Food ‘disappointing’

Press, 10 February 1989, Page 4

Food ‘disappointing’

PA Wellington In New Zealand, drink the water but don’t eat the food. That is the advice a visiting American writer would give potential tourists. Mr Robert Wood and his wife, Mrs Deanne Wood, are in New Zealand on a house-swap arrangement with a Wellington couple who are staying in their Hawaiian home. They have used the house as a base while exploring New Zealand’s tourist spots. Although impressed with the scenery, they have been disappointed with the food and service offered to tourists. “When it comes to food, you people are with the dinosaurs,” Mr Wood said. Last week the couple took a guided walk of the Abel Tasman National Park. They paid $485 each for three nights stay at a lodge in Torrent Bay. The package included their launch trip to the park and guided walks.

The pair said they were disappointed with the standard of food and the service. For example, when their tour party of six left on their first day’s walk the guide said he was not good with, names so he would call them all Eric. The brochure advertising the walk said they would receive a monologue about the park and its history by a local identity on the launch trip but -that did not happen, they said. When they asked what was for dinner the first night they said the guide answered defensively, "food.” A spokeswoman for Abel Tasman Enterprises, which runs the launch trips and guided walk in the Abel Tasman National Park, said they did not receive complaints about the food from people apart from satisfied customers who felt there was too much food.