Round-up of goings-on
Number 8 Network does a round-up of what’s been going on.
A team from Rototuna High School has come third in a Student Product Development Challenge with a beverage made from Waikato ingredients, one of which is from Zealong Tea Estate.
Students Liam Anderson and Gaith Laith, led by teacher Jenny Mangan, were given a brief from their client Zealong to develop a ready-to-drink, non-alcoholic mocktail using Gordonton-grown oolong tea as a base.
The group spent six months researching, with the help of mentors from Wintec and Waikato University. The end result was Feijoa Frenzy, a carbonated natural drink made with Zealong oolong tea, honey from Te Awamutu and locally-harvested feijoas.
Those wishing to sample the beverage can keep an eye out for the upcoming summer drinks menu at Zealong Tea House, which will feature an adaptation of the Feijoa Frenzy.
Zealong’s Annalese Webber, left in the photo, said the drink was harmonious, with the oolong tea balancing out the sweetness from the feijoa.
The joint NZ Institute of Food Science and Technology and Royal Society Creativity in Science and Technology challenge saw 10 teams from Auckland and two from Hamilton develop new food products over the course of the school year.
New Bridge opens and road closes
Hamilton’s section of the Waikato Expressway continues to develop at a steady pace, with reopening of Kay Rd in Rototuna.
The road had been closed for the past 14 months to allow construction of a bridge over a section of the Waikato Expressway, says the NZ Herald.
The bridge, which is the highest on the Hamilton section will provide an alternative route out of town as a section of Horsham Downs Rd, just north of Borman Rd intersection, closes for a similar bridge construction project.
Access to properties along Horsham Downs Rd will be maintained at all times, but there will be no access through the bridge site.
Blueberry orchard on the market
A Waikato blueberry orchard producing one of this country’s rarest but highest-yielding blueberry crops is for sale by tender, says the NZ Herald.
Bayleys Hamilton is marketing the Gordonton operation, which has its own processing plant and refrigerated pack-house.
Bayleys’ Mike Fraser-Jones says the 8.8ha property, at 819 Woodlands Rd, comprises eight hectares of blueberry plantings under canopy cover, along with buildings, equipment and plant required to pick, sort, package and chill blueberries. Tenders close 2pm, October 19.
And to end, a lovely photo from The Mandarin Tree’s Claudia Aalderink, showing that Spring has truly sprung.
