A surreal feeling of being the last people left alive, with no human presence in site for miles around. And the image of the range of the sacred mountains, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, only testimony to the land finally claiming its own rights.
I am grateful for the presence of Chef Jack Cashmore’s team who are kindly bringing us back to a world where humans are still given a chance to do the right thing. And we take our time with appreciating every morsel that is presented to us on small pedestals.
We have to drive about 50 km on a small road and we think we’re going nowhere but we keep going. We have to travel light for the last nine kilometers in a small vehicle, deep along Kaiwhakauka river, one of the arms of sacred Whanganui river.
And I am happy to learn that Whanganui river was granted personhood status in 2017.
And it is all worth it. Not only for the view over the Tongariro National Park and an exclusive chalet on top of the world. But especially to experience Chef Cashmore’s absolutely superb tasting menu. I’ve enjoyed over 200 fine dining experiences in a multitude of countries and Jack would be on top ten.
Garden press, nasturtium leaf, apple, radish and kombu seaweed - pungent and fresh, a little spicy to open appetite like a salad compressed like a wafle that takes me back to childhood when we used to have this snacks called 'Napolitane.'
Slow roasted onion broth, bone marrow and fennel heart, like a game of 'guess what am I,' onion heart and bone marrow having almost same texture and sweetness and richness.
And there is so much more at the Chef's Table at Blue Duck Station in New Zealand. Check out the full story on World Itineraries.