(photograph © Kiwidutch)
Sometimes you seriously wonder what people are thinking…
we come to the tiny, minuscule, small town of Manaia and I see something that grabs my eye by the side of the road.
Naturally the local residents want to put their town on the map… but they’ve done it with the unlikely title of “Bread Capital”
… hmmm, the sign doesn’t say if that’s Bread Capital of New Zealand or (gasp) of the world… but seriously, is there really any dough at all to be made in this title?
So, if like me you had no clue before now that New Zealand had a “Bread Capital”, now you can add this to your list of very weird, obscure facts and ideas to stump the next know-it-all at trivial pursuit…
and I have photographic evidence to “prove” that this might just be a “rising” star of the area.. or a “half baked” idea? Who knows? (and yes I realise the sign says “farewell from” but this really is a blink-and-you-missed-it sort of place so we were through the town before we knew it and I didn’t see bread signs on the way in).
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
Hmmm…Manaia, not a town on our radar! Now you’ve given us something to look out for when travelling around the Taranaki area.
Comment by YHA New Zealand — August 14, 2012 @ 2:56 am |
YHA, Welcome to my blog!
(btw I have one of the “New Zealand YHA Life Memberships” are they still available these days?)
We went through the town so quickly (it was tiny, we weren’t speeding) that we missed the bead and the kids were tired and getting grumpy so we didn’t turn back, but if you DO go there I’d LOVE to hear back how good the bread actually is!!!? Is there a “real home baked” bread culture there or is it the regular factory stuff and they just eat tons and tons of it??? I’d like to think it’s the former and not the latter!
Enquiring minds want to know
Comment by kiwidutch — August 14, 2012 @ 2:58 pm |
We were glad to find your blog and what good news that you’re a life member! Yes indeed, we still offer life memberships! Have you used your membership heaps?
Too bad you missed the actual bread, but it may have been suspiciously factory-like. I know in Christchurch, where our YHA National Office is located, you can certainly find some half-baked factory bread, but if you know where to look (markets for example) you can really find some good stuff! Bellbird and Vic’s bakehouse come to mind. Yum! We’ll definitely let you know if we ever make it to the bread capitol.
Comment by YHA New Zealand — August 22, 2012 @ 12:45 am
YHA,
GREAT to hear you still have Life Memberships … I’ll pick some up from your head office for the rest of the family next time we are in ChCh. If I remember correctly wasn’t your old Head office in Manchester Street just down from Verkerks? That entire block was severely damaged in the quakes and is gone now isn’t it? Where are you situated now?
We’ve been staying with family (mostly) in NZ and with a young family stay in Hanmer for longer on pervious trips… but I’ve used it quite a bit in Europe pre-kids and sometimes they were so confused about the “Life Membership” that they didn’t charge me LOL.
Once the Kids are bigger we will do more hostelling both in NZ and in Europe.
Comment by kiwidutch — August 24, 2012 @ 6:54 am
You didn’t stop and try the bread then?
Comment by sarsm — August 14, 2012 @ 7:56 am |
Sarsm,
…truth is we were though the town so quick we were too late to find anywhere that sold any!
Also it was late in the afternoon and the kids were getting rather restless in the back… Himself and I have learned that there are moments when you want to stop and look around and can take the detour and not worry about arriving at where you want to go a bit later… this unfortunately wasn’t one of those moments
I’m responsible for us “taking the scenic route” often enough as it is LOL .sometime as part of a family of four I shouldn’t push my luck! (had it just been Himself and I though, I couldn’t have resisted making a U-turn!)
Comment by kiwidutch — August 14, 2012 @ 2:45 pm |
At least you got to see it though, with your detour.
I like the tourist route too. I really don’t like motorways at all.
We had a longer car trip yesterday with the kids, and one of them almost vomited in the back. Not so easy with the kids!!
Comment by sarsm — August 14, 2012 @ 8:31 pm
Long car trips and kids…I know, I know… (it’s the reason we caved in and got Nintendo’s) But we save the Nintendo’s for JUST travel so they remain a real novelty!
We try and break things up with a few stops if we can and not taking the motorway helps as we invariably see quirky things worth stopping for. I must say that apart from Auckland, New Zealand has 95% NO motorways wich is a breath of fresh air after Europe.
That said it also means that a trip that on a maps says 350km *can* take a good part of a day because the road is small and twisting and winding all over the place!
Comment by kiwidutch — August 15, 2012 @ 3:07 pm