Discover Geraldine, the perfect place for a country getaway.
The idyllic rural town of Geraldine is Aotearoa New Zealand’s most-underrated stopover destination. It’s en route to the spectacular Aoraki Mount Cook National Park and home to artisan food producers with their own factory shops and cafés devoted to serving their produce.
Craft gin distillers often use locally sourced ingredients to create gins with flavours that are unique to the region. At Humdinger Gin, they believe you can taste South Canterbury’s rich soils in their gins, attributing this to carefully selected botanicals, such as rosehips foraged near the Rangitata River and hand-picked sloe berries from their own orchard. To find out more, visit the cellar door for a free tasting and a chat about gin.
The Geraldine Cheese Co.(opens in new window) makes award-winning artisan cheeses out of its tiny factory in the town centre. This is where traditional cheese-making skills come together with innovative techniques and where a visit to the factory store to gather supplies is something of a local pilgrimage.
One of the names you will see printed in bold letters on jams and chutneys in supermarkets across the country is Barkers of Geraldine. Barkers is a small family-owned enterprise, but it is also a Geraldine one. It is the town’s biggest employer and the produce for all its sauces and conserves is sourced locally. Visit the Barker’s Foodstore & Eatery(opens in new window) to taste-test some of Barker's delicious goodies and you’ll see why it takes a town to produce them.
See a 1000-year-old Tōtara tree and sixty-eight species of native fern at the magnificent Peel Forest Park Reserve. Or hike the Little Mt Peel / Huatekerekere track(opens in new window) for spectacular views to Mt Somers, Mt Hutt, and the Canterbury plains. Note, the summit of Little Mt Peel is actually 1,300 metres above sea level, so allow 6-8 hours for the return journey.
The Vicarage is a local landmark. Yet until now, no one loved it. The vicars disliked living there, describing it as ‘old and cold’. When they left the local arts and crafts society tolerated it for a time but then they, too, abandoned it. Without hope of finding a permanent occupant, it was eventually rented as a party house. Somehow, the exquisite stained-glass windows and ornate wood panelling remained intact. Today, the 120-year-old building has been beautifully restored – and insulated – and turned into a boutique hotel, which is, it is fair to say, very much loved.
