Clevedon Day Trip

I’ve posted about day trips to Clevedon before, but after our trek out last weekend, I thought it would be fun to do an update. This time we visited both the Farmer’s Market and Clevedon Scenic Reserve. It was a perfect combination for a hot Sunday. The drive is still as scenic, and we found the Sunday market to be just as busy as before.

We found two new stalls that were A+ and deserve two thumbs up and all the gold stars. The first was Nomad Tacos. As a Texan who had a large percentage of my diet in taco form before moving to New Zealand, there have been times when the lack of quality Tex-Mex and Mexican food has been a struggle. I think I’ve been less homesick than many people, but there are certainly some Saturday mornings when I would love to roll down to Torchy’s Tacos for a Dirty Sanchez and an order of guacamole.

Near the back of Clevedon Market, I noticed a new stall for Nomad Tacos and decided to give them a try. They have three different tacos all on blue corn tortillas, so I got one of each: a breakfast scramble with refried beans and feta, a chorizo, and a veggie with okra pico. There’s an option to add avocado which of course I did. Plus they make three different heats of salsa, and the hot and extra hot were actually hot and extra hot and not sweet like many of the salsas here. My three tacos were gone in about two minutes and I went back and placed a second identical order. These are hands down the best tacos I’ve had since landing in New Zealand, and it is no surprise as its run by a trio from Argentina, Mexico, and Uruguay. These folks know how to make a proper taco!

Our second discovery was also salsa related… Apparently we’ve had a deficiency! The Red Hot Kiwi Co. had a stall near the front entrance, and my husband couldn’t contain himself when he found out the owner was from Colorado. We ended up with a jar of hot, two giant jars of extra hot, and a verde drizzle bottle. They’re made from no preservatives and need to be chilled, so we ended up making an impromptu cooler in the trunk of the car with a liquor box and bag of ice we picked up from the bottle store in Clevedon. There was no way we were going to risk losing this treasure! We learned that they also go to the Parnell Farmer’s Market so if we need a quick resupply, we can stock up closer to home.

We needed the ice because our next stop of the day was the Clevedon Scenic Reserve. We unloaded the kids and dog and began to explore. Unfortunately, the kids ran directly to the outdoor play area/obstacle course. It was a little too big for them, and about five minutes in I noticed that the dog was standing in a patch of karaka berries! If you’re not familiar with these plants and are a dog owner, please read here as karaka berries can poison and even kill dogs if consumed. I nearly had a heart attack when I realized what was going on and immediately moved everyone to the trail entrances. (I’ll save you the suspense. The dog didn’t eat any and was fine, but I was nervous for the next two days.)

We took a quick family poll and decided that we wanted to go up the path to our left up to the lookout at the summit. I was not prepared for what this hike turned into. It was basically a 40 minute stair-master experience. The path to the lookout is a series of steps with brief respites of path between them. It was intense but the kids (5 and 7) managed to the top. I don’t think I would attempt this with younger kids, and it is absolutely a no-go if you need a stroller. Once we got to the top, however, the view was incredible. There was a viewing platform that gave us 360° views of the surrounding reserve.

We didn’t stay too long up at the top because the sun was intense up there. Everyone was hot and sweaty and ready to get back into the shade provided by the trees. We continued on the summit loop and continued down the other side. The stairs were just as steep on this path, but overall it was MUCH shorter - perhaps a 25 minute walk instead of a 40 minute one.

We felt very accomplished - and out of shape - when we made it back to the parking lot. My legs were jelly and sore for the next two days. I would love to come back and explore some of the other tracks in the reserve. This is definitely worth another trip!