Sunday, November 09, 2008

9th November Keri Keri Farmers Market day



Kerikeri is about 35 miles south of Taipa where we are staying and each Sunday they have a farmers market. So we thought we would combine some shopping at New World Supermarket with a visit to the Farmers market.

The journey to Kerikeri takes about one hour and it's a very pleasant drive through the hills, and some small mountains, but all very green en route. It is a bit grey today and mostly cloud cover and little sun which is a shame and therefore not good for scenic photographs. We arrived at our destination and found the market which is actually quite small. We spent a pleasant 45 minutes exploring the stalls which were selling great looking vegetables and private wine labels. We bought some vegetables which looked nice and fresh and then had a local sausage wrap and then shared a blueberry hotcake with a touch of cream and it was excellent.

Then off to the supermarket where we found that the cost of food was cheaper than the farmers market? and proceeded to buy the rest of our requirements. We also replenished our wine stocks which had been depleted by the Friday night party.

The journey back was via the ‘Million Dollar Road’ route which runs alongside the coast with some amazing views and great beaches but due to the strong winds kicking up considerable spray there was a heavy mist no doubt combined with sand which made photos pointless. We will go back when the weather improves. Its not very cold and about 19 degrees centigrade but we hope to have better luck when we go next time.

We arrived home mid afternoon and Noel watched Southampton play Bristol City in the pouring rain, it was a good game. We had purchased a local paper where details of the Government Elections were covered in great detail and the current Prime Minister has lost her seat after I think 11 years or so.

In true British style we had a Sunday roast of New Zealand Lamb with a glass of plonk which we drank partly outside on the balcony overlooking the sea. Very pleasant until the wind got up and it started to rain. Oh well, it is still early in the year here at the moment and so the current weather is to be expected.