Now Voyager: Burger Fuel.

I have arrived at a new Kiwi success story - Burger Fuel. And I am at its centrepiece, although they are all much the same, now a worldwide franchise. This one on the corner of Taranaki and Courtenay Place couldn't be more central so it epitomises its success. Two Kiwi petrol-heads began it nearly twenty years ago in Auckland seeing a need for the better taste burgers for discerning Kiwis, and for that matter everyone. Has anyone had a palatable burger from Macca's, or KFC or any other awful fast food outlets? I don't think so.

Well I wasn't expecting too much so it was with trepidation I asked for the Chicken Burnout (they all have motor themes) touted to be chargrilled chicken breast, bacon, stilton cheese sauce, dijon mustard, salad and relish, a daunting recipe I thought. But half an hour later my stomach tells me it's OK, and the burger itself tasted quite good. Not enough to come again, but not indigestible like all the others. What set it aside was the quality brown paper bag and the Doofer that came with it. Dumdum me didn't know what it was, but as you see from the pic it looks like a car, but it's upside down. It is actually a burger carrier!

Seduced by the innovation I succumb to a Burgerfuel special ice-cream, a Hokey pokey made by them, resplendent in its own pot and tucked inside the lid is the spoon. It tasted good too. All for sixteen dollars, and no indigestion. A cheap meal and a lesson in Kiwi creativity. The owners have sold franchises in Dubai and Southeast Asia and are soon to be in Australia and the US, that is, if they let them in. A big success story indeed.

But now to Fishhead magazine, here below...

I mentioned once before this popular Kiwi glossy mag, and Burgerfuel had the latest copy, another point in its favour. On reading the editorial I see it is only six years old, a unique Wellington creation for its inhabitants, and that the present editor is just finishing his time in order to become the next CEO of Wellington Contemporary Dance company, another clear example of cross pollination and a success driven story in its own right. But what other city in the world could have its pre-eminent glossy with such a smelly name!

This edition has articles on the great Kiwi 'bach', pronounced batch, the family holiday shack that Tasmanians have as well, passed down through generations, and rarely, if ever, sold. It is an iconic Kiwi story of building cheaply and transporting the materials in the easiest way possible to their remote locations. I took a snap of one of them in the magazine, it looks very inviting.

Courtenay Place from Burgerfuel