Succulent scenery

The seafood extravaganza at the Peppertree, Coromandel.

A stroll in the forests of the Coromandel with Sharon Johansen is like a visit to the supermarket. In the first aisle there are crisp, young palm fern fronds. "Quite nice to eat ... you can even fry them." Next door is a magnificent black fern. "If you bake a section of the trunk the pith tastes like apple with a slight flavour of coconut."

Curling young bracken fern fronds "have an almond taste", new shoots of supplejack "are like raw beans" and ripe totara berries "were used by the old bushmen to make jam".

For an after-dinner cup of coffee, just roast some ripe orange coprosma berries.

To wash your hands before the meal, rub kumeraho leaves in a stream.

And, if a diet of bush food gives you the runs, then koromiko leaves are the perfect remedy.

Sharon has been running these walks in the bush for 20 years, and depending on the season and time of day she can introduce visitors to kiwis and cave wetas, glow-worms and wild pigs, old mine tunnels and soaring kauris.

But it's the bush food part of her programme that interests me, because I'm visiting the peninsula as a judge of the inaugural Coromandel Cafe Crawl, and it's a relief to know that if the worst happens I won't starve.

Everyone knows about the Coromandel's magnificent bush, glorious beaches and rolling seas. But superb cafes? "The Coromandel isn't associated with great food and wine the way, say, Hawkes Bay is," says Tourism Coromandel chief executive Jim Archibald.

"We get a lot of visitors but I doubt any of them come here looking for a great food experience. Yet we've got some wonderful places to eat and some fantastic food."

The cafe crawl, part of this year's Pohutukawa Festival, aims to get the message across by providing a showcase for local food.

It involves three cafes in each competing town joining forces to produce a three-course progressive dinner and compete for the title of cafe capital.

So, what've they got that's better than supplejack shoots?

Nerves are taut on opening night as we gather at the Whangamata Ocean Sports Club for the first taste of what the peninsula has to offer.

On the deck outside some fat scallops are being opened. The sight sets gastric juices running. While we watch they prepare fat Pacific oysters with vodka and black pepper. Yum. Glasses of Mt Riley sauvignon blanc are handed round. Perfect.

The MC recites a strange little poem about how he is not the scallop shucker but the scallop shucker's son. Unusual chap.

The highlight of the three entrees is those succulent scallops, bursting with freshness and taste, their rich flavour perfectly set off by an avocado and basil salsa and the sauvignon blanc.

Next stop is Aaron and Courtney Tapper's wonderful Coast Bar and Restaurant, where we get a choice of superb hapuka, tasty lamb, or a wonderful combination of tastes in a snapper and scallop ravioli with basil, garlic and chilli.

Then to the Whanga Bar for a plate of four desserts, including a delectably tart summer pudding.

Phew. I think we can safely leave the supplejack shoots in the bush for another day. I need a liedown.

That night we rest in the peace and quiet of Bushland Park Lodge in the beautiful Wentworth Valley. Owners Reinhard and Petra Nickel offer a gourmet dining experience of their own, but on this occasion we'll have to settle for their special breakfast: superb scrambled eggs with finely chopped Black Forest bacon served at the table still sizzling in the skillet.

Then it's off to Whitianga to see where the amazing seafood comes from. There's so much fish in Mercury Bay that there's a sprat in the bottom of the urinal by the wharf - it's true, I tell you - though I'm too scared to see what might be in the toilet bowls.

But a better way to see the sealife is to take a cruise with Mercury Bay Seafaris to Te Whanganui a Hei marine reserve. Through the boat's glass bottom there's a rich marine world on display, swarming with plump snapper, succulent crayfish - yes, I know you're not supposed to think such things at a marine sanctuary - and other fascinating marine plants and animals.

On the trip out we also get great views of the extraordinary rock formations, including Cathedral Cove, Rabbit Arch and Blue MaoMao Cave, as well as Cook's Beach.

This is where Captain James Cook landed in 1769 and observed the Transit of Mercury. But it's a lesser-known part of Mercury Bay's history that has inspired Whitianga chefs for their entry in the cafe crawl. When Cook and his crew rowed ashore, almost the first thing they did was to shoot 20 shags and boil them for supper.

No, I don't mean they served us boiled shag - though there are still plenty of shags resting on the rocks - but the local cafes do follow Cook's lead in focusing on poultry rather than seafood.

At the Grill and Ale we don Santa hats with flashing red lights and the entree is a festive mix of smoked chicken, grape and lettuce salad and piquant haloumi cheese with a pistachio dressing.

Next door at The Fireplace the Christmas theme continues with juicy turkey wrapped in sage and panacetta and served with a rosemary potato gratin and cranberry hollandaise.

But the highlight of the Whitianga food experience is the dessert at the Salt Bar Cafe. It's a midori and pistachio nut parfait, topped with angel hair and surrounded by mango and chilli syrup, with tantalising contrasts of cool and heat, sweet and sour, soft and crunchy.

That night we stay at the Waterfront Motel, which has magnificent views over Buffalo Beach and Mercury Bay.

The next morning we have another great taste experience at Cafe Nina. Fried homemade banana bread with fresh fruit, maple syrup and yoghurt. Mmmm mmmm.

Then it's off to Coromandel, an old milling and mining settlement, now thronging with artists and upmarket hippies.

The quirky spirit of the area is embodied in the fascinating Waiau Waterworks, just south of the town, where you can wander among witty outdoor sculptures and play with some great water-powered toys.

The owners, Chris and Kay Ogilvie, have created a magical world which includes a water-powered clock, witches brewing up a spell in a microwave, a couple of fantastic flying foxes, cycle-powered water cannons, flying bicycles and dozens more whimsical wonders for children big and small.

But there's nothing whimsical about the entrees served up later at the Admiral's Arms - a choice of four, all big, tasty and serious - including a marvellous bowl of tender local mussels in a piquant tomato, lemon grass and white wine sauce.

Up the road at the Peppertree there are three mains on offer, and they are even more serious: steak with mussel pate, whole roast quail and, the star of the show, a seafood extravaganza including a delicate crayfish terrine, sumptuous citrus-cured raw snapper, rich, seared scallops and a fabulous Bloody Mary oyster shot. Goodness me.

We have a second round of the oyster shots to make sure we got the fabulous taste right the first time ... We had.

Meanwhile a pony-tailed chap who arrived in a BMW provides an impromptu piece of entertainment, getting up to complain that when he went next door to the Star and Garter for his dessert he was thrown out, and is promptly thrown out of here as well ... to roars of approval from the diners.

It's lucky we aren't thrown out of the Star and Garter because the desserts include a selection of the tasty local Matatoki cheeses and are followed by the fabulous Coffee LaLa, produced down the road by the Coromandel Coffee Company.

With coffee like that it's easy to see why the coprosma berries are left for the birds. And with such a great range of cafes to choose from, the birds can have the totara jam and nikau pith too.

But I think I could do with a glass of horopito tea to overcome the effects of eating too well.

* Jim Eagles did the cafe crawl as a guest of Tourism Coromandel.

What to do

Johansen Adventures can be contacted on (07) 864 8731 or check them out at www.coromandel.co.nz

Mercury Bay Seafaris are at Glass Bottom Boat Whitianga (link below) or (07) 867 1962.

Waiau Waterworks is on 309 Rd, Coromandel town, visit the website at Waiau Waterworks or (07) 866 7191.

Where to stay

Bushland Park Lodge, Whangamata, can be contacted on (07) 865 7468 or at www.bushlandparklodge.co.nz.

Waterfront Motel, Whitianga, is at Waterfront Motel (see link below) and (07) 866 4498.

Further information: The Coromandel website or (07) 868 5985.