Food From the Sea at BayHouse, Cape Foulwind

We were too tuckered out after the Cape Foulwind walk Thursday to trek the last mile to the cafe we were told not to miss, so we piled into the Rover and took the shoreline road.

The waves bashing this west coast just fill me up, wondering at nature's power.

After a wrong turn ("It can't be in there--the sign says nature reserve") we found BayHouse, situated in a beautiful nook on Tauranga Bay, on the nature reserve's verge, as it turned out.

Ever since Kathy K told us she'd met the physician who own NZ's Forrest Wines we've been keeping an eye out. And there it was:

The Doctor's Riesling

View from the deck at BayHouse.

 On the horizon is Cape Foulwind.

An alfresco table in the sun feels just right after six miles.

A gracious cafe. 

Continuing her benevolent rule 
of Flat White Nation ...

These free-from baskets are made from the ubiquitous nikau palm, endemic to NZ.

Maori found many uses for the nīkau palm. The bases of the inner leaves and the young flower clusters were eaten raw or cooked. Food was wrapped in the leaves for cooking, and the old fibrous leaves were used for baskets, floor mats, and waterproof thatch for buildings.^[2]

We moved inside when the clouds gathered, close to the warm fire.

Seafood chowder, with mussels, shrimp, veggies, slabs of fish, and a drizzle of fennel oil, unquestionably the best I've had.

And a new fish to add to the list: Rig, aka rig shark/lemonfish. It was lovely, but, uh, possibly not the best sustainable choice.

I was captivated by a lone surfer taking on the breathtaking swells.