CheeseShop, 137 Lodder Lane Riwaka, Nelson (2026)

23/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 35 - Zagreb

I Died and Went to Cheese Heaven

The morning was the best so far. We went to Dolac market and dear reader let me tell you it was an amazing market, possibly the best I have ever seen.

Outside under the famous red umbrellas they sell all the fresh fruit and vegetables along with other market staples. But inside...oh my...row after row of culinary dreams. Some random ones like nuts or alcohol, but the vast majority were meat. Fresh meat as well as cured. Every part of an animal you can imagine.

More importantly, almost every stand has one corner full of cheese. There were probably 24 stalls with cheese. Unfortunately almost all these were the prepackaged 300g plus cheeses. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get much cheese here.

Then I wandered into the next room and fell over. At least a dozen stands all selling their own hand made local cheeses. Barb had to physically restrain me from just throwing money at the nice older ladies and grabbing handfuls of cheese. Rest assured reader, I did get some cheese though. They were many of the Slovenian special ones I had been looking for. So happy. Could this day get any better?

Bjelovarski Kvargl - cone shaped herb cheese with paprika, smoked. Unique, but this one was too salty and crumbly. The herbs were complex and there was chili for a little kick.

Caprilo - a soft camembert style that almost seems goaty, but isn't. Oozy and lovely texture and delicious taste. Brilliant with baguette.

Vindija - a local blue. Mild and creamy, but a nice roquefort-like odour

Kozji - semi-hard young Goat's cheese. Like a mozzarella, but softer and with more flavour.

Livanjski - unusual hard cow cheese. Meaty with a cheddar finish.

Goat - pleasant aged goat cheese. Crumbly.

Mixed cow/goat - very creamy and tasty. Nice level of goaty and cheddary texture.

Trappist - mild and meaty, would be great on a toastie.

Rosemary crusted bilgem - crumb far to dry. The rosemary not helping the situation.

Then off to the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art to see art and slide down a slide that looks like DNA.

Oh, wait, you say there is a band playing in the garage of the museum tonight? What are they called? Oh, just Fat Freddy's Drop, from a little place called Aotearoa. Well, if that's not a sign I don't know what is.

So off to dinner and then the concert! The day did get better!!!

Fried mozzarella - standard but locally made

Melted cheddar - again, nothing fancy

Smoked Provalone - Croatian's do lots of italian cheeses well, this one included.

Quest: 147/500

Steps: 552,000

22/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 34 - Krapina

What's Up Bro?

We set off from Zagreb in the morning to the hamlet of Krapina, where one of the most important finds in human evolution occurred.

At Krapina they have a museum dedicated to the discovery of Neanderthal remains at the site. The site was one of the largest ever found and it helped Europe understand how humanity had actually evolved.

I loved all of it, and hope my Neanderthal genes (most of us have 2-4% Neanderthal in us) were happy I went.

When we got back we managed two cheeses with dinner. Both were from Zagreb and both cow. The first was a bit like an American cheddar, but saltier and with more flavour. The other was basically a mild gouda style.

Then off to a museum I enjoyed more than any other so far; the video game museum. A massive collection and history of video games from pong to computers and modern play stations.

It brought back great memories, including my old favourite game M.U.L.E. Of course, they had many machines you could actually play, including a wall-sized Pac-Man. Barb had to drag me out kicking and screaming.

Lastly Zagreb was kind enough to put on a free concert in the park for us. Dvorak and Bach for the win. Lovely evening.

Quest: 135/500

Steps: 536,500

21/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 33 - Zadar

Last Day in Zadar

Our last morning in Zadar, and a travel day, so plenty of time for questing. Morning started off mostly well with a very cheesy breakfast.

Tilzit - pleasant smear-ripened cheese in tasty little slices

3 Pag Sheep - from Pag island, but not Gligora, all high quality and salty with nutty and crumbly textures.

Sliced cheddar - cat vomit

Then off to the local market. Here we found a super cool fish market, along with a small traditional farmers market. Unfortunately, the one cheese on offer there, also from Pag, was just too dry to be appealing.

Then on the bus (our last big bus ride, swapping to trains in Zagreb) I dug out our last Gligora, a very aged one, and a lavender one.

Aged Gligora - very much like an aged gouda, but without the crystals. Very crumbly and punchy flavour. Would gnaw on again.

Lavender Gligora - very dry cow. Lavender not improving it really other than making it taste like dry soap.

Lastly, after arriving in Zagreb, we just chilled in our room for dinner with baguette, prosciutto, wine and with some nice cheese.

Tor - soft goat, tofu-like texture a bit weird, but delicious with food and wine.

Mijisani sir - hard local cheese. Nothing to write home about. Boring.

Zagreb is more traditionally European, so looking forward to improved cheese questing here.

Quest: 133/500

Steps: 523,300

21/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 32 - Plitvice Lakes National Park

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

Today was an epic trip to an UNESCO recognized National Park. It's known for its amazing Waterfalls and beautiful lakes.

Once you arrive there is a 3km hike, but then you take a peaceful 20 minute boat cruise to the next part. There you see Waterfalls. So many Waterfalls. Incredible. Another 4km walk through those and there's a shuttle to take you most of the way back.

Obviously no cheese in the land of Waterfalls, but we had set aside two from Gligora to eat on the bus. This was their cow with chili and cow with pumpkin seeds. Both tasty.

Just enjoy the Waterfalls like we did.

Quest: 123/500

Steps: 509,700

19/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 31 - Pag

We need to talk about Pag.

Pag island is one of those legendary locations in the world of cheese, like the caves of Roquefort. It has virtually no trees, and the shrubs and herbs growing here are extremely salty.

This has made the sheep cheese from Pag legendary. One of the first thing you see entering Pag is that they have a cheese trail. You can follow it and you'll pass by many little locations selling Pag cheese; usually the Paski Sir we had yesterday.

The king of these places is Gligora, where their Paski Sir is PDO protected, and has won many international awards. They have over 50 staff and are supplied by over 200 small farms (not just sheep these days).

Speaking of the sheep, on our bus ride in we didn't see a single one. They were all hiding in the shade or in special sheep houses they have all over the island. On our way out we did eventually spot one litte sheep. There are 30-35,000 on the island. All professional hide and seek players.

Gligora cheeses

Kozlar - hard Goat's cheese. Like the meyer goat gouda, but not as creamy or flavourful.

Velebjan - this is their cow/sheep brand. Solid, not as remarkable as the Paski Sir pure sheep.

Jadranski - mixed cow/sheep. Their younger brother of their Zigljen. They also do a smoked version of this which I preferred.

Kolan - full fat cow the oldest cheese they started making here. Very nice. Also a smoked version. Like a mild smoked cheddar, with a very smokey and nice rind.

Liburjan - this is their all three milk cheese. I think its taken the boring bits from each and made it even more boring.

Likotin - just the plain stuff not aged in anything fancy, nice enough.

Rosemary Marinom - cow, colby-like boring cheese but the rosemary crust really boosts it up a notch.

Tezacki - you basic cow with a few holes. Gouda-y.

Sir Tartufima - their truffle cheese. Like a mild cheddar with some truffle flavouring. Could use real truffle.

Trappist - a young version of this cheese style. Tasty but boring.

Zigljen - this time aged in grape must. Reminiscent of gibbston valley pilot soaked, but sorry NZ this one is a clear winner. Amazing cheese.

P***a Skuta - their cottage cheese. Boring but amazing with fig jam.

Sir Bucinim Kosticama - cow with pumpkin seeds. Like a dry cheddar, but pumpkin seeds really add this time making the flavour interesting.

And since that wasn't enough for me we also finished off the last of our Kotor cheese.

Walnut - walnuts stale and added nothing

Garlic and herb - better than nothing, but only barely.

Smoked Kotar - better than not smoked.

And finally a very special cheese....

Sir iz Misine - this is actually aged IN the sheepskin. This imparts a massive amount of flavour. It reminds me very much of the Evansdale Farmhouse brie after it is 6 months past the best by date. Incredible earthy and nutty flavour with sour cream notes.

Quest: 121/500

Steps: 490,500

18/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 30

Hello my ragtime gal

No trip to Split is complete without a trip to the magical place called Froggyland. Was it worth the entry fee? Was it weirder than the cat museum. Was it creepy and disturbing? Would i recommend it? Yes to all.

A few more pictures of the palace and off to the Gligora deli. Gligora is the most famous artisanal cheesemaker in Croatia. We will visit it tomorrow. But in the meantime they have several branded delis and we found the one in Split.

Gligora cheeses.

Velebjan - cow/sheep hard cheese. Great flavour, texture, and crumb. Solidly good hard cheese.

Paski Sir - the king of cheese in Croatia. It easily holds its own with Manchego and Pecorino. Saltier than them due to what the sheep eat, but still a great bite and something I would consider importing.

Bilgem with herbs - Mediterranean flavors, perfectly delightful.

Likotin - aged sheep cheese. This one was especially yummy as it was aged in cherry must. Clever and innovative taste.

Then we made it to Zadar in time for sunset.

Quest: 102/500

Steps: 468,100

18/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 29 - Diocletian's Palace

Have You Seen the Size of my Cabbages?

I have to admit that Split has been on my bucket list for a very long time. Diocletian's Palace has been integrated into the city, not replaced or removed, but organically the city grew within it.

It's unlike any other city or ruin or Palace I've seen. Diocletian is also my favourite Emperor. He's the first and only one to retire. Then, when they tried to convince him to unretire he said no. When asked why not? He said 'have you seen the size of my cabbages?'

Breakfast had some decent sliced cheese. I thought it would be sh*tty sliced stuff, but it was actually a smoked trappist style. Yum.

Then an excellent score beneath the Palace walls, a cheese selection. The ones I tried today were.

Basil - very nice level of basil. Compliments the otherwise boring cow cheese.

Blueberry - tried something similar before, but this one you could taste the berries much better. Still not a good idea.

Cranberry - bland and tasteless, the small bits of dried cranberries adding nothing.

Sheep - how can you make sheep cheese boring? This is how.

Then a little cheese platter with wine tasting that night.

Zigjen Gigora - a 50/50 cow sheep from Gigora, who we will visit soon. Full flavoured, melts in you mouth, like a young parmigiano. Easily my favourite cheese of the quest so far.

Young goat - a soft spongy mild goat. Almost soapy in taste. Too mild for a cheese platter.

Quest: 98/500

Steps: 455,700

17/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 28 - Split

Still a bit sick, but spent the morning walking the Dubrovnik city walls. It costs about $80 and all you get to do is walk 2km in a big circle around the city.

Too expensive? Yes. Bucket list level experience? Yes. I'd recommend to anyone. The views of and around the city are incredible. There's nothing like it. The Serbian siege and bombing of the historic city was a major reason the world turned against them and ended up with NATO bombing Serbia. Even Napoleon didn't dare damage Dubrovnik.

Then travel day to Split so not much questing. I'm certainly behind the required pace, but fear not, the further north we head the cheesier everyone is. And we'll start soon with the magical cheese island of pag.

Cheese and ham toastie - smoked, sliced and melted fine. Cow.

Mediterranean herb - herbs nicely accentuated the otherwise boring yellow cheese.

Pesto cheese - yellow cheese, but made with pesto. Actually a really nice taste and balance. Would happily put on pizza.

Yellow cheese - made from cows that I'm fairly confident are not 100% happy.

Then the dinner horror.

Sheep and Cow - these two perfectly tasty cheeses have been let down by the restraunt offering a cheese platter. They know evey wine they sell, but apparently even the chef doesn't know what kind of cheese they are putting on people's cheese platters. They could only say 'sheep and cow'. Disappointing.

Quest: 91/500

Steps: 439,000

16/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 27 - Dubrovnik

Welcome to Italy.

A bit of a disaster. The cheesemonger is sick again and was bedridden all day. So no questing was possible. In fact most of the photos from today are from Barb when she went off on a solo adventure.

So all I really have to note is that while intellectually I knew Croatia had been ruled by Venice and Italy at times over the years, I didn't know how much their culture had merged.

They're a short ferry ride away, just over an hour in places. And that means continued cultural contact. Most obviously you see it in the food where you can get pizza, pasta, and risotto everywhere.

My odd note of the day was how heavily Dubrovnik tourism currently relies of the Game of Thones. It felt like 90% of tourism had that focus, way more than NZ and LOTR.

Quest: 85/500

Steps: 425,600

15/06/2026

CHEESEQUEST2026

Day 26 - Kotor

Land of the Cats

Spent a full day just in Kotor, accomplishing one of the epic cheese side quests I had been looking forward to for months. That was the Ladder of Kotor.

It's no ordinary ladder, but a long series of switchbacks on a trail up the mountain. It was very, very hot and we defeated a green dragon on the way up. Most importantly, if you make it halfway to the top you find the special place. What is it called you ask? Why, it is known as The Cheese Shop.

You can see why I had to climb this mountain now. The old couple who live there on the side of the hill at a cafe you can only reach by donkey trail have been greeting visitors the same way for decades.

They don't have many options at their place, a donkey can only carry so much...but they have cold beer, and you can have some bread, prosciutto, and of course cheese.

There's only one choice of course, and this is why I came. They have been making fresh sheep's cheese since always, and they serve it right out of the tin they set it in. It doesn't have a name, but it was worth the hike. I'm not describing it because only those that have climed the ladder are allowed the knowledge.

Back to Kotor, as I said it is known for its many cats. So we went to the cat museum here too. This one was not a psychedelic tourist rip-off, but had lot of interesting cat photos and memorabilia.

Fortunately there was time to try the two 300g cheeses I got previously.

Trappist - a livanjski sir made to taste like an abbey cheese. It was in fact very reminiscent of them and one of the best cheeses we've had to date.

Cincar - another livanjski sir style. Chedderish, mild without offending. Pleasant enough but a bit Edamy.

Barb and I then both got cat t-shirts.

Quest: 85/500

Steps: 423,000

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