Whenever HappyCow app suggested a place that might have vegan food, I was eager to find it. More for the sake of a little adventure, actually, since the food I cooked was good (and well received by Mr A) but then, I didn’t always feel like cooking. It was a holiday, after all.

In Christchurch I had a scrumptious red beet chocolate cake at Beat Street Café  and we had a wonderful Indian dinner at The Himalayas.

Circadian Rhythm in Dunedin saw me three times – once to pick up something sweet, the next day for an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch (thali style) and finally for take-out lunch to bring on the drive to Te Anau. We also had lovely tea at Potpourri Vegetarian Café – a veggie pie for myself and a falafel sandwich for Mr A.

Johnny Barr’s in Queenstown saw us to lunch on their wraps (and make use of their free wifi).

I accidentally came across Arcadia Café in Motueka where I had cake one day and we had dinner the next.

Surprisingly, Nelson proved to be a vegan hot spot: The Loving Hut van at the markets supplied me with a burger and cheese cake and at Falafel Gourmet Café Restaurant we had the most wonderful mixed vegan mezze plate (with falafel, humus, pita bread and salad).

Wellington made it very easy for me to fulfill any craving: Off the ferry we made a bee-line for Maranui Surf Life Saving Club and were rewarded with outstanding food in a picturesque location. The next day, laksa at Auty Mena’s Vegetarian Cafe was a welcome and delicious recommendation, as were the cakes from Midnight Espresso bar on the other side of the road.

In Rotorua we may have had the tastiest falafel ever at Sam’s Kitchen (thanks, Moira, for the recommendation!) and fruit cake at Robert Harris café (thanks again to the lovely young gentlemen who patiently checked the ingredient lists of EVERTHING that looked like it could be vegan for me!!!) and on the way from Coromandel to Auckland we stopped in Thames for lunch at Sola Café (where I also had the first opportunity to pay for a suspended coffee).

We had aimed to use up our provisions by the time we got to Auckland and it was a smart decision: The first night we had a filling dinner at Revive, and I found myself some gorgeous passionfood sorbet at Valentino’s gelato at the ferry building, the next morning we went to Little Bird Organics unBakery for beautiful Portobello benedict and a smoothie and our last dinner we had at Satya in Ponsonby.

Needless to say, I bought cake for the flight home at Revel! on K’Road.