Macadamias for Good Health!

Aotea Macadamias is owned and operated run by husband and wife team Tom and Sylvienne McClelland. This is a story of the good life – great dedication, passion and a genuine love of natural living. A lifelong passion for healthy natural foods, grown organically led the McClellands to a rundown dairy farm in Northland, after a macadamia 'guru' had advised Tom & Sylvienne to search for some 50 acres of north facing slopes in a warm climate.

A week later they were starting the ground work for a 2000+ macadamia nut orchard protected from the wind by around 10,000 shelter trees – all this planned on rough bare land of kikuyu and thistles, pipe clay and bog. The first trees for Barcahel Orchard were planted in sub-tropical Waipu, Northland in 1986.

Years later the fruits of their labour is evident. Around half the original trees have been thinned out and many of the carefully planted pines, gums, casuarinas, leylands and alders have been removed to make room for the ever expanding orchard of macadamia.

Sylvienne indulges her passion for animals – keeping chooks, kunekunes, sheep and a goat as well as dogs and cats. This has provided her with ample material for another passion, spinning and weaving. Currently she's enjoying the company of a small herd of equines, a donkey and a mule as well as attempting to enlarge her flock of guinea-fowl.

 
For many years both Tom and Sylvienne were very involved with the Macadamia Nut Cooperative and developed a large and successful marketing strategy for that organization. Sadly the Cooperative is gone now but the McClellands have put greater emphasis on further processing their own nuts to kernel stage while continuing to support the New Zealand Macadamia Society.

Art is very much a part of their life with a small studio gallery attached to the house on Barachel Orchard after owning a fine art gallery in Whangarei with another in Auckland from 1999 to 2004.

Sylvienne enjoys playing about with recipes and exploring the many wonderful taste experiences available from The Emperor of tree nuts. They look forward to supplying you with raw Aotea macadamia nut kernel consisting of a mix of whole nuts and pieces – "The Aotea Blend". Aotea Macadaemia are growing and producing New Zealand spray-free macadamia nuts. Grown, harvested, de-husked, cracked and processed at their Northland orchard the nuts are offered in plain and a range of natural, tasty flavours.

Macadamia Nuts are recommended by doctors throughout the world particularly for "special-needs" diets because of their HIGH PROTEIN content, LOW CARBS, LOW GI, and their comfortable assimilation by sensitive metabolisms. Cardiologists recognize their usefulness for their heart patients and it has recently been discovered that Vitamin B17 – high in raw macadamia kernel – might be a strong anti-cancer agent. Autism, Diabetes, Epilepsy sufferers can all benefit from a diet containing Macadamia nuts. You won't put on weight eating macadamias – unless of course, they are coated in delicious chocolate or some other scrumptious coating. Be a part of a world-wide HEALTH CULTURE and enjoy a delicious food that is also extremely good for you!

By maintaining great "value for money" pricing for our quality macadamia nut kernel we encourage you to add your personal individualized value. The product is typically a mix of shelled whole nuts and nut pieces. Through GrownUps you can buy at wholesale prices, depending on your needs we can crack any quantity of nuts to order and after careful hand selection and sorting, freight the kernel promptly to any address in New Zealand.

We look forward to supplying you with the world's most prestigious nut, New Zealand macadamias! And here's an idea for you to try for your Christmas table. If you would like more recipes give Sylvienne a call and please do share your own creations with us.

MACADAMIA Blondie Slice

220g white cooking chocolate chopped or buttons
100g butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1&1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp milk
¾ chopped raw macadamia nuts
icing sugar for dusting
 
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celcius

Line the base of 17cm x 27cm (or equivalent) cake tin with baking paper.

Place chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth.

Mix to combine sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, milk, macadamia nuts with the chocolate mixture

Pour in the chocolate mixture and bake for 40 minutes or until set.

Cool in tin, remove, dust over icing sugar and cut into rectangles to serve. Makes at least 12.

Recommend using raw rather than toasted nuts. A golden alternative to Chocolate Brownies deliciously sticky and crunchy.

Come visit us at Barachel Orchard Waipu

If you and a friend perhaps would like to know more and visit this little piece of paradise, you can stay a while at the Pet Friendly Bed & Breakfast experience. Free WIFI is available with a 10% discount to holders of NZ's SuperGold card.

You will bed down in the West Wing guest suite comprised of two bedrooms with bathroom with shower over bath. The main bedroom contains a King bed and a wonderful views across the deck and garden then through to the BBQ and pool area. King bedroom is $US100.00 including an 'extended' continental breakfast. There is also a second bedroom with two single beds plus a trundle. Booking is essential and credit cards are accepted.

It is only a 15 minute drive to beautiful Bream Bay beaches where you can exercise your canine and equine babies throughout most the year. Waipu village, only ten minutes drive away, has a selection of quality restaurants, cafes, and takeaways.

Email: sylvienne@gmail.com

Phone: (09) 432 0656 or 021 2527055

Where are we? 322 Glenmohr Road, RD2, Waipu, Northland, New Zealand.