Black, Sparkling and VERY Hot!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We have been following the road along the coast but one that’s a short distance inland so whilst we’ve managed to get many glimpses of the sea, we haven’t been too close to the edge of it yet.

It was hardly surprising therefore that when we rounded a corner near Patea and suddenly saw a beach just meters from the road that the kids were excitedly asking if we could stop in their best pleading “pleeeease, pleeeease, pleeeese” voices.

Once the van stopped they were quick to tumble out of the van and run down the bank onto the beach… where their shouts of joy turned to ones of astonishment as their bare soft Dutch city feet found the black sands far hotter than they could handle.

They solved this problem by immediately wading into the stream that was flowing into the sea and the shrieks continued as they discovered how cold the water was. Himself was left to hunt below the seats in the van for kid shoes and once these were found they were delighted to venture out of the water to investigate piles of driftwood and indeed the very sparkly sand all around them.

My photos didn’t really capture how black these sands were, and how it sparkled with the mineral content in it. This is proof that we are very very close to what was once a very active volcano as Mount Taranaki stands within erruption range (albeit millions of years ago). Mount Taranaki is/was also known as Mount Egmont, but like Mount Aorangi (Mount Cook) it’s been decided to revert back to their origonal Maori names.

Further down the beach in the wet sand a man on a motorbike is towing a plastic sled-like contraption in which a bigger kid is holding a littler kid and they are having brilliant time skidding along the sand as the tips of some of the waves connect with them periodically. As we watch the occupants of the sled change, clearly keeping the driver busy.

Our children decide to make a tiny collection of various “beaches” they have visited around the world so a kid-sized handful of sand goes into a small plastic bag and I will see if I can find a little shadow box at home to put it into. The embankment from the van to the the beach is too steep for me to negotiate on crutches so I content myself with photos taken from my vantage point at the van.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Lemon & Paeroa …Seeing What the Fizz is About…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Welcome to my retro tour of New Zealand, Family Kiwidutch were there in December 2011 – Janurary 2012 and after weeks in Christchurch taking care of  the house we own there (damaged by the recent spate of earthquakes) and catching up with family and friends for Christmas, we are now heading to the north of the North Island to see more family and friends.

Because I’m familiar with an iconic Kiwi product and we are passing “close-ish” by, I’m keen to see the place that quite literally made it’s name with the unique product it produces.

This is why we have arrived in the small town of Paeroa …   “World famous in New Zealand”  as the adverts always cheekily proclaimed,  for their product called “Lemon & Paeroa” , or the nick-name by which  Kiwi’s  affectionately know it:  ”L&P“.

O.K. First you need to know that Lemon & Paeroa is a fizzy soft drink.  The “lemon”  bit is of course self explanatory,  the “Paeroa ” bit is not only the name of the town but also refers in this instance to the naturally sparking mineral water that was found in Paeroa  in 1904.

In 1908  Robert Fewell and Frank Brinkler bought the land where the spring originated and started a company called  the “Paeroa Natural Mineral Water Company”  and bottled the spring water. At some point after 1915  lemon was added to the sparkling mineral water and the newly flavoured drink went on to become a New Zealand icon.

The company went through various ownership changes from 1915 until eventually it was bought out by Coca Cola who still make the product today.

I have to admit that I have mostly preferred my L&P as a mixer rather than straight up,  but that said,  it’s great on a really hot day when you want something to quench a thirst and it’s brilliantly excellent added into both alcoholic and non-alcoholic party punch bowls.

Even if you found a Kiwi who’d never tried the drink (um…does one exist?) then chances are high that they would still instantly recognise it and it’s distinctive brown yellow and red bottle.

Naturally it’s no surprise to find a few mega-sized examples of the towns most famous product around town, there are two that I know of … we saw both but traffic obscured the other one and I couldn’t get a  good shot of it without leaving the car in said traffic.

Considering that at this point the rain was hammering down,  I have to confess that I took the far easier option and wound down the window and did a few point and shoot’s of the other one from the dry comfort of the van’s passenger seat.

I still like to have a Lemon & Paeroa  every now and again for old time’s sake, and I do miss it if  want to make my favourite party punch recipe, so I’m delighted to have finally visited the place where New Zealand’s iconic “Lemon & Paeroa”  was born.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)