Te Puke Kiwifruit Country

The plant is Chinese - Actinidia deliciosa, from the Yangtze valley, brought here as seed in 1904 and grown as the Chinese gooseberry. Commercial planting took off around Te Puke in the 1930s and 40s, and in 1959 an exporter renamed it kiwifruit to sell into the American market during a period when anything called Chinese was hard to shift there. New Zealand no longer grows the most kiwifruit in the world - China and Italy both produce more - but this district remains the centre of the export industry and the SunGold cultivar developed here dominates the premium trade. Driving through, what you see is shelterbelts and rank after rank of pergola-trained vines. Kiwifruit Country, a roadside park with a 12-metre fruit slice at the gate, runs orchard tours on a small train. Harvest, March to June, is when the district is actually working.

What you actually see

• The orchards - pergola-trained vines behind shelterbelts, for kilometres.
• The giant fruit - the 12-metre slice at the roadside park.
• The orchard tours - a small train through working vines.
• The harvest - March to June, when the district fills with pickers.

When to go

March to June for harvest and fruit on the vines. Outside that the orchards are bare and tours are less interesting. The roadside park keeps seasonal hours.

Honest expectations

Most of the district is private working orchard with no access. The visitor park is small and family-oriented. Outside harvest there is very little to see.

Nearby

Tauranga and Mount Maunganui are north-west; Rotorua is south.