Team building exercises can be tiresome. Some are bearable. It turns out that a 3-hour long scavenger hunt around Wellington's CBD brought out the competitive side of my workmates and ended up being a huge amount of fun. Even better was the promised prize of afternoon tea for the winning team ... us! We perused afternoon tea menus and settled on
high tea in the Lobby Lounge at the InterContinental Hotel. What a great choice!
The atmosphere in the Lobby Lounge is comfortable and relaxed. There's an extensive tea menu that, naturally, I cast aside in pursuit of coffee. We knew we'd be in for a feast so made sure nobody had lunch beforehand but still weren't certain we could finish a full high tea each - although we'd certainly try our best.
The staff were great. While we wouldn't be able to take home any savoury foods, the sweet items could be packaged up if we couldn't make it through all fifteen pieces. Just as well ... most of my top layer came home in a beautiful doggy (piggy?) box to be devoured later.
So what did we eat? The menu was similar to the
high coffee I enjoyed last year. We started at the bottom with a warm bacon and avocado slider, smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, pumpernickel with apple and aged blue cheese (I'm still getting used to pumpernickel), cucumber and egg club sandwiches, followed by mini date scones with jam and cream.
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| Intercontinental high tea |
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And this is what we brought home: gateau opera, white chocolate mousse, strawberry tartlet, chocolate and popping candy lollipop (so much fun!), mini cheesecake, coffee éclair, tropical fruit salad and a tiny macaron.
We had an amazing high tea with delicious food and excellent company. I can't think of a more pleasant way to spend a Friday afternoon.
