Cake, waffles and shakshuka: Couple detail 14 days of luxury meals in New Zealand 'four-star' quarantine

‘We asked the kitchen to stop sending cake...it was starting to become an issue in our day-to-day,’ the bloggers wrote

(thequarantinecanteen_nz/Instagram)

A couple has used Instagram to detail their luxurious stay at a four-star hotel during a government-enforced quarantine paid for by the taxpayer.

Earlier this month, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ramped up pandemic defences by announcing that all those re-entering the country would be placed in quarantine for 14 days.

The strict two-week quarantine of all kiwis returning to the island took effect at 11.59pm on 9 April. All those returning have been placed in quarantine in hotels across the country.

One couple took the opportunity to record a blog of their stay at a Novotel, uploading images of waffles being delivered to the door and mini-fridges stocked full of cake.

The authors of the Instagram blog thequarantinecanteen_nz, who have chosen to remain anonymous, say they have put on 3kg while on lockdown.

And judging by the aesthetically pleasing pictures of slow-cooked beef stew and Thai red chicken curry, it’s not difficult to see why.

“The government has a cake problem” the blog’s authors wrote in one post, saying that the whole process has been “really impressive”.​

The bloggers say they were able to exercise regularly at the hotel and had regular health check-ups. Making friends and loitering in foyers was forbidden.

The atmosphere had been “friendly and relaxed” throughout but families with children appeared to be under more strain than singles or couples, they added.

On day 13, the couple had poached eggs on a bean medley with chorizo sausage and porridge with spiced almonds.

Lunch on day seven comprised mushroom frittata with buttered potatoes, a green salad with french dressing, a banana, a cheese scone with butter, hummingbird cake and a can of coke.

The bloggers say they were inundated with food at the hotel they stayed at (thequarantinecanteen_nz/Instagram)

“The government has a real cake problem … we asked the kitchen to stop sending up cake,” the author’s added.

“It was starting to become an issue in our day-to-day”.

There are more than 2,000 people currently in quarantine in more than a dozen hotels across Auckland,” according to official figures.

The New Zealand government is covering the cost of accommodation for all those in quarantine.

Most of those in quarantine are New Zealanders returning from holidays and travelling as the country closed its borders to foreign nationals in mid-March.

As of Friday morning, New Zealand had over 1,400 confirmed cases of the virus, with the majority of those casing having links to overseas travels.