KIWIANA AT RISK

A favourite cheese of mine when I was young was Chesdale.

"We are the boys from down on the farm, we really know our cheese. There's much better value in Chesdale, It never fails to please. Chesdale slices thinly, never crumbles, there's no waste, and boy it's got a mighty taste. Chesdale cheese. It's finest cheddar. Made better."

Now I know that Chesdale was never a 'proper' cheese - more like a kind of cheese spread but I liked it. The soft rubber texture was interesting and the gooey way it melted in a toasted sandwich with vegemite or marmite was perfect.

Initially packaged as a small log wrapped in tinfoil that was almost impossible to completely remove, it was later packaged as segments in a circular pack.

These segments were a standard in kids lunches and were a great and unpretentious snack before the fancy schmancy snacks, canapés and treats turned up in supermarkets.

Supermarkets however have led to the demise of this Kiwi icon.
Initially Chesdale couldn't be found amongst the other cheeses where common sense would dictate it should be. Chesdale was to be found in the other grocery aisles sometimes among the baking needs and at other times amongst the spreads. Very confusing.

Some years ago the segments disappeared to be replaced by a crappy substitute named Kraft which I guess was the name of the new Australian owner. This substitution didn't taste as good and the segments were smaller - too small in fact so I gave up buying them.
The log version was still available for a while but now, to my disgust I discover that neither form can be found in my local supermarkets.

In Countdown yesterday I had a craving for potato chips and cheese segments (yes the sophisticated North) and would have even settled for that godawful Kraft but they didn't stock that either.
The only 'cheeses' segments they stocked was the French La Vache qui Rit.

I bought a pack along with some potato chips and tried last night before dinner with a glass of chardonnay.
They are crap. Small segments and too soft - too much like a spread. Pah!
I bet Richard won't like them either. He's afraid of cows.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

The government has agreed to pay for half of our city rail link here in Auckland. That's much appreciated rest of New Zealand as it was going to cost us a few billions more than initially thought.
We can now get us some decent trains, not third world ones.

It'll only cost a little bit more on your taxes.


Trains are important for getting a city moving and your recognition of this is appreciated.

The only other city in New Zealand that relies on city-wide train services is Wellington. That's nice. There have been some requests to improve stock and rail networks there as well.

Can I make a wee suggestion first though?

Why don't you guys in Wellington just put more people on your trains. It's much more efficient that way.

MORE LIKE FLOG TODAY

Yesterday I played eight holes of golf at my local club and couldn't do a thing wrong.
Out of the eight holes I birdied four of them, parred three and only had one hole where I was one over.

View out to the Heads from the 6th fairway.

Today I played seven holes and played like crap.
Out of the seven I only parred two with the rest being many shots over.
Go figure.

I'm a pretty useless golfer, not as good as Mike but by a squared factor better than Tony and by a cubed factor better than Richard. I just like going out and playing a few good shots. It can be very satisfying - but not today.

I did find 12 golf balls though.