Cafes and Meat Pies

Two things we've learned about New Zealand:

1) There are cafes and "take-away" shops on nearly every corner, and
2) We've yet to find one that doesn't serve meat pies.

We came across the most delightful little cafe on our way out of Hamilton, just in time for lunch.  It was situated in a beautiful little valley on a big piece of land.  We all enjoyed playing on the spinning disc outside while we waited for our food.

All that spinning caused us to work up quite an appetite, and the food was delicious.  This is a clever way that many cafe owners display their meat pies, so you know what's inside (this one contained beef).

Besides the meat pies, the other food was excellent, too.  We all had to sample Rachel's scrumptious French toast...

I ordered something called Spicy Potato Wedges.  They were like the wedges you might get at a convenience store or deli counter, yet they were super fresh, topped with a little melted cheese, sweet cream (almost like honey butter), green onion, and a generous drizzling of Thai-style chili sauce.  It sounds so weird, but I kid you not...it tasted AMAZING!  It makes my mouth water to think about it.  Not the healthiest, of course, but super delish.

With full tummies, we were ready for a few more hours on the road headed to Taupo.