Shopping in New Zealand - The American Store

 Shopping In New Zealand

Now we love New Zealand food, but every now and again we get a hankering for some good old fashioned American treats.  About 25 minutes south of us in Mt. Wellington is a fantastic little store, Martha's Backyard. 





Here's a view of driving on the other side of the road if you've never seen it. 

 

What would you miss the most if you left the United States?

 

I consider Cheerios to be an American icon.  General Mills took something as simple as oats and turned it into a successful household product since 1941. At $8.00 per box, I am tempted but end up passing.  If I don't get multiple boxes, there will be fights.  Better to avoid that while I still can.

 

 Ok I realize that most of our purchases would normally be found on the Hispanic aisle, but this is what we miss the most.... salsa, queso, and enchiladas.

 I must confess, nothing tasted as good as we remembered. 

In fact, being in a country for the last 18  months where we've prepared almost everything from scratch, we found that a lot of American food tastes.......well, plastic!  You can almost taste the packaging.  Like Space Food :( 

What would you miss the most if you left the United States?

Which foods taste better from the store vs.  from scratch?

Anderson Boys Day Out - Hobbiton in Matamata, NZ

Hamilton Youth Temple Trip

February 1st, 2014

 

Sunset Ward's Youth Temple Trip...4 Andersons got to go.  Duncan, Elizabeth, Gillian, and Talon are in there somewhere.  A huge thank you from us to the leaders for arranging this fun weekend.  What a great way to start out the school year.  Aren't they wonderful?

Waipawa Kayaking Trip - Duncan and Talon

 

Sunset Ward Young Men's Kayaking Trip

 Brother Marsh is instructing the boys

Goat Cheese Farm Tour



 On Taupaki Road near Bethell's Beach there is a small Dairy Goat Farm where we met the owners of this tiny cheese factory.  Their farm shop is totally worth a drive out here by itself, but it is surrounded by vineyards, markets, and farms.  We found fresh eggs, tomatoes, berries, beetroot, and kumara for sale all along this road. We simply couldn't stop at all of them.





I'd never heard of most of the goat cheeses, but I went with the familiar Ricotta and chose a plain Parvenu by recommendation.  Wow, amazing.  There is no cracker worthy of this cheese.

Simon and Gavin made new friends.  These are the goats who's milk was used to make the cheese. 

 

Simon was freaking out but Gavin was having the time of his life.  These two are so predictable.

Strawberry Picking - Taupaki

 The weather was so beautiful today so we skipped kindies and drove out to Taupaki Road for strawberries.  Penelope was timid at first, acting like she was shopping for only perfect berries.

 Canon was completely the opposite.  He ran into the patches and made himself at home.

 The best berries are inside the plant.

 We couldn't help but notice this lively henhouse.  The rooster's crow scared Ryan so terribly I had to leave the area.

 "This is better than video games!"  - Gavin, 10
"This is my kind of family outing." - Elizabeth, 16
"Um nom nom berries." - Canon, 2

Mokoroa Falls Bushwalk

 Mokoroa Falls is about 5 minutes from Bethell's Beach, on the western shore of North Island.  The boys and I did the 30 minute hike easily on the way there, but the return was a bit more difficult going uphill.  Simon had to bring his felt tip markers in case we got lost so he could make HELP signs.

 Mokoroa Falls, January 18, 2014

 The rocks were covered with algae making them very slick.  It took some encouraging for the boys to get in.

 Simon about to run up the falls.

 We found an eel in the stream.  I can't believe this is the worst photo of it I took, but it was pretty cool to watch it searching for food.

 Gavin told me this was the most fascinating place he'd ever been.  Talon and Simon were constantly watching their backs for spiders, mosquitos, and any other unholy outdoor critter.