Sipping a cuppa at a tea estate in New Zealand
You could call it a serendipitous moment, coming across a lush tea estate in Auckland, New Zealand. Quite by accident, one of the places a group of us from Sri Lanka were stopping over for lunch while in Auckland on a weeklong trip recently was the Zealong Tea Estate. As we drove in, none of us was expecting to find acres of tea bushes before us but that was exactly the sight that met our eyes. Rows and rows of neatly laid out tea bushes spreading over an area of 40 hectares of land lying in the outskirts of Hamilton City.
The brainchild behind the Zealong tea is a New Zealander of Taiwanese origin Tzu Chen. Being a loverof tea, he had been struck by the similarities between tea plants and the camellia plant which grew in abundance in his home garden.
Hence in 1996, Mr. Chen and his son Vincent decided to import 1500 tea seedlings from Taiwan but were left with only 130 after the rigorous quarantine measures that are in place in New Zealand. This was the start of the process of careful propagation of the tea plants that today number in their thousands spread out over 40 hectares. Four varieties of tea–pure, aromatic, dark and black, are grown on the Zealong Tea plantation and processed and packed in a tea factory at the same location.
Nestled amidst the tea estate is also the Camellia tea house and restaurant where one can savour the flavours of the tea and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the tea garden.
The restaurant has become so popular among tourists to Hamilton that over the weekends, many visitors have to be turned away if they don’t have a prior reservation, according to the Manager, Joe Krishan.
He had moved to New Zeland from Malaysia several years ago.“The experience of working here is unique and many people are fascinated by the fact that there is a tea estate in New Zealand,” he said.
All the teas at Zealong are farmed organically without fertiliser or chemical sprays and handpicked to make it of the highest standard,” he explained. The tea is harvested three times year, in December, January and March.
The Zealong tea estate has become a must visit for many tourists to this area with many wanting to enjoy a relaxed meal or a cup of tea, amidst the soothing and calming environment of a tea estate, Mr. Krishan said.