World Famous Mangonui Fish and Chips Shop, Doubtless Bay

Mangonui is located at the Doubtless Bay region of Northland. Once a bustling and busy whaling port, today it retains its charm as a quaint fishing village with many of its historic buildings housing restaurants, cafes, gift shops and the post office. Interestingly, Mangonui means “big shark” in Maori. However, it is not shark or its fishing industry that draws many tourists and Kiwis here but fish and chips! The star attraction is its world famous Mangonui Fish and Chips Shop which is sited along the main road and enjoys especially good business from the tour coaches.

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World Famous Mangonui Fish and Chips Shop
Mangonui Village, May 2006
This shop has the reputation of having been voted several times as the best fish and chips in New Zealand! As it is also a fish shop which serves the locals with fresh fish every day, I guess its “secret” lies in the freshness of the fish. I quite enjoyed its fish and chips and the order came with a generous serving of chips. Usually, being famous means a premium price but the price was reasonable at this shop (though I can’t recall how much I paid for the meal).

As a fish shop, it offers many varieties of fresh fish. You will get to select which type of fish to go with your chips. You will given an order number while your meal is being cooked. Many of the tours stop at this place so be prepared to wait for your food but you will get enough time to enjoy your meal. You may wish to dine on the deck which overlooks the harbour.

I had the time to wander along the road to enjoy this peaceful scenic view. There were a few albatrosses in the air that afternoon. They would glide slowly in the air, gain some height and then suddenly plunging down into the water with a “smack”, to emerge later from the water (could even see the fish in their beaks in some instances) and then flying off. It was kind of enchanting to see them do that again and again. The memory that Mangonui left with me was that of the albatrosses gliding overhead in this peaceful scenic place and less of the fish and chips in my tummy!

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Mangonui Village, May 2006

Lord of the Rings at Deer Park, Queenstown

Finally, for the fans of Lord of The Rings (LOTR), here is a photo for you. Though having watched two of the movies, I have to admit I am no fan of the trilogy movies. However, I am a keen fan (read as fanatic) of New Zealand.

When I went up to Deer Park, it was not my intention to see the spots where the movie was filmed. My guide explained and pointed out some of the LOTR stuff but they simply didn’t register in my head! I was not paying attention and neither did I take any photos of the LOTR stuff. Instead of “Wow, LOTR!”, I was in my own fanatic world and my eyes were “Wow, Queenstown!”.

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The Remarkables
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006
The above mountain range is known as The Remarkables. In The Two Towers, the scene of the Rohan refugees making their way round a pool of water was filmed at this spot with The Remarkables in the background.

The view from Deer Park is so breathtaking! Someday when you are in Queenstown, do remember to visit Deer Park to experience it for yourself; to see as far as you could see, to feel the cool breeze and to enjoy the warmth of the sun on both East & West Summit.

Your visit to Deer Park would not be complete without seeing this beautiful animal at close range:

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Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006

The Animals at Deer Park, Queenstown

In an earlier posting, I mentioned about bringing extra $1 coins to Deer Park, Queenstown but did not elaborate about this matter. The $1 coins are for the purchase of “sheep nuts” and $1 gets a full tin of this stuff. So what do you do with the “nuts”? Aha, that’s when your fun on Deer Park starts!

My guide called this stuff “sheep nuts”. They are actually small bits of dried food pellets. For sheep? One of the surprises at Deer Park is that besides the deer, you get to see a whole lot of other animals too. There are miniature horses, ducks, pigs, sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas …… even highland cattle and the North American bison. Calling it “The Animal Farm” would have been more appropriate!

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Ducks, miniature horses and ugly pigs!
“The Animal Farm”
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006

These animals roam freely on Deer Park but some are kept within fenced enclosures. To get the animals to come to you, all you have to do is shake the tin of food pellets to make a rattling sound. One of my memorable encounters was with the goats and llamas. Shook the tin and I found myself surrounded by a couple of excited llamas and goats! As the llamas are almost as tall as a man, it was a challenge trying to keep the tin out of their reach. After being jostled by a couple of them, I started to smell like them too! Haha... Unlike llamas, the alpacas are nice, gentle and well mannered.

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Excited llamas and goats!
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006

Feeding the animals, having them slopped saliva on your palms, you will inevitably have a good collection of exotic saliva ...... so do expect to get dirty and smell like one of the animals on your trip!

To see Pavlov theory in action, shaking a tin in Deer Park will give you a good first hand experience of frenzied salivating animals around you!

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Young Kids 1-2 weeks old	Himalayan Tarn (beautiful long hair)
North American Bison (small horns, big nose)	Highland Cattle (big horns, big nose)

The Alpaca at Deer Park Queenstown

How do I look in my new hairdo and fur coat ?
(a wolf in sheep’s clothing..... haha !)
Seriously, this woolly creature is an alpaca and it is native to South America. My first encounter with this animal was in Deer Park. It resembles a sheep but is much larger and it has a long erect neck. Like the sheep, an alpaca is covered in a thick coat of fur.

The alpaca is a beautiful creature, gentle in nature, intelligent and inquisitive. As a prey animal, it is cautious and nervous and like having its own space. In spite of encountering many visitors in Deer Park daily, the herd of alpacas was cautious with us initially and kept their distance. It took a few minutes before these animals calmed down and let us approached them.

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Herd of alpacas at Deer Park
Queenstown, Aug 2006

In the snow-capped background, that is Queenstown below the mountain range.

Unlike the llama, the alpaca is not used as a beast of burden. It is reared mainly for its wool and meat. Compared to sheep’s wool, alpaca wool is warmer, silkier, feels more luxurious and lighter in weight. Another attractive feature, it does not contain lanolin (which the sheep has) and this makes alpaca wool almost hypoallergenic.

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A beautiful alpaca
Deer Park, Queenstown, Aug 2006
For ease of dyeing the wool, alpacas have been bred mainly as white. Like sheep, you will find them in many shades of colour. As you see in the photo, an alpaca’s thick coat of fur gives it an appearance of an oversized long-neck sheep!