Best icecreams in Northland

Kerikeri kids Thomas Plows, 8, Caitlin Ness, 12, and Declan Plows, 6, about to tuck into a 10-scoop, 1.9kg Death by Icecream.

When it comes to ice cream, bigger is better whether it be the Death by Icecream or the Highway 10 to Hell.

In our summer polling series the Northern Advocate took to Facebook to ask where the best spot was to buy a scoop or two of ice cream in the region.

The winner of our unscientific survey was Waipapa's Highway 10 Seafood Takeaways, so we found out why and the answer is simple: size sometimes does matter.

"We think we may be the world's biggest ice cream on a normal cone but we're still doing research. We're definitely the biggest in New Zealand, Tip Top has confirmed it," said owner Mike Pickett.

The store's largest cone is called the Highway 10 to Hell, an accurate name for the 15 scoop and 2.85kg monster ice cream. The next biggest cone is the 10-scoop, 1.9kg Death By Icecream.

"We've had two attempts at the 15 scoop and both failed. We do have a baby cone but we don't advertise it because we've got a reputation to keep up."

Mr Pickett said many keen punters have tried to finish some of their other big ice creams but underestimate the size of them.

Kerikeri 12-year-old Caitlin Ness, whose family visits the shop about once a week in summer, said she had long had her eye on the seven-scoop Gutbuster.

"I've always wanted to try it. Whenever we come I always ask if I can have it, but mum always says 'no'."

Yesterday, however, Caitlin and her siblings - Thomas, 8, Declan, 6, and Addison, 2 - were in luck, their parents allowing them to share a Death by Icecream. Just holding on to the 1.9kg monster was a challenge. What the kids didn't manage to eat went home in a container for dessert.

Highway 10 Seafood Takeaways owner Mike Pickett with a 10-scoop, 1.9kg Death by Icecream - and that's not even his biggest. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The famous store has had some famous names through it, singer Stan Walker popped in twice and finished the Death by Icecream both times, Maori All Black Joe Royal also managed to finish it and survive.

"We hold records in store for the Gutbuster, Death by Icecream and Highway 10 to Hell. If you beat the record we'll shout you a meal, obviously not straight after because people will be full. But when you want, you choose and we'll shout," he said.

The current record for the Death by Icecream is held by a 16-year-old who finished the 10 scooper in 14.13 minutes.

Mr Pickett is a pro when it comes to making big ice creams; he's owned the Waipapa store for three years but has been in the massive ice cream business for 13 years - there's a secret to getting that many scoops on a little cone but he's not letting it slip.

"I used to own a dairy in Wairarapa in Masterton -- we'd scoop big ice creams there too. There are about three factors but I'm not telling."

His favourite thing about scooping large: "The look on people's faces are priceless. When they order a single or double scoop they often yell at us to stop."

Other spots our readers loved were: The Deck in McLeods Bay, Cable Bay, The Fudge Farm in Whangarei, and Te Kao.