MIQ Day 1 Friday September 24th 2021

Yesterday’s blog, covered some aspects of the room so today’s will include the supplies and the published menus – and today’s food, of course.

A rotten night’s sleep, hence computer work, Facebook and writing yesterday’s blog at 2am onwards.

Breakfast each day there is zero choice. Four days is a Continental (Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Boring.)

Friday and Monday a cooked breakfast so today’s was acceptable; scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns and a small bottle of full cream milk. Not happy about a sachet of margarine though. Most places these days serve butter by default and those wanting margarine ask for it.

Wednesday – vegetable and spinach frittatas with hash browns and baked beans. I gather week 2 is exactly the same.

The lunch menu has 10 choices and is booked two days ahead.  Some of those choices are less than appealing and a bowl of minestrone soup and a bread roll after a continental breakfast just doesn’t cut it at any time.

The dinner menu also has 10 choices over the 14 days and once again, I deleted three straightaway, and later, on advice from a previous guest, I deleted a 4^th.

However, Thursday (arrival day) and today, lunch and dinner is ‘Chef’s choice’.

 

Pics should show the lunch and dinner options and you can make up your own minds about this, but it doesn’t compare favourably with some of the other MIQ hotels.  All very well being able to order from Countdown or Uber eats or other deliveries, but bear in mind that the delivery has to be before they do the rounds, so the chances are that any hot meal will be cold by the time it arrives and there are no microwaves in this establishment, nor toasters as far as I know. As one who usually prefers hot food to cold, for any meal, I guess I’ll just have to grin and bear it.

 

In terms of supplies, I thought it quite impressive, though I’m not sure about face masks and boxes of tissues made in China, bearing in mind where this pandemic started. There is a full container of washing up liquid, two dish cloths and tea towels with a small container of wash powder.  Toilet brush and a bottle of cleaner. Full container of bacterial hand wash, two bars of soap and a container each of shampoo and conditioner (extra supplies on request). Plenty of towels and toilet paper. No less than 8 bottles of water, milk, a yoghurt, a banana and a small piece of chocolate brownie and a bag of corn chips. Plenty of instant coffee, teas and drinking chocolate, a sharp knife and a bottle opener. I haven’t found an iron but I won’t need one for the clothes, though it might be useful for warming a roll or scone!

A nod in the afternoon after a Chef’s choice lunch of a sandwich, then the all-important knock on the door about 4pm, with a clear Covid result and issued with a blue wristband, entitling me to exercise. I was  informed I could go straight out for exercise and also leave my bagged rubbish outside the door.

So off I went. Clock in at security then walked out to the car park/exercise yard. I think I must have been about the first out there. My ankle was still a bit sore but wearing crocs, I was happy enough walking around in circles, with two defence force personnel and a security guard manning the gate. Oh how times have changed. Fifty years ago, I was the one in uniform, supervising the exercise of remand prisoners...
A fallen lemon found its way into my pocket.

Reading through the issued notes again from the hotel, local and national phone calls were free so I rang Paula. Although internet so far has been excellent, my rarely used mobile just seems to drop out when it feels like it, so a land-line works fine. No echo as per WhatsApp when in the UK.

Dinner (Chef’s choice again) was salmon and vegetables with a kumara rosti and thankfully, I’d got some of my appetite back and I even managed the chocolate mousse dessert. I found out later, reading through the hotel blurb, that I could ask for juice or a soft drink with a meal, but there was nothing on the menus. Noted for the next deliveries.

A bit more computer work then I found out that not only does the smart TV have Netflix, but also Amazon Prime. An explanation of how to operate the remote would have been useful, but no doubt that sort of stuff is available in the rooms when not in MIQ conditions.

One day down and 13 to go. I still have the 5 cans of cider that were in my luggage, so as yet, I haven't turned to drink…