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Shopping Two of New Zealand's Best Farmers' Markets: What to See, Smell and Taste

Based on our recent experience eating our way through New Zealand, the country’s food scene is bursting at the seams not only with talented chefs discovering the agricultural bounty of their island nation, but also farmers' markets where the producers and purveyors of all these fabulous foodstuffs are peddling their wares and showing off the best of what they grow.

To find out just where all these tasty products are coming from and to meet some of the growers, we stopped by two of the country’s best known weekend farmers’ markets at opposite ends of New Zealand:

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Wine Travel / New Zealand Field Trip / New Zealand Travel / Eric Rosen / Islands / Auckland Travel / → All Tags

Stepping Out of Auckland and Into the Wines of Waiheke Island

All this week, Special Jaunted Correspondent Eric Rosen takes us on a whirlwind field trip to New Zealand’s Other Wine Regions. Sure, now that it’s summer down there they might be sipping on those tropical, grassy Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc’s we’re all familiar with. But as he finds out, there's much more and most if it is within an hour of New Zealand’s major cities.

New Zealand only makes about 0.5% of the world’s wines, about half of which is exported, and the majority of that is from Marlborough. No wonder we don’t know much about New Zealand wines in the U.S., so we set out to get a little education. Our first stop was just a forty-minute ferry ride from Auckland: Waiheke Island. Long a hippie hideout in the ’60’s and ’70’s, idyllic Waiheke is now one of New Zealand’s premier wine regions with 17 boutique wineries scattered across its 93 square miles, a gourmet destination with beautiful beaches, and a weekend getaway for Auckland’s affluent set.

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Destination Dissing / Auckland Travel / Travel Blogs / Blogs / Tourism Boards / → All Tags

Australian Blog Says Auckland is 'Inhabited by Hobbits'

A bit of neighborly rivalry is normal, but a couple of bloggers from Australia have taken their not-too-pretty description of next-door New Zealand a bit far, according to the tourism CEO of Auckland.

The Aussie bloggers who've just moved over to Auckland have been posting their opinions of New Zealand at their Fush'n'Chups blog and there's been quite an outrage over some of their ideas--for example, that Auckland is a "horrible soulless city" inhabited by "hobbits".

The bloggers are defending themselves by saying it's just a tongue-in-cheek blog and the Kiwis should get a better sense of humor. They even mention beautiful parts of New Zealand from time to time. The moral for the rest of us is to remember never to mistake a New Zealander for an Aussie, or there could be trouble.

Related Stories:
· Kiwis Upset By "Pathetically Rude" Aussie Bloggers [The Age]
· Fush'n'Chups [Official Site]
· New Zealand Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: mgrenner57]