Grand day for foodies at festival

Kerikeri’s second Ocean and Orchard festival has cemented its place on the Bay of Islands’ culinary calendar.

The event drew a crowd of more than 1000 foodies to the Domain on Saturday.

Organised by the Kerikeri Business Association, the festival aims to promote the town and the Far North’s boutique food and wine producers, as well as raising money for business association projects.

The attractions included more than 30 stalls, offering food and wine, live music and competitions in oyster eating, lemon sucking and kiwifruit sculpting. A Ready Steady Cook contest saw Food at Wharepuke chef Colin Ashton and the Pear Tree’s Neil Brazier compete to create three dishes from a mystery box of ingredients in just 30 minutes.

The oyster-eating challenge was won by Grant ‘‘Grunter’’ Robertson, of Kerikeri, who took little more than a minute to dispose of a dozen freshly shucked oysters with a toothpick as his only implement. ‘‘I’ve always loved my seafood, and I’ve got a pretty large tank to fill.’’

The festival was good for the town and a good way of attracting visitors, he said.

Marty Robinson of Kerikeri Organic said the festival was ‘‘every bit as good as last year’’.

Organiser Judy Hyland said well over 1000 people attended, significantly up on last year’s 800.

‘‘It’s been really successful and everyone’s had a good time. A few people complained about the $20 entry, but it didn’t keep them away.’’

She said staging the event had been worth the hard work. It would be back next year, as long as she and fellow organiser JanMarie Thomas could get more help.

See page B4 for more pictures.