Kiwi 360
Of all the things you would expect to find in New Zealand, you probably hadn’t considered a Giant Kiwi fruit theme park.
Kiwi 360 is an operating orchard and full blown theme park with rides, tours, helicopter flights and you guessed it, Kiwi Fruit, There is even a four story high Kiwifruit slice viewing platform.
The region is the Kiwifruit capital of New Zealand with some 17,000 orchards in a 100km strip.
Kiwifruit are about as Kiwi as Kangaroos or more appropriately noodles. The original name is Chinese gooseberry and as you would expect, originate from China and were brought to New Zealand in 1904 and clever horticulturists bred larger fruit. There is the usual brown fuzzy one with the green inside that just about everybody knows and loves, but more recently there is the gold form which is about to take the world by storm.
They are renowned to be one of, if not the most, nutritious fruit on earth. Double the vitamin c of oranges, more vitamin E than avocado and high levels of all essential minerals, the kiwi is very good for you.
There is a unique enzyme in Kiwi fruit that is excellent for people who suffer digestive problems. It can also tenderize meat, if you take the pulp and rub it over the meat a few hours before you will find that the meat is so much more tender. So if you finish a meal with kiwifruit, you are less likely to suffer from heartburn.
Kiwi 360 provides a fascinating insight into the fruit growing industry and when you have played on the rides and done the tour make sure you check out the café and extensive gift shop packed full of locally produced crafts that will provide a unique memory of your visit.
Today, the industry is worth about 1 billion dollars to New Zealand’s economy and they send 80 million trays worldwide, even back to its homeland of China.
Just when you thought you knew it all, New Zealand is actually the second largest producer of Kiwifruit in the world and the biggest grower is Italy! They harvest at the opposite time of the year so Italy even exports kiwifruit to New Zealand.
Kiwi 360
81 Young Road
PO Box 541
Te Puke
Café open 9 - 5pm daily
Ph: +64 7 573 6340
www.kiwi360.com
info@kiwi360.com
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