Well over the last couple of months we had my Father-in-Law staying with us. Our winter has been particularly cold and wet this year so the visit didn't have quite as much outdoor action as last year. But we did get several great Wellington days. There are a few things that living in paradise allows one to do. You can, when opportunity strikes, sit down for the sort of moment you only see in travel posters. Families come together over food so a lot of these stories do have to do with eating. Of course this isn't the only thing we did!
We took PopPop to the Waterfront Kitchen over in Raumati. You'd miss this little turn off if you managed to look right instead of left for about half a second. When you drive in to this parking lot you wouldn't think much of it either. But this humble "bar" sits on the shore of the Kapiti Coast in full breath-taking view of Kapiti Island. Facing the west, the sunsets here are spectacular. So it has the view, the beach, and a bar... so you have to sacrifice good food right? Wrong. The food here is the best I've had in any "fine" restaurant--and surely blows the doors off any chain restaurant. Gabe loves the chocolate cake here more than about anything. Another bonus to the Waterfront Kitchen is that the drive to it is probably the most amazing coastal drive I've ever seen. It was very good to share this with PopPop!
One of the other standout moments was a simple pizza in Day's Bay. There is a little pizza shop on the east side of the harbour. This also provides a wonderful view of the sunset behind the Wellington hills. It is winter here so sunsets come early. On this particular day we rushed off to dinner right after work. It was a warm day. Amy was busy so it was just the 3 of us guys. It was a fantastic day to sit on the shore with a delicious freshly made pizza and a cold coke. The evening was calm and we watched the lights of Wellington flicker on over dinner.
These things are just little things. But they are so perfect and I never have to go very far. It was a great visit with Don. I think next year I will be trying very hard to find motorcycle gear for him so we can do a few of the very short/easy rides around Wellington. They are not the power-road-trips of the USA, but they certainly are full of perfect moments.
