piece of cake. But not to us noobs…
There are two ways to reach the lookout – on the left is the Ridge Track and on the right is the Streambed. In order to experience the sights on both routes, we read that we could go up via the Ridge Track and return via the Streambed.
There were some parts of the route that was somewhat muddy possibly due to rain – there was slight drizzle when we drove here. But we managed to hike through the forest area before reaching a rest area offering view of the Palliser Bay.
As we ascended further up, the forested vegetation gave way to shorter shrubs and bushes. Beautiful pathway lined with pretty flowers.
As the hike got steeper, there were more steps ahead. Our lack of physical fitness began to slow us down as we huffed and puffed our way to the lookout point.
But it was worth it for this view – an expansive view of the remarkable rock formations. The greyish looking tall spiky “pillars” looked kinda spooky though.
From the lookout point, we then started our decent which was steeper than the ascent but easier to manage.
Not before long, we arrived at the streambed and found ourselves surrounded by the massive cliffs.
Although the streambed was relatively gentle, it was mainly loose rocks hence it was critical to pay attention to your footing. As we navigated towards the direction where our car was parked, we started to see the stream getting wider and deeper…That was where our inexperience caught us…
Eventually we were left with no dry track to walk…
We were not worried about being stranded in the park as there were obviously other visitors around when we hiked down. However we shudder at the the thought of having to hike our way back up the way we came from!!!
There were another few couples who were on the same route as us. However they seemed to be less hesitant about having to get their shoes wet by crossing the ankle to mid-calf high river… Left with no choice, we followed suit…
Suffice to say this was a “memorable” hiking experience… we made it safely back to our car…but we got no other shoes to change into… Unlike the other couple whom we saw changed into their spare shoes once they reached their car… =(
I had to either drive barefooted or endure the 2-hrs drive back in the wet shoes… I did the latter. Despite the discomfort, during the journey back we took our time to stop and watch the adorable sheep.
First time I see a black faced sheep! They were pretty curious and alert as they all looked towards our direction when we stopped our car.
The sheep on another farm gets to enjoy beautiful coastal views.
While at another farm, the sheep appear like tiny dots across the massive pasture.
Finally back in the hotel for some twilight snacking in the lounge.
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