Chestnut Picking Season In New Zealand!

The day is getting shorter, and temperatures are starting to drop in Auckland.

That means... Autumn is here!

Autumn means all sorts of yummy autumn harvests will become available... including chestnuts!

So we have been looking around for chestnuts, and found some places we can go to pick fresh chestnuts.

When is the Chestnut Picking Season in New Zealand?

Chestnut picking season in New Zealand is autumn, around mid-March to mid-April.

It may change depending on the weather for the particular year, but usually mid- to late-March is a good season for them in North island.

And... chestnut picking season is actually quite short compared with other fruit like citrus, only lasting about a month, or sometimes only a few weeks.

So if you want to pick your own chestnut, you got to be keeping close eyes on these chestnuts trees once the end of summer approaches... otherwise, they might all fall and be gone before you even notice them!!

If you want to go pick your own chestnut at established chestnut farms, starting collecting information once March begins!

Where to Pick Fresh Chestnut: Local Parks?

So where are chestnuts trees.... ?

Some people have chestnut trees in their garden. You can also find some chestnuts trees in public parks and reserves.

We found some chestnut trees in our local, west Auckland park: Tui Glen Reserve！

Tui Glen Reserve is an awesome park for children with a lot of outdoor play toys.

But this park also has a few chestnut trees, and they were starting to drop chesnuts around February.

This is a bit early than typical chestnut.... may be due to warm Auckland weather?

Some of chestnuts are really small, but some are edible size.

You cannot find that many, but if you are lucky enough to find some on the ground, they are sweet and yum!

Some small chestnuts found at the Tui Glen Reserve

You can always checkout the foraging map available online (see walnut article http://en.japakiwidaisy.com/2018/02/fresh-walnuts-picking-season-in-new.html).

There may be some known chestnut trees in nearby parks and public domains.

Chesnut Picking in New Zealand: Farms?

If if you want to pick your fresh chestnuts, in a large quantity enough to enjoy them... the best place to go is your pick-your-own chestnut farms!

There are a few places around, where owners have opened up their chestnut-farm for people to pick chestnuts and purchase them.

There isn’t a chestnut forest in the middle of Auckland... but comes close! Some places are only about one-hour drive from Auckland.

Here is a few places I found on the internet...

In Clevedon：Chestnut Charlies

http://www.nzchestnuts.co.nz/

Address：291 Monument Rd, Clevedon, Auckland 2582

Phone: 021-182-3030

Between Auckland & Hamilton, near Rangiriri：Chestnut Ridge Farmstay

http://www.chestnutridge-nz.com/index.html

Address：40 Moorfield Rd, Te Kauwhata 3782

Phone：027 250 0941

Could not confirm this place is still operating, but there’s one in Waiaupa: Chestnut Farm

169 Percy Millen Dr, Waiau Pa 2679

There may be other places not listed on the internet.

Many places sell chestnut you pick, at a good whole sale price (some times as cheap as 2~4 dollar per kilo!) .

Most places also ask you to bring your own bags for chestnuts.

Chestnut shells are very spikey so you might choose to bring gloves and good shoes, and even a tong to pick chestnuts with.

When you are making a plan for chestnut-picking, make sure to contact chestnut-farm first, to ask them about their open days (when chestnuts are ready), cost, and what to bring.

Once you know where and when to go chestnut picking, keep a good manner at the chestnut-farm, and happy picking!

Chestnuts in shells – spikey!!

You will be so happy after picking big chestnuts... yum!

Buying Chestnuts

If you do not care about picking up your own chestnuts, you can always purchase them.

Some Asian fruit & vegetable shops tend to sell them around chestnut season.

They are sold at much higher price than when you pick your own though.

Some chestnuts sold at shops may have been stored for a while and become a bit dry.

You need to carefully check chestnuts for how fresh they look, how dry they are or if they have any mold on them, before buying them.

In addition, sometimes people sell chestnuts from their farm/garden at local market or on trade website like trademe.

If you are lucky to find chestnuts for sale in these occasions, you can buy fresh chestnuts at very reasonable price.

So it is worth keeping eye out for chestnuts for sale around March ~ April.

How to Store Chestnuts

Freshness is very important for chestnuts; they are perishable food.

Chestnuts can be stored in the fridge for a few weeks easily; storing chestnuts for two weeks after picking them is said to actually improve the flavor of chestnuts.

But after that, gradually chestnut will go bad...

So what if you picked heaps of chestnuts and want to enjoy them over a long period of time?

Well for a long term storage, you may wish to freeze them in the freezer.

There are a few different ways of freezing chestnuts,

１．Freeze as is (in hard shell)- not very recommendable

First is to throw chestnuts in the freezer as is, with hard shells still attached.

While it is easy just throwing chestnuts in the freezer, it may be hard to peel them after they defrosted.

So I personally do not think this is a good idea...

２．Peel shells first, then freeze them – recommended

Many people freeze chestnuts after peeling outer shells and inner skin.

Peeling chestnut is a bit of tough work, as chestnuts shells are hard.

But once you peeled them then freeze them, it is much easier to used after you defrost them.

Over a long time of storage, your peeled chestnut may start to dry out, or change color.

To prevent this from happening, some people sprinkle in a bit of sugar in the same freezer bag as peeled chestnuts before freezing.

Sugar will lightly coat the peeled chestnuts, and help them stay good in freezer.

３．Cook Chestnuts in Syrup & Freeze – recommended

My favorite way of storing chestnut is first cook chestnuts in syrup (with a lots of sugar), then store chestnuts with plenty of syrup in freezer bag.

Even if you store for a long term in a freezer, chestnut will not dry out as they are inside syrup.

Thick sugar-syrup prevents ice crystals from forming and keeps chestnut in a good condition.

When it comes to eating, you can simply defrost them and enjoy them as is!

So We Picked and Ate Our Chestnuts!

So we already enjoyed some chestnuts we collected by going around parks...

First, we peeled shells off from chestnuts we picked.

Chestnuts skin is really hard, so it helps if you first soak chestnuts in hot water for a while; this softens outer shell.

I boiled a jug of water, and poured hot water onto chestnuts (raw), and left it until the hot water cools down enough for me to touch.

Then peel chestnuts with a sharp knife.

Still mostly raw – just softening skin by pouring hot water over them.

Once you peeled chestnuts clean, you soak them for 15-20 minutes in water with a pinch of salt.

This helps remove a bit of alkaline flavor (bitterness) from chestnuts. – an optional step (as chestnuts taste good as is), but supposed to make them taste even better.

Peeled chestnut

This time, I cooked chestnuts in a syrup.

In brief,

1. boil chestnuts in a pot of hot water with 1TBS of added vinegar – for about 15~20 minutes at low heat or until chestnuts are cooked.

2. drain and discard water – cool chestnut in a bowl.

3. place chestnut in a pot with water just enough to cover chestnut.

4. add sugar, approximately half the weight of chestnut (200~250g for every 500g of peeled chestnut)

5. cook at low heat for about 10 minutes – sugar will dissolve and water will become slightly thicker. Be careful not to burn the chestnut – or brown the syrup – cook at low heat!

Oh no, Burned it for the first try... still yummy though

Try again, this time successful sweet chestnuts in syrup! Yum!

Chestnut Picking in New Zealand Summary

• Chestnut picking season in NZ: Mid-March ~ April
• Chestnuts trees in parks/ or chestnut farm!
• Freeze them to enjoy them longer!
• Chestnuts in sweet syrup ... yum!

Hopefully 2018 would be another great year for chestnut picking....

Happy Chestnut-picking & eating!

Auckland Nature Park: Let’s go to Western Springs Park!

Last weekend, we visited the Western Springs Park, one of great nature parks in Auckland.

It is a great place to have a picnic throughout the year, but especially in the spring – early summer because you can see baby geese and swans!

Where is the Western Springs Park?

The Western springs park is located next to the famous Auckland Zoo. Address of the park is 731 Great North Road.

It is right next to SH16, Northern-Western Motorway.

It takes approximately 10 minutes by car from Auckland CBD.

There is a bus stop right outside the Western springs park, where several different buses stop at.

It may take around 30 minutes of travel and changing buses, if you travel from Auckland CBD to the western springs park by public transport.

The Western springs park is popular place to visit throughout the year; both local families and oversea visitors come to enjoy the beautiful park and wild life in the park.

Animals you can meet in the Western Springs Park

In the Western springs park, there are many wild life flourishing around the lake.

These include native birds, like Pukeko and black swan.

Children love to see the close, and photographers love taking close-up photographs of them.

Birds like Pukeko are rare overseas and many oversea visitors enjoy meeting them here in the Western springs park.

While the park contains plenty of natural resources and food that birds can eat, it is not forbidden to feed these birds in the park.

You should feed them on land and not in water, as remaining food in water will easily spoil the water.

But otherwise, if you bring a bag of old bread, you will have an awesome time feeding these birds throughout the park.

Birds are everywhere in the Western springs park.

Here are some of birds we encountered this trip.

Pukeko: Porphyrio melanotus

Native to New Zealand, Pukeko are found near water throughout New Zealand.

Characteristic blue feather and red beaks, these birds look really pretty.

In the Western springs, they are found on grass near the water, and love eating bread.

Goose

There are so many families of geese in the Western springs park.

From spring to early summer, you can see many baby geese, or goslings, walking around with their parents.

Babies are soooo cute and fluffy, and quite adventurous.

They will happily eat your bread, but be careful that some of adult geese are large and aggressive.

You might stay away from aggressive geese if you have small children with you, as aggressive birds may try to steal food directly.

Mother geese are often irritable while they are raising babies or hatching their egg, so stay away from them.

Black swan: Cygnus atratus

Also native to New Zealand, black swans have beautiful black body feathers and bright red beak.

Very beautiful and gentle birds.

Often they are swimming in the lake, and may be interested in your bread.

In the spring, there are many fluffy little babies too; the real “ugly duckling”. They are NOT ugly, but super cute!

They are curious and often swim towards you.

Australian Coot: Fulica atra australis

Medium size birds slightly smaller than Mallards, with black body and sharp white beak, with big feet.

These coots are also native to New Zealand.

They are often swimming in the lake. When chased by another birds, you may see them “run” on water at an amazing speed.

Some of them are quite brave and come close to human, asking for some bread.

We spotted a family with baby coot this trip in the spring.

Eel

In the lakes of the Western springs park, there are many eels.

They often swim towards you, asking for some bread.

Some of them seem to be tailing black swans, perhaps they are hoping to steal their bread?

Native to New Zealand, these eels are well looked after by the council.

In nature reserves and parks of New Zealand including the Western springs park, it is forbidden to catch any plant or animal species.

You must not try to catch any birds or eels, or other species in the park.

They are all very friendly and will come close to you if you bring a bag of bread for them, so enjoy watching them up close inside the park.

Play park inside the Western springs park

There is also a playground located inside the Western springs park.

There are many play gyms and outdoor toys that both young and elder kids can play.

Kids get so excited in the play ground!

This playground area is adjacent to the Auckland zoo, and occasionally you can see an elephant walking through a fence.

There is a small shop that operates in the Zoo, that also sells some food and ice creams to the Western springs park visitors.

There is a BBQ area nearby too.

From the Auckland Zoo shop, you can purchase scoops of Tip-top ice cream.

Ice cream after walking around the park and playing in the play ground taste fantastic!

To enjoy the Western Springs Park

The Western springs park is a large park. You can easily spend two hours or even a whole day there.

So when you are visiting the park, make sure to bring proper sunscreen, hats, plenty of drinks and snacks.

Also, you are allowed to feed birds and this is a real exciting event for both children and adults.

So don’t forget to bring a bag of old-bread from home to feed birds. Many visitors bring a bag full.

There are some families with kids teaching them how to ride bicycles in the park.

It is pretty safe inside the park without cars, so you may like to bring kids’ bicycles.

You do need to be extra careful of other visitors though, as there are many animals and small children running around in the park.

When it starts to get dark in the late afternoon, birds will go back to their nests and become less active.

So if you are hoping to meet active birds, you should come earlier during the day.

Summary of the Western Springs Park

One sunny day on the weekend, perfect for a picnic?

The Western springs park is a perfect place to go on such day, if you live in Auckland or visiting Auckland.

Pack your picnic gear, sunscreen and hats, a bag of bread and go to the Western Springs!

It is not far from other shops and amenities, and there are toilets inside the park too, which makes it an easy place to go with children.

Summary of Western springs park

• Beautiful park perfect for walking and picnic
• Many New Zealand native birds can be seen
• Bring a bag of bread to feed birds and eels!
• There are playground for children
• There are toilets and a shop in the park
• Only 10 minutes drive from Auckland downtown
• Free because its a park!

Fishing with Family in Auckland 2:Wairangi Wharf!

The other day, the weather was good on the weekend, so we had another go at taking kids fishing in Auckland. As usual, we are taking our primary school-age son and pre-school age son, so we need to go to a reasonably safe spot for fishing rather than going on a boat or a rock.  This time, we tried a little wharf called Wairangi Wharf, and it was a very cute nice spot for a family fishing.

Where is Wairangi Wharf?

We found information about Wairangi wharf on the internet when we were looking for a good family fishing spot. It is located near Home bay, west of the Auckland harbor bridge connecting Auckland CBD and north shore city.

We drove from west Auckland where we live, through Ponsonby following car navigation. We came out to a small street called Wairangi street which has a dead end.

We parked on this street, and found a stairs on the side, at the end of the street. When you walk down the stairs, you arrive at the Wairangi Wharf, today’s destination.

A short wooden walkway stretches over the water. Surrounding the bay is all quiet residential area, and you don’t see any shops or commercial buildings nearby.

So if you wish to spend a good hours here, you will need to bring everything with you including food and of course, the fishing gear.

Beautiful fishing spot with view of the Harbor Bridge

It was a beautiful day for fishing. Wairangi Wharf was a great spot to see the ocean view.

On the right hand side, you could see the famous Auckland harbor bridge, without noise of cars going by. Just you, bridge and sound of waves.

When we turned back the way we came, we spotted a small patch of sand (small beach?). We wondered if we could access there but first, started getting our fishing gear ready.

There were few people coming for a walk while we were there.

According to information on the internet, this place could get pretty busy in summer fishing season. On this day, it was a beautiful day in July, just one other man was fishing there.

We stayed for a good hour and half, and during that time three pairs of people came for a walk, but no one else joined for fishing.

Caught a Bait Fish!! Yay!

After about 20 minutes into fishing… OH? Something is pulling our line!

A huge excitement for our school-age son! So we careful pulled our line out and…..

We caught a piper!


We were so excited, especially after the last trip when we didn’t catch anything.

It was about 30cm long piper. Pipers are supposed to be awesome bait fish for people aiming for snapper and kingfish. Fresh live pipers are the pest for catching these fish, apparently.

But today, we are not going for snappers…. well our fishing gear is not catered for such a big fish. we are actually using Sabiki hooks that is only good for catching bait fish. But that’s OK! We (both parents and kids!) are all fishing novice and we need to get some experience fishing safely before going for the bigger fish!

So for us, even just a bait fish is a GREAT CATCH! A Successful fishing day out!!

Home Bay Beach on the next street

Now our elder son was super happy after the first catch, but our younger son (pre-school age) was getting quickly bored. So while Dad and elder son continued to fish, I (mum) and younger son went for a walk.

We went out to see if we could access the small patch of beach that we spotted earlier. We walked back to Wairangi street then we walked to another street east of the Wairangi street.

We found a sign saying “Home Bay Beach” and stairs. Going down the stairs, we arrived at the small beach we saw from Wairangi wharf.  We could see dad and elder son fishing on the wharf, and they could see us on the Home Bay Beach, too.



This Home Bay Beach was very small and we quickly finished having a look there. There were some small broken shells on the ground, but it was too small beach to enjoy beach combing.

It is however, safe small patch of sand to let little one run around.

Two Pipers caught at Wairangi Bay!

In the end, after about hour and half there, we caught total of two pipers!  Well, our last fishing trip on Tamaki drive was zero-fish caught in the end, so compared to that, it was a big improvement.

We decided that we are going to use these pipers as bait for our next trip. So we took them home and put them in the freezer straight away.

We as novice fisher family, are thinking of getting a little bit bigger hock and line, so we can use this piper as bait to aim for other types of fish, on our next fishing trip.



Also checkout anther article about fishing in Auckland!

Fishing in Auckland with Kids 1: Okahu Bay Wharf

<*Checkout fishing gear at fishpond.co.nz>

FTD Kids Complete Fishing Set - Rod / Reel / Tackle / Bag - Ideal Starter Holiday Pack

Pink Kids' Fishing Pole Starter Set for Girls by Fishing Gear Plus

Fishing in Auckland with Kids 1: Okahu Bay Wharf

Our 8-year-old son loves fishing, and wants to give fishing a go on a sunny weekend. Being new to the area and having no prior fishing experience ourselves, we started off by looking for potential fishing spots with my children.

  

Fishing in Auckland with Family

New Zealand is a beautiful country surrounded by the sea, and Auckland being the “City of Sails”, fishing is a popular hobby. We see many people with their own boats and fishing gear enjoying fishing.

There are also various fishing boat charter services providing half-day or day-fishing tours. We would love to give these a shot one of these days.

But for now, our son is only 8-year-old, and we feel it is a bit too early to go on a whole-day cruise to catch a snapper. He might get too tired during the trip, or worth sea-sick. These tours are quite expensive too.

So we have been searching for a local wharf where we could get some fishing experience first. Ideally, somewhere easily accessible and safe with children. This time, we tried “Okahu Bay Wharf”, which was described to be a popular spot around Mission Bay, on the internet websites.

Tamaki Drive, Okahu Bay Wharf in Auckland

On the day, we traveled from Auckland CBD towards mission bay on Tamaki drive. The target location, Okahu Bay, was on the left hand side along the stretch of the Tamaki drive. It was right opposite to the car parking area of the Auckland’s famous Kelly Talton’s SEA LIFE aquarium.

We parked on the road along side the Okahu Bay wharf and unloaded our fishing gear, food and drinks.

At the Okahu Bay Whar, there is a long stretch of walkway out to the sea, about 150m in length. At the other end, the walk way splits up to T-shape.

It is fenced all the way, but with plenty of gaps so I would not take an eye off little ones. But we our primary school age-son was quite comfortable there. Overall it looked like a nice spot where family with kids could give fishing a try.

Okahu bay wharf

Okahu Bay Wharf is a Popular Fishing Spot

On the day we visited, it was cloudy with some wind and occasional shower. So it was cold day.

When we arrived Okahu bay wharf just before lunch time, there were already three groups of people enjoying fishing there. At the far end of the walkway, there was a group of young man who were enjoying swimming! Oh how nice it is to be young…..

After we started fishing, people with fishing gear kept on arriving every now and then. A lot of people came passed us just enjoying walks too, some with kids and some with dogs.

The wharf had visitors on even such a cold cloudy day, so I would imagine that on a sunny day of early summer, a perfect fishing day, this wharf will be quite busy with people trying to do fishing here.

At the end of walk way

No Fish for This Day!! (Danm It!)

We tried fishing for about two hours on this day. But unfortunately we could not catch anything ourselves. A guy who was fishing before us, had caught something that appeared to be Kahawai, a locally seen type of Arripis. It was quite large, not fitting his small chilly bin, as he was taking it home.

Other than that, no one else caught anything while we were at Okahu Wharf. According to some website or fishing forum though, you could catch some snapper by casting your line as far as possible in summer.

We did see some “hard-core-fisher” people who had really nice fishing gear and setting multiple of them along the wharf. So there is little doubt in us that this is a good fishing spot that attracts a lot of people.

We did not have any luck this time, but we would love to give it another shot at Okahu Bay Wharf.

Bring Your Own Fishing Gear (and Food!)

This Okahu Bay Wharf is a public domain and there is no entry fee for fishers. But it also does not have any manager on site or shops nearby. So you will need to bring everything you need with you, including fishing gear, bait, drinks and snacks.

We picked up our fishing bait at a petrol station between Auckland CBD and Okahu Bay. You can normally pickup bait and ice from a petrol station located within short range from a coast. They are often kept in a freezer outside of the shop with a lock, and you may need to ask the shop staff for them.  

So that was Our First Fishing at Okahu Bay Wharf

Unfortunately we were unable to catch anything, but we did enjoy the experience there. It seemed like a nice spot and we will definitely give it another shot! 

It is near mission bay so we could plan a whole day outing with kids; some fishing at Okahu bay wharf followed by icecream and playtime at the mission bay.

Chipmunks visit!

Chipmunks visit!

Earlier in the week, I took my children to a large famous indoor play centre, the Chipmunks!

What is Chipmunks?

Chipmunks is a franchise brand name for large indoor kids play centres. It is a play centre combined with café business, where you pay entry fee for kids to play, and once you enter parents could enjoying a cup of coffee and other café food. It is a great place to be, to entertain kids on those rainy gloomy cold days.

On the left is the play area; right is the café area with purple and yellow chairs.

Where can I find Chipmunks?

According to their website, they have 13 locations in the North island of NZ, and 5 more in the South island (checked in 2017). Out of those, 5 are located in Auckland region. They also have locations in Australia and Indonesia.

You can check on their homepage for more information.

è https://www.chipmunks.co.nz/

On the above website, you can also find administration fee information, and also send enquiries about holding birthday parties there.

The place is busy on Saturday and Sundays…!

For this occasion, we went to the Chipmunks in Tauranga. It was cloudy day looking like it could shower any time, and it was Saturday morning. So we expected that the place would be rather busy, and we were right!

We entered the premise around 10am and at that time, half of the tables were empty; the place did not seem all that busy. However, we noticed that there were reserved table. Later we found out that there were three birthday groups on that day, and the place got busier and busier!

Inside is huge! Enough space for kids to bounce and run!

The kids play area is very spacious. When you enter, straight away you see a large air-filled slide where children could bounce and roll.

Hard to see in this picture, but there is a huge slide at the back! I would love to give it a go but no adult is allowed, sorry!

Main play area has a large slide and three story climbing area too.

Air-pressured sponge shooting gun – super exciting for all boys and girls!

The favorite area for my boys is the shooting arena, where you can use one of air pressure gun to shoot out soft balls made of sponge-type material. The ball is about the size of kids’ fists, and it is soft. You pickup those balls, put it in a air gun, and push a button. Then you hear the “Shhh!!” sound and your ball will get shot out flying.。

The air-gun looks really large for kids and looks really cool!

Balls fall in the area underneath, and there little children are usually running around collecting some balls into a bucket or a bag.

A lot of fun just picking up balls too!

What to watch out for at the Chipmunks

Chipmunks is a café business, and it is not allowed to bring your own food and drinks. Instead, you have to purchase food and drinks there. They sell chips, nuggets, pizza, muffins and other variety of food you could eat for lunch.

They serve coffee too; a mum could probably enjoy a cappuccino while her child is playing in the play area if he/she is old enough to play by him/herself.

On the other hand, if you are bringing a little one, like preschool age, then you probably don’t want your eyes off them as it can be a bit dangerous with larger kids running and playing wild.

They do have an area especially for kids under 5, but even then a close supervision is required as it could still be dangerous if 2 year-old get bumped by a 5 year-old. Staffs are busy at the café and they do not have staff on watch for the play area.

Under 5 play area! They have a ball pool and some more toys inside!

Birthday party at the Chipmunks!

One of those days, I would love to plan a birthday party at the Chipmunks! It requires booking ahead of the time, so you will need to know when you want to hold it, and how many other kids you will invite.

That is a bit difficult for us as we don’t normally know which weekend we want to hold birthday parties, so we haven’t got around to using this service yet. But it would be an awesome party without doubt. You could organize food and gift packs, and even a visit from the famous Chipmunk!

How much does it cost to use Chipmunks?

The administration fee on entry is dependent on the day – e.g. if it is on the weekend, or if it is on school day, and the location (each location seem to have slightly different price plan).

The Tauranga franchise we went to;
1～2 year olds　 $9.90
3～11 year olds　$12.90 for non-school day,

And　1 – 11 year olds  $9.90 for school day

Supervising adult don’t get charged. The entry fee is one-off payment at the start, so it would be more for the money if you come in early and play for the whole day.  

Recommendations about Chipmunks

We have been to three Chipmunk locations, but all are busy on the weekends. Especially on the day with bad weather, all parents seem to think of the same idea….

But even on those days, it is quieter in the early morning, so my recommendation to go first thing in the morning as they open up.

It gets really busy around 11am-12pm, but some families who came early in the morning will leave without having lunch there, so it does calm down a bit in the afternoon compared with the peak time.

This time, we spent good three hours. Kids had chips and hot-dog munch meal sets, and I enjoyed my latte. It seemed though that even that was not long enough for my kids…. They were ready to play more!