A few weeks ago a colleague and I went on a work trip to Palmerston North. I have to fess up: Apart from the opportunity to catch-up with lovely colleagues and partake in some mall-based shopping, a visit to Palmy doesn’t usually make my heart soar with excitement. John Cleese was much less diplomatic when he visited in 2005. He said ‘If you ever do want to kill yourself, but lack the courage, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick.’ Ouch. Incidentally, Palmy North town got their own revenge by naming a rubbish dump after him.
Well, after our visit my foodie colleague and I reckon John got it wrong. He can’t have gone out for dinner. Nope, he must have eaten in his hotel room and ordered tough steak and soggy chips from room service. By contrast, we were blown away by the eateries we experienced in Palmerston North. Actually we are trying to engineer another few days in the good ‘old Manawatu to sample more splendid tucker. (more…)