mrsjono

The best blueberries are picked by hand. The not so good ones are harvested by machine and usually made into juice or jam. While the machine is able to pick more and at a faster speed than humans, it loses lots of blueberries in the process. To minimise wastage, nets are first laid on the ground under the trees to collect any berries that fall off when the machine moves through the trees. 

We diligently woke up at 6.15am today and hopped onto Anne's truck. She drives to Mt Maunganui to sell blueberries every Sunday. It's a popular holiday resort town about an hour's drive from Rotorua.

The Farmers Market is held every Sunday from 9am to 1pm in the Phoenix car park


Big, sweet and juicy blueberries



Views from summit of Mauao



All eyes on the stick...

Chi came over in the evening and invited us to her neighbour's house for hangi (Maori feast). In traditional hangi, food is cooked in a hole dug in the earth for several hours. This interesting cooking method is healthy - no oil or charred meat - but it's too laborious. Modern hangi is prepared using a portable "stove". In a wire basket, meat is placed at the bottom and vegetables (potatoes, carrots, kamo kamo) on top. Eru and Ngaire also prepared a Polynesian dish called ota ika - raw fish marinated in coconut milk.

Ngaire's yummy homemade fried bread


Everybody loves the Samsui ginger sauce! 

We found out from Eru that 'kia ora' (Maori greeting) does not mean hello in Maori, it means 'be well'. This lovely family is camera shy and I did not manage to get a group photo with them :( We were really moved by their sincerity and hospitality.

Lake Rotorua, New Zealand

Slippers are called jandals (Japanese sandals) in New Zealand while slippers refer to semi closed soft footwear you wear at home. Our jandals broke (not at the same time), we bought new ones at Number One Shoes for $7.99 ea, then realised Cotton On's only cost $5 ea... 

Feel with your hands and look with your eyes...

Every Thursday and Friday we do half day of grading. Grading refers to picking out the bad fruits from the good ones. The good thing about working for a small family business is we get to do both indoor (grading) and outdoor (picking) work. The not so good thing is everybody will also get to grade what they've picked. Our boss will sit at the end of the line and pickers will also be "graded" the quality of the berries we've picked. Harry will shout "too many sticks!" or "too many reds" or "who left their berries in the sun now they're cooked!"

Grading takes place in a cool and clean room. Graders are required to sanitise their hands and put on hair nets before we step into the room. When the machine is on, we are not allowed to talk. In such a quiet and cooling environment, it's easy to fall asleep. As blueberries rolled down the conveyor belt, I'll think about the food I miss in Singapore. I'll get hungry and start eating blueberries with wet bottoms or over riped ones ;p This way, only the good berries will roll down the line... hee!