Hi from New Zealand

[KristinaN]

Welcome to the group. My dream is to travel to New Zealand. When my daughter was a teenager she went on a short term trip to Auckland, New Zealand. Their project was actually in Rotorua. I am hoping to travel there after I retire in a few years. New Zealand is first on my list. Are opals easy to buy there?

To be honest I've not seen any opals for sale here really - I think you'll have more luck in Australia, not even sure there are any opal mines here, but there are in Australia.

 

[crispysoap]

$10L seems pretty standard for OO in NZ. Our local bin inn has olive oil for sale but from memory it was a similar price as supermarket and then only if you have your own containers.
Regarding opals I'm fairly sure KristinaN is right. Aussie is the place to go for that. Greenstone is NZ's famous stone

 

[sudsy_kiwi]

Hiya, I live in Whakatane, NZ. I've been a soapmaker for about 2.5yrs now and still addicted to it. If OO is on special in the supermarkets I grab it but I have bought large 3 litre bottles of Pomace from Gilmours wholesalers. I found it fine for soapmaking and Ive been happy with my soaps made with it. I do find palm difficult to get and mostly use lard or tallow when I need to.
I must admit I am very envious of our American friends as the variety of soapmaking ingredients and equiptment are exceptional. I use a soapmaking supplier situated in Mt Maunganui mainly -she delivers fast and prices are reasonable. Any suggestions of other good suppliers would always be appreciated. Meanwhile -have fun ....Helen

Hi Helen, would you mind sharing a link to your supplier? I use a few for different things, but www.zendesigns.co.nz is probably my favourite for FOs.

I love using lard and tallow, especially when my gf has some of her lambs home-killed (organic lifestyle block). Lots of yummy roasts and even more tallow I render it myself and have managed to get a local pig farmer to sling me some unrendered lard a few times too

 

[Helenz]

Hello Kristina, Im from Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. Welcome to this forum. Great place for sharing info and gleaning advice on all things soaping. cheers Helenz

Sudsy_kiwi, I usually buy from Zendesigns too. Her f/o are the most reasonably priced and i will call into her store at Mt Maunganui if Im up visiting in Tauranga. I have trouble accessing pig fat to render -Ive been around the supermarket butchery dept but get no joy there. I sometimes buy my micas from http://kiwisoapsupplies.co.nz/ as they sometimes have unusual coloured ones. Its really a matter of shopping around. We certainly dont have the abundance of choices here in NZ.
cheers Helenz