Wellington, New Zealand, may be home to Peter Jackson and the Ring things, may be where Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords met at school and were “formerly New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo,” but I prefer to think of Wellington as home to the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.

So after a week of work in Wellington, it was time for leisurely lunches, lamb and All Blacks rugby.

Phillippa and her husband (left) graciously picked up Amy and I and took us out of the city to do what I love to do wherever I go – grocery shopping – followed by a fabulous lunch at their home in Porirua.

Saturday evening, NZFSA chief executive Andrew McKenzie (right) and his wife shared their home and their spectacular view of Wellington for dinner and an evening of All Blacks rugby against South Africa.

Sunday, after we checked out of the hotel, we decided to grab a bite at 3C, a restaurant we had visited with the NZFSA gang earlier in the week. The meal was slow in arriving, but we didn’t really care as we summed up our week in Wellington. Doug the manager cared, and said lunch was on him. Doug even knew the difference between a University of Kansas Jayhawk and a Kansas State Wildcat due to years spent in the U.S.

So here’s to all things Wellington, and here’s Flight of the Conchords, celebrating all things French and food, with their hit single that Amy actually uses in her French classes, Foux Da Fa Fa.