Wood, Wool & Wine

 I can't say Wood, Wool and Wine are the MAIN exports of New Zealand, but wood does run in the top 10  exports of the island country as evidenced by what we saw in the ports where we docked.

Most of the wood is exported to China. We were told by dock workers and tour guides the wood becomes paper and paper products. However, internet research says the logs becomes concrete framework in China or is processed and exported back to New Zealand as timber for the construction industry.

Each log has a QR code sticker identifying where it came from in the New Zealand forests.

Most of the exported logs are Radiata Pine, a fast growing tree which was brought to New Zealand in the 1920s and 30s because of the country's excellent growing conditions. It makes up 90% of the timber export. (The Radiate Pine or Monterey Pine is native to California.)

We saw piles of wood chips at a couple of the ports. This most likely was exported for pressed wood products or paper products.

The photos are from the ports of Napier NZ, Dunedin NZ, Burnie Tasmania AU.

We saw many shops advertising Merino and Possum wool. WHAT? Possum wool???? 

shop in Auckland NZ

shop in Wellington NZ

OFD and my sister-in-law added to the economy of New Zealand with their purchases of Possum and Merino wool items. I admit it is so soft and I can understand the appeal of wool garments.

This was my purchase for myself in Christchurch at one of the kiosks featuring handmade Possum and Merino wool at the Cathedral Plaza.

and a gift bought in Wellington at said shop

So that covers the wood and the wool. As for the wine, we did not go on any of the wine tasting tours offered as NCL excursions, but my brother and sister-in-law did. Their report was, "It was okay." They reported the better part of the excursion was getting to see the countryside and getting information from the tour guide. 

Now most of us would expect kiwi (the fruit) to be on the list of top exports of NZ. New Zealand is the second or third largest producer of kiwifruit behind China (where it is called gooseberry) and possibly Italy. The kiwifruit we did taste was very sour. We noticed golden kiwifruit in the grocery stores. Kiwifruit was introduced to and cultivated in New Zealand in 1904. It is native to China, but is grown world-wide.

According to the internet the major exports of New Zealand are concentrated milk, sheep & goat meat, butter, frozen bovine meat and rough wood.

On our one trip into the countryside at Burnie Tasmania (Australia, not in New Zealand) we did see some farmland and farm animals.

our guide told us this was potato harvesting

rolling hills with irrigation and rich volcanic soil

many green houses on this fruit farm and the story of not enough workers

a valley in Gunns Plain Tasmania at the end of summer

It was interesting to all seven of us in our group who had been on tours into the countryside in NZ & AU that a lack of workers was a major problem, especially during harvest. Workers from the Philippines and other island countries filled the need for manual labor when the New Zealanders and Aussies would not. One guide reported that during kiwifruit picking, those on government assistance did not receive any money if jobs for kiwi harvest were available.