Canterbury and Otago

Mountains with an ocean garnish.

Somebody got a bit heavy-handed with the scenery around Otago and Canterbury. As if the Southern Alps weren’t enough, there are remote alpine valleys, huge braided rivers, vast plains and a coastline overflowing with beautiful beaches. What a spread!

Slideshow     10 shots A DIVERSE LANDSCAPE View some of the dramatic scenery to be found in Canterbury and Otago. View Slideshow

For our two surfing chefs, this part of New Zealand was about tucking into the refreshment of mountain air, glacier-chilled waters and green valley hospitality. Their experience with the bagpipe-playing farmhand also gave them a brush with local history, because thousands of Scottish settlers made themselves at home here in the 1800s.

If Otago and Canterbury were on your holiday menu, you’d be in for a feast of experiences - some tied to the landscape; others that involve people, food and wine.

The Southern Alps are front-of-mind for most travellers to New Zealand’s South Island, and there’s no better place to feel their magic than Mount Cook National Park. Here you’ll find the mountains that helped Sir Edmund Hillary get to the top of Everest, plus a selection of alpine trails that don’t require fancy climbing skills.

	Hot air ballooning on the Canterbury Plains takes you from the alps to the sea.
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With a car you can discover the Alpine Pacific Triangle, a touring route that delivers wine tasting, whale watching and delicious spa experiences. Or drive south to the Moeraki, where huge, perfectly spherical boulders are scattered across the beach like giant marbles. Park the rental car and catch the Tranz Alpine railway over the great divide - it’s one of the world’s most memorable train journeys.

For urban excitement there’s a choice of two cities. Christchurch is both elegantly historic and refreshingly modern - a great place to graze restaurants, cafes and galleries; Dunedin is a neo-gothic city by the sea, with church spires, impressive heritage buildings and opportunities for amazing wildlife encounters. Both cities offer interesting forms of accommodation, such as mansions, historic hotels and upmarket B & Bs.

Episode 1 - Otago and Canterbury

In the first New Zealand episode of ‘Surfing the Menu’, Bender and Mark enjoyed a bird’s eye view of the Southern Alps as they soared over the mountain tops in gliders. Down below they spied the next target for their attention - an alpine fish farm where salmon are grown in fast-flowing, oxygen-rich glacier-melt waters. The lads caught a couple of Mount Cook salmon the hard way, jumping into the fish-filled pens to wrestle with their ingredients. Later, their dip into the hot green world of wasabi growing was followed by pork with a twist - an organic pig farm where the residents are regularly serenaded by a bagpipe-playing farmhand.

BEN & MARK'S RECIPES Check out the recipes cooked in this episode and try to replicate the guy's meals at home using the best of New Zealand's produce. Read More