Words and images Vicki Ravlich-Horan
After a week of relentless rain, the sun came out for our second annual Audi Day Out. This is the day that my Instagram feed belies reality and will have you believe I swan around the region driving luxury cars, meeting great people and eating delicious food!
We meet at Ebbett Audi in Te Rapa, where we picked up our cars for the day, an Audi Q7 50 TDI (the grey one) and an Audi S5 Avant (the blue one). Wanting to know a little more about each, beside their colour, Audi sales specialist and my previous car interpreter Jackson Caffyn was on hand to give me a rundown.
The Q7 is Audi’s only seven-seater and boasts a 210kW diesel engine, quattro all-wheel drive and intelligent sport suspension. And while we didn’t test out the 7-person capacity, the Q7 was definitely roomy and a smooth ride.
The S5, on the other hand, is sportier model. The 2025 S5 is a refresh of the long-standing, best-selling Audi A4. Jackson says, “This new generation of car is the first car we have had through on the PPC platform and boasts a 270kW V6 petrol with Audi’s newly developed Mild-Hybrid Plus system.” Remembering my lack of car knowledge, he switches to pointing out the interior features, like the new curved multimedia interface (or Audi MMI), headrest speakers for the front seats and a passenger display screen.
With a rundown on the cars’ features, we were off. First stop, Falls Retreat in the Karangahake Gorge. Brad and Emma started Falls Retreat around the time I started Nourish magazine, and they are one of our longest standing clients. This might have been why I managed to twist Emma’s arm in letting us pop in for coffee when they were technically closed with a wedding that afternoon.
With the place to ourselves we chatted to Brad and Emma over coffee, about their vision for Falls Retreat and the changes they have made in recent years. We also took the opportunity to check out the accommodation, garden and grounds.
We could have stayed all day chatting, but I am a woman with a schedule, so we were back in the Audis and on the road. We were heading to Whangamatā. Our destination – Coromandel Chocolate’s new chocolate factory.
I first met Thomas Capdevielle from Coromandel Chocolate when he had just set up his factory in his garage. Fast forward just a couple of years and he has grown into a larger factory with a shop in the centre of Whangamatā.
I love these days out and being able to share the story and passion of some of the people I get to know in my line of work. I was especially keen to have Mat McLean from Palate, who joined us for the day, to meet Thomas, as Coromandel Chocolate currently features in one of Mat’s desserts.
Thomas gave us a quick rundown on the process of making chocolate from bean to bar before explaining how his beans are grown on a remote island in Vanuatu. This is a crucial part of the Coromandel Chocolate story, who want to celebrate Pacific chocolate.
When very few chocolatiers have even seen cocoa being grown, Coromandel Chocolate have a hands-on investment with their cacao beans. “Our goal is to raise the profile of Pacific single origin cacao and give it the recognition it deserves,” says Thomas. “Why import cacao beans from elsewhere when we can invest our money right here in the Pacific?”
But the proof is in the pudding, so it was time to try this chocolate. Judging by the bags of chocolate that got tucked into the Audis I would say Coromandel Chocolate got everyone’s tick of approval.
Our next stop, lunch, required a short stroll to Port Road Project, a favourite brunch spot in the Horan household whenever in Whangamatā. Owned by Jason Scott, one half of the sibling duo who established the iconic Scotts Epicurean in Hamilton, Port Road Project can be trusted to produce something a little different but always delicious. So we left it to the kitchen team to feed us and were not disappointed as dish after dish arrived.
We enjoyed, among other things, buttermilk fried chicken sammy with red cabbage kimchi, an amazing beef and cheese toastie, and a cauliflower concoction with halloumi, raisins and pinenuts on hummus and flatbread.
With the sun streaming in and great food being enjoyed, it would have been easy to stay all afternoon. Maybe next year’s day out needs to be extended to a weekend away.
Want to test drive an Audi for yourself? Stop in and talk to the Ebbett Audi team.