As a solo traveler with an extremely favorable exchange rate, I took great advantage of being able to eat whatever the heck I wanted in the two and a half days I was in Wanaka. Two days of hard climbing, canyoneering, and one full day of sitting on a bus made for a very, very, very hungry girl. I ate my way through the best restaurants in Wanaka to get you this list. You’re welcome.
food
Backcountry meals don’t always have to be freeze dried meals in pouches. In fact, you can get high protein, gluten-free, sustainably caught, and locally grown and absolutely tasty meals where you don’t even have to add water. How? By eating Fishpeople Seafood.
With a mission of harvesting only sustainable seafood, Fishpeople Seafood helps support local communities and fisheries to ensure healthy fish populations for years to come. This detail and attention to the product ensures that you know exactly who caught your fish and where it came from. You can even track your food with the code on the back of your pouch. All ingredients are sourced locally and each product lists out the ingredients in painstaking detail.
Caffeine withdrawals. It’s a real struggle. Many people think that heading out to the wilderness means giving up luxuries like cushy mattresses, coffee, running water. Okay, you’re giving up most of that, but caffeine doesn’t have to be one of them!
If you’re someone who feels rage without your daily dose of caffeine, read on!
Sometimes planning for camping meals can be a drag. Great Outdoors Food makes shopping for camping meals convenient and easy. I’d seen Laura and Great Outdoors Food lurking around on social media, so when she reached out to me to review the meal builder, I said sure!
As first and foremost a meal planner, it allows you to select a variety of pre-packaged meals from various offerings of meats, veggies, desserts, condiments, beverage packets and snacks. The site also offers a store to easily stock up on favorites.
The site itself is very basic. You start off by naming your meal. If you opt not to name it, the default is “My Meal”.
From there, you are taken to a screen to choose the first part of your meal: protein.
Clicking on each individual item shows you the nutritional label and allows you to specify a quantity. This screen would be more useful if it allowed you to view how to prepare the package too. The majority of the time it will be add hot water and, but sometimes those instructions are little tricksters.
Unfortunately, once you make a choice and hit the next button or skip a screen, there’s no way to go backwards without starting from scratch. This makes it difficult to peruse what exactly the site offers. As a workaround, add everything you think you might want, and then remove at the end of each meal.
The review your order screen doesn’t actually allow you to make an edits to individual meals. You are only given the choice to remove and start from scratch again. It would be much more user-friendly if you could update quantities of meals and individual items.
The checkout process is handled through Shopify. The store accepts credit cards or Paypal.
After placing an order, Great Outdoors Food will pack, label, and ship them to you individually so you can stay organized. Each meal will be packed individually in a resealable plastic bag that you can reuse to collect your trash.
Prices are the comparable to REI or any sporting goods store. I found it a little odd that you’re charged for little condiment packages like ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper, etc. But you are paying for the convenience instead of fetching those from a fast food restaurant yourself. If you sign up for the mailing list, you’ll receive a 20% off coupon your grand total before tax.
Shipping prices are reasonable. For items under 1lb via USPS, it is $3.50, saving you some gas money from making you a trip to the store. I was not given any other options for my items.
The Great Outdoors Food Meal Builder is a great tool for putting together meals quickly without leaving the comfort of your couch. The idea is great but the usability of the site could use a good overhaul to make it more click-efficient and time friendly.
I was sent a promotional code to review the website. However, the compensation does not affect my opinion of the site.