In my house, “car rolls” are packed with a variety of fillings and then scoffed while driving, usually as the car is pulling out of the driveway.
The event picnic involves taking food to an all-day activity like fishing, bushwalking or attending a concert.
Effort is put into choosing the right dip, cheese and crackers, but unless it’s a fizzer, the picnic will be the Prince Harry of the day, ultimately secondary to the main event.
The classic picnic is when a location is chosen precisely with an aim to spend time there eating quality fare and admiring the view.
Having tried botanic gardens, rivers and lakes, I booked a place among the sunflowers.
Flowers usually seem delicate, but Helianthuses have a different quality. They grow taller than most, and remain blissfully unaware of tall poppy syndrome.
The sunflower picnic of scones and Madeira cake rated highly. Photo / Sonya Holm
On the day of our picnic, we headed off in bad weather, hoping we would meet sunshine over the hills. There was less rain, but the same cloudy humidity.
For sunflowers, the weather also contributes to growth and determines if they’ll be ready for visitors. When we were there, only a third of the sunflowers were blooming.
The flowers in bloom did not disappoint, looking very much like lions in the meadow.
Undeterred by there being fewer flowers than expected and the drizzly weather, we ate our scones and Madeira cake on our picnic rug under a gazebo, by a stream with chatty ducks. It was an idyllic spot.
The sunflower picnic rated highly, but did remind me that the best picnics are often not about the views or the food, but the company.
The Mangamaire Sunflower Field is open to the public on February 11, 12 and 19. Private 30-minute bookings in the sunflower field are available, plus two-hour brunch, lunch or sunset sessions in the “secret sunflower field”. Book at: sunflowerfield.co.nz.
