Ahu Ahu - a black diamond by a blue sea

I'd heard about the black sand on New Zealand's west coast but I couldn't quite imagine what it would be like in real life. Not my cup of tea I'd thought to myself, being biased. I lived and love the chalk white sand of Jervis Bay on Australia's eastern seashore. It's my kind of sand. Dazzling, pure and whiter than white.

So I wasn't expecting real sand and I wasn't expecting it to be black black and I wasn't expecting it to be diamond bright, or to sparkle and glint at me, with or without the sun. It took my breath away. It's beautiful, it's a shock to all the senses.

Fresh water streams from nearby Mt Egmont lose momentum as they meet the beach, spreading out in ripples across the smooth, untouched, black surface into the sea. Fat seagulls squawk from little and large rocks that litter the water's edge. No-one else is here. I think of Longfellow's “I hope to join your seaside walk, saddened and mostly silent with emotion, not interrupting with intrusive talk, the grand majestic symphonies of ocean”.

Our villa, one of five – the Ahu Ahu Beach Villas. It's thoughtfully designed, under-stated, private and provides everything we need. We meet up with the owners, three nights running. David & Nuala. They generously offer freshly caught tuna and crayfish with homemade marinades and sauces. David even cooks our cray. We're speechless. Words don't come to extoll their virtues.

Ahu Ahu is roughly five hours drive south of Auckland and five minutes from Oakura near New Plymouth. Mt Egmont's viewing platform and climbing station is thirty minutes away. Ahu Ahu Beach Villas are a magic place to stay. Three days was not long enough. Check their website for more details www.ahu.co.nz

David's marinade for (luminous pink) seared tuna

sesame seed oil

sweet chilli sauce

soy sauce

garlic

ginger

lemon infused rice bran oil

lemon juice

David's aioli sauce for the tuna and crayfish

crushed garlic

sour cream

chopped basil

lemon juice

lemon infused rice bran oil

on the grape vine

I was quite taken by a tiny grape vine at a friend's home in south west France just recently. It stretched across a single wire between two small posts, groaning with luxurious plump bunches. It looked happy and content nestled against the side of my friend's house. Perfectly positioned to capture the warmth of the southern sun with an uninterrupted view of the Pyrenees.

I was captivated by the size of the vine, its massive crop and the freshness of the fruit, only moments from harvest. How could I have not noticed this before, just walked by?

The story was soon relayed to me. Alex (my friend) planted the vine several years ago. It was a present from her sister, Charlie. Bought by Charlie at Hampton Court Palace on one of those rare plant sale days. Charlie knew full well Alex would tend it, love it and appreciate its extraordinary history.

This very grape vine is a cutting from the original grape vine planted at Hampton Court Palace in England in 1769 by Lancelot “Capability” Brown. To me, this is mind boggling!

Capability's legacy has spread as far as south west France! His grapes are growing strong here, year in, year out and have even found their way to my table. How glad I am I spotted the tiny vine growing in Alex's garden and asked the question.

We devoured the bunch (above photo) Alex gave us and we savoured each and every grape. Indulging ourselves as we did so in the romance of the past and with grateful thanks to her, to Charlie and to Capability and to those in between who have cared enough to preserve this precious, living, important monument from our past.

Alex's home in south west France is also a B&B. If you love great food and great comfort with stunning views look no further. Find Alex's details at www.quartierbidos.co.uk If you look carefully, on the very far left of the house, in the photograph on the website's front page, you can just see this precious vine.

The following notes from www.europeforvisitors.com might be of interest:

The Great Vine in the Hampton Court Palace Gardens is the oldest and largest known vine in the world. Here's what the palace staff have to say about this remarkable grapevine: The Great Vine is more than 230 years old and 36.5 meters (120 feet) long. It is believed to have been planted by Lancelot "Capability" Brown around 1768, during his time as Surveyor to George III's Gardens and Waters. The vine is also the oldest plant in the palace gardens, having come from a small cutting at Valentine's Park in Essex (which no longer survives) The Great Vine was first planted in a glasshouse built to house Queen Mary's collections of exotics from the tropics. Its roots were planted outside, and its branches were trained inside the glasshouse, which measured 18 by 4 meters (60 by 13 feet). By the 1790s, the vine was thriving so much that the glasshouse had to be lengthened by a further 3.5 meters or 11½ feet. In 1800, the girth of the trunk was 330 mm or about 1 foot. In 1887, it was already 1.2 meters or 4 feet around the base; today, it measures 3.65 meters or 12 feet around the base. Its longest rod is 36.5 meters or 120 feet. The current aluminum Vine House was built in 1969. It incorporates wrought-iron Victorian supports. The rebuilding was unique as it was the first time a glasshouse was built around a plant. Both the frame that supports the Vine and the viewing gallery (still used by the general public) come from a 19th Century wooden vine house. The Vine was first shown to the public in the 1840s when Queen Victoria opened the gardens to the public. The Vine usually blossoms in early May with small and fragrant flowers. The crop is usually harvested in September. It takes the Vine Keeper around three weeks to remove all the grapes. The crop averages 500 to 700 bunches of grapes that weigh 220 to 320 kg (507 to 705 lb). The largest recorded crops of grapes from the Vine were 1,800 bunches in 1798 and 2,245 bunches in 1807. The grapes, which are black and sweet, have always been used by the Royal household as dessert grapes. In 1930, however, George V started sending the grapes to hospitals, and within five years they were being sold to palace visitors. Today, the full crop of black eating grapes is sold to visitors in the palace shops in late summer or early autumn. In 1933, the grapes were 6 shillings per pound. A shilling of this went towards the baskets in which they were sold. These baskets were specially made by soldiers blinded in the First World War.