Known as the chardonnay capital of New Zealand, Gisborne is in a warm, isolated coastal region which also produces an amazing variety of citrus fruit.

	New Zealand seafood
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Whale Rider

As a kid we'd visit Gisborne and catch eels in the river, or go fishing off the coast. I can remember Dad and I taking a dinghy out one day with my grandfather, Poppa, he would have been about 86 at the time, and a school of dolphins surrounded the boat which was absolutely incredible. It's a very special place, its Whale Rider country and there's a sense that this is New Zealand at its best.

Destinations

I stayed at a fantastic place on my last visit, Opou Country House, which is a grand old homestead now run by a New Zealand woman Robyn Garewal and her Sikh husband Manav. They cook brilliant food - fresh, local dishes and also an excellent Kashmiri curry. This would be a great place for the upmarket traveller to base themselves for a few days to explore the region.

No trip to Gisborne would be complete without eating fresh fish and chips from a local shop in a gorgeous location. Any of the villages up the coast will serve a freshly battered fish and decent chips but I'd recommend finding a good place in town, wrapping your newspaper package in tinfoil, and driving up to Kaiti Hill, a cliff top which juts out over the coast with views for miles. The shellfish and seafood is second to none in Gisborne - at certain times of the year the sea can be filled with roe as the fish spawn and this is what brings the dolphins in.

There's a lovely bookshop and café in town called Muirs which is always worth a visit for a well-made coffee, a read and one of their friands or muffins. Gisborne is the sort of place to kick back and watch the local traffic - there are lots of surfies and wine buffs, families heading for the beach and a very strong Maori community. And with all this delicious fresh produce on offer, there's also no shortage of good local wines to wash it down with.