A pleasant afternoon at Gordonton's Zealong Tea Estate

The Chatham Islands crayfish was served in little pasta pockets. (Photos: Helen van Berkel)

Sun, 20 Apr 2025

The food tastes better, the conversation flows easier, and the journey is smooth between traffic jams when the out-of-town sneaky lunch date is a workday treat.Everyone else was in the office when we slipped out of Auckland after Friday morning’s motorway rush. Our destination was the Zealong Tea Estate in Gordonton, north of Hamilton, home of the Camellia restaurant, and thousands upon thousands of Camellia plants.The beautifully appointed restaurant is named after the flowering tree that convinced Zealong founder Vincent Chen that Waika...

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