Friday 9th March 2007. Wellington. New Zealand.

Breakfast this morning was at Arizona on Featherston before I headed over to visit Antrim House on Boulcott Street which a century ago was the address in downtown Wellington.

Antrim House 1904-05 was built for the wealthy businessman Robert Hannah who made his money in footwear. Through its life the house has been a family home, a private hotel, a hostel and a head office. Today it holds the last of those roles as the national headquarters of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

It may well be surrounded by horrendous modern development but it has been wonderfully restored and beautifully preserved.

The house was built at the height of Hannah's commercial success and it was designed by the leading architects of the day Thomas Turnbull and Son. A fine example of the Edwardian Italianate style the house has a striking verandah extending to three sides.

Building began in 1904 and the Hannah family took up residence in 1905. Robert Hannah was known as a shrewd businessman and the house still exudes an air of baronial grandeur and solid prosperity.

The 18 roomed mansion features kauri and totara panelling, stained glass windows, embossed metal ceilings and finely carved fireplaces. The front doors give the impression of entering a town hall with the carved kauri double doors of the vestibule surrounded by stained glass windows. The interior swing doors have acid etched panels by A. Lawson that feature the Ferguson clan coat of arms (a bee on a thistle) with the motto Dulcius Ex Asperis...Sweeter after difficulties...How true!!

My thanks have to go to the lovely Marie. This building is only partly open to the public, but she let me have a good nosey around. The hallway is a welcoming entrance with the joy (although not ecologically sound) of Kauri and totara panelling. The pressed metal ceilings are the work of the highly fashionable Wunderlich Company of Sydney and throughout the ground floor there are examples of the stained glass fanlights. The staircase though remains a highlight of the property and leads you upstairs past two large stained glass windows.

On July 18th 1940 a guest believing that the ashes in her grate were cold placed them in a box and put them in a cupboard at the top of the stairs. A fire began just before 9am and quickly engulfed the richly varnished in a deep mahogany kauri staircase. Fortunately a lack of wind (unusual in this windy city) and the quick response of the fire brigade saved the rest of the house.

Antrim House, the hotel, can also lay claim to being the reported home of the German spy Kasper Wild who was interned on Somes Island.

This property is not only an excellent restoration but an excellent use of a building that is so much more than a museum piece.

I head off to spend sometime working on the project. I must say that every time I have used an internet cafe run by either Chinese or Indian businessmen I have been overcharged...prices that differ from those advertised and debatable times used.

Lunch today will be at Boulcott Street Bistro and Wine Bar which sets itself up to be a very upscale establishment popular with the see and be seen crowd.

Plimmer House where the restaurant is based is a small colonial gothic house built in the early 1870's and owned for nearly fifty years by the prominent merchants the Plimmer family; although the property was not originally built for them. The property was originally sited further back from the road but was moved forward as a result of the high values placed on inner city land thus allowing for the erection of nearby office buildings.

Well the steak was tough and the potatoes overly creamed; but once again the service was excellent.

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that in terms of food, this is one area where New Zealand is still an infant country. They try hard and they can certainly charge the prices, but quality wise they can't cook...this is no culinary heaven!!

I spend my afternoon again working on the project before I venture out to dine tonight at Logan-Brown which lays claim to being the finest restaurant in Wellington...well let's face it there isn't much competition.

The venue is certainly stunning in an early twentieth century banking building and the claim is that you will enjoy a showcase of the finest of New Zealand's ingredients.

The restaurant opened in 1996 in a former National Bank of New Zealand building on the corner of Cuba and Vivian Street. Built in 1917 to the design of Claude Plimmer Jones the octagonal banking chamber is set by an elegant dome . A building reflective of the power and might of banks and commercial enterprise in building the Empire the decor of Logan-Brown is complemented by the very enjoyable art of Euan MacLeod; a New Zealander working out of Sydney.

Again the service is exceptionally good...but what of the food? Well my entree of potato gnocchi with kikorangi, pinenuts, spinach & porcini cream was excellent. Flavourful and yet delicate.

The main of pork fillet with parsnip puree, lustau sherry prunes & apple jelly was outstanding and my delightful fijian waitress Ash could teach the corporate world a thing or two about customer service.

To round off my meal the strawberry galette with vanilla bean ice cream was magic.

I have to eat my words. New Zealand does have good food and it is to be found at Logan-Brown.

Had I been in the position I would have left Ash the biggest tip ever...she was a master of hospitality!!

It's great to be able to write entirely positively about New Zealand food for once.

In reference to the attempt to steal my bag yesterday on Lambton Quay, the following article appeared in today's Dominion Post.

TOURISTS BASHED IN STREET ATTACKS...

...Police are investigating whether two attacks on two men early yesterday are linked.
A 17-year-old German tourist is recovering from surgery for a fractured jaw after three people leaped from a dark-coloured van with tinted windows and attacked him as he walked in the Tory St-Wakefield St area...The attack follows a brutal assault on a 25-year-old Canadian tourist...Four men allegedly drove him to Naenae and robbed him...dumped him battered, half-naked and blindfolded on a roadside.
And another man was attacked early yesterday - just an hour before the German was assaulted.
The man was punched several times, thrown to the ground and had his pockets searched in an unprovoked attack by two men...The victim needed stitches in a cut on his head and suffered bruising to his face...such violence was a concern and was frustrating for police, who had put a lot of work into reducing violence in the inner city, increasing patrols and focusing on scenes of violent incidents in the past..."Visitor safety is of paramount importance, not just in Wellington, but in New Zealand generally. Wellington is perceived as a safe destination by visitors, and this is a reputation we work to safeguard".

At least the Police in New Zealand take such matters seriously, realising, I am sure, the value of the tourist dollar.