Day 9 Morning

10 April 2010 AM

We slept in this morning. Usually we would be up & about at 0800 hours, but today, we didn't start moving till 0900. It was a bright morning, the sun was all cherry & welcoming. Though it was pleasant enough, this morning was quite cold.

bye bye Queenstown!

Regretfully, we bade farewell to the mesmerizing QT. QT has given us so much and we'll always have a special place for her in our minds.
All good things will come to an end, so we didn't linger and we headed out towards a little hamlet situated just outside QT - the pristine Arrowtown. I did not know much about Arrowtown's yesteryears or its present stories, but I presume it's history would have something to do with the mining industry.

Main street_looking in

The town was still quiet and looked like it was just about to wake up when we arrive. Our first stop was a souvenir shop - called the "Gold Nugget". Guess where I got the notion that it was a mining town ...

Main street_looking out

Not unlike a 'cowboy' town with one main high street, Arrowtown has all the vintage charm you could ever ask of such a young country. Like any rural townships in Australia, Arrowtown is a conglomeration of old and the new buildings, with more new than old. There are new structures that strive to appear aged but they usually ended up looking neither here nor there.

clever little spaces

But in the rare occasion when new areas are successfully grafted within existing spaces, the results are often satisfying & pleasing. It would feel so right, so matched, so pretty, and it would make you wonder how such different elements could look so well together. Arrowtown unfortunately presents no such a space although there surely is potential for some.

The reason we stopped in Arrowtown was of course, also to procure breakfast. Although it was my first time here, I already knew where we should grab some food. There is a little cafe, named "bonjour" and all we have to do is to find it. Because none other will do.

Bonjour's street facade_summer

The cafe was on the other side of the main street, facing the park. Its street frontage was nothing spectacular although the al fresco caught my eye. There are plenty of attractive outdoor dining in OZ, but I have never seen one that lays warm fleece blankets draped over their al fresco chairs. How thoughtful.

Foyer

I have nothing but utmost respect (& desire) for French cuisine. Forget their superior complex or French attitudes, but you have got to hand it to them when it comes to cooking & eating. This is our very first experience dining in a French cafe and the menu + decor excites me! A cafe that uses starched cotton tablecloth should get an extra tick, especially a red & white checkered one. It was as if I have stepped into a Mayle novel!

fleece blankets

I do not know much about ordering food, but for me, less is a bore. I usually go for the item that has the longest description or anything that looks like you would be getting a whole heap of stuff. That is also how I used to complete my objective questionaires.

red & white squares

We ordered set menu A & B. There was a sweet crepe with nutella spread, a scrambled omelette with parsley, a fresh seasonal fruit salad (rockmelon + apple + orange in syrup), baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, poached eggs on toast, thick slices of cheddar, smoked ham along with condiments (apricot jam + honey) and hot drinks (hot choc + latte). All for NZ$37.

bounty

It was magnifique albeit being such a simple fare! The honey had a wild-flower scent. The drinks were strong. The eggs were fresh. The crepe was sublime. The croissants were crispy yet soft. The ham was memorable. I do wonder what they serve for tea?

The toilets left quite a good impression although French plumbing is known to be atrocious. Nothing wrong with NZ plumbing, but instead of crass paper towels or noisy electric handryer, they laid out thick wads of towels & a laundry basket. Not very environmental, but a luxury nonetheless.

Cafe Bonjour has left us pining for more and has got everything right, but they had to include French arrogance in their setting. Waiters in the cafe wears their own special uniform - a pastel blue T-shirt with a caption at the back. There are only two different captions and each waiter is assigned one based on their nationality. The shirts proclaimed "I'm French" or "I'm not French".

France versus the world eh?