Take a 15-minute helicopter adventure to Martinborough, a sleepy village home to many world-class Pinot Noir wines in the New World style. Meet winemakers and other speciality food producers, eat at local cafés, grand country houses or the prestigious Wharekauhau Lodge on the wild Palliser Bay clifftop.

You may prefer to drive to Martinborough, an hour's journey over the majestic Rimutaka Ranges separating the Wellington and Wairarapa regions

The Kapiti Coast, stretching along the North Island's western coastline, produces most of Wellington's fresh fruit and vegetables from family-owned market gardens. Kapiti Cheese regularly wins awards for its distinctive range of cow, sheep and goat cheeses. Ruth Pretty's glorious house and garden is the base for Wellington's top caterer and cooking school

Nelson is also a half-hour flight away, with its reputation for Chardonnay wines, seafoods (especially Pacific salmon and scallops), with many a café enjoying the sunshine

Only a half-hour flight from the capital is Marlborough, source of the world's most sought-after Sauvignon Blanc wines. Linger in local farmer markets. The beautiful Marlborough Sounds provide the Greenshell mussel, unique to New Zealand, along with many other seafood specialities