60th Birthday - Part Four - The Chateau (part 2)

I've continued this from the previous post as it was becoming quiet long!

After dinner I went up to our room while Harry went out for a cigarette. When he came back he had two Puriri moths with him. He said there were many outside the main doors.

They are a native to New Zealand and as a caterpillar or grub they bore into puriri trees (and other species) where they feed on the tissue of the tree for up to five years. Once they emerge as a moth they have no mouth so can not feed and die within 48 hours.

The following day when we left we could see them all dead in the covered drive through area.

Not sure what all the wet marks were that came from the mohts.

We didn't sleep well that night for a mixture of reasons. First nights are always hard in a new place and we were right near the lift so every-time the door opened you could hear it and the voice saying "3rd floor". You could see the hall light through a gap in the side and base of the door way to our room so they weren't exactly sound proof which meant we heard people talking as they came and went from their rooms. The heating in the rooms was very good so it took a long time to work out whether we needed blankets or not.

Once a sleep I ended up sleeping in and when Harry returned from a ciggy stop he said that breakfast was finishing in half an hour!

So I quickly got changed and we went down to the Ruapehu room again. The buffet menu was so varied it was a little difficult to actually decide what to have. Harry had scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes and toast while I had yogurt, a selection of dried and fresh fruit and some muesli taking our hot drinks into the lounge. I also took an apricot patisserie.

I did wonder what they do with all the left over food as we were the last to eat.















We were then able to have an easy paced check-out, load our things into the car (with the help of the porter!) then wait for our high tea back in the hotel lounge.

This is served at tables by the Ngauruhoe Window, framing the snow-capped mountains in the Ruapehu Lounge. Not that we could see much out the windows as the mist had come right down to almost ground level.

While we waited I had asked for any information on the history of The Chateau and to Harry's disappointment we discovered it was now owned by a foreign company.

In 1990, during a period of Government privatization of assets, the Chateau was sold to Kah New Zealand Limited, a subsidiary of Oriental Holdings Berhad (OHB), a Malaysian-based conglomerate. The new owner invested NZ$3 million in refurbishing the complex.
The ski area was sold to a separate company.
In 2005 a new five-storey wing costing NZ$6 million and containing 40 rooms and replicating the style of the original building was opened. To avoid disturbing guests the expansion used a Scandinavian system of modular construction with the rooms built in Auckland and trucked to the site where they were installed using a crane. A presidential suite occupies the top floor.
The Chateau Tongariro is currently operated by Bayview International Hotels and Resorts, which is also a subsidiary of Oriental Holdings Berhad (OHB).

Its good to think they have invested in preserving the whole complex but sad that like many other locations and enterprises this too had been sold from New Zealand.












One of the pictures that took our fancy was this one of the Pink and White Terraces. When Mount Tarawera erupted on June 10th, 1886, Lake Rotomahana also erupted, and buried the terraces along with other small villages.
They were thought to be the eighth wonder of the world before that.

When we were ready we asked to be seated for high tea.












This is a preset menu of 12 delicacies brought out on a three-tier tea stand (note: not cake stand) served with either your choice of tea, coffee or for an extra cost glass of Alan Scott Blanc de Blancs (bubbles).

Of course this is all served on fine china with elegant silverware and the whole experience is not to be rushed. There was a choice of 16 different teas so that in itself took awhile!

We intended to make this high tea our morning tea, lunch and maybe even afternoon tea.

I chose the Rose Tea (yes I know to some of you that will be no surprise) and Harry just wanted a cup of tea! so chose the Dorchester Breakfast.

First came serviettes, then our cup, saucers and plates, followed by each of our teas along with hot water and milk and finally the tower of food.




















There were four different styles and choices of sandwiches on the bottom layer, two different scones,a chocolate slice and crème brûlée in the middle tier and finally a selection of sweet treats including nougat, macaroons and blueberry tarts.

So we did indeed take our time, refilling our cups with tea and savouring the tasty portions while watching the mist rise and fall over the near hills.

In the end we asked if we could take home the left overs which they boxed up for us saying that many people ask to do so.


And so all too soon it was time to leave and make the trip home.

It certainly was a lovely time with plenty of pleasant memories to cherish and just a wonderful time being spend with each other.

We took a longer routine home going around the back of the lake via SH4 going through Raurimu, Taumarunui and Te Kuiti.