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My first stop that afternoon was at a place called "KiwiFruit Country" near the town of Te Puke (pronounced "ta pookey," not "tea puke," which is usually what I do when I drink tea). KiwiFruit Country is a combination fruit orchard, museum, and amusement park where, for $5, you can feel foolish by riding around in a Kiwi-cart while learning all about the kiwifruit. This was definitely my kind of place!
As I discovered during our ride, kiwifruit originated in China and were first called gooseberries. They flourished in New Zealand because of the climate and came to be associated with this country, hence the name. Although several other countries, including Chile and the U.S., now grow kiwifruit, New Zealand still exports more kiwifruit than any other nation.
I also learned the best way to eat the darn things. I had always tried peeling them, which never worked well. As I learned, however, it's easier just to slice them in half and eat them like a little cantaloupe, scooping it out with a spoon. That piece of advice alone was worth the $5 admission fee.
I love visiting food museums almost as much as I love food itself. As we finished the interesting tour of KiwiFruit Country, I realized that I am most likely the only person in the world who has visited:
Yeah, I know it's impressive – but I'm not getting a swelled head over it.
Above left: Kiwifruit Country is a combination guided-tour-and-amusement-park that celebrates – what else? – kiwifruit. I love visiting hokey-but-informative places like this. Maybe that's because I'm a hokey-yet-informative kind of guy. Above right: For $5, you can take a tour in a cart that looks like a, well, huge kiwifruit.
Above left: Our kiwifruit guide knew more about kiwifruit than anyone I've ever met. Poor guy. Above right: And here's "The Kiwi That Ate Auckland."
Above left: The girl on the left is just hanging around (har, har). Actually, it's a mannequin dressed up as a fruit picker. Lots of college-age kids come to New Zealand in the fall (May - June) to pick kiwifruit and earn their way around the country. Above center: Here's "Mr. Kiwifruit" again, this time demonstrating how the fruit is sorted. I think he got a little irritated at me always taking pictures of him. Little did he realize that he's now permanently recorded in my website for thousands of people to gawk at. Buwahahahaha... Above right: The picking season doesn't start for another few months, so the packing plant was deserted. In a few months, though, this place will really be hopping.
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