FROM THE TRAVEL EDITOR

I would never normally tell you to put this magazine down when you’ve only just started reading, but I feel it’s my duty to give you a stern warning before you go any further. Reader, if you don’t have a very hearty snack next to you right now, you’re really going to regret it.

I’ve spent this week in a constant state of hunger. I’m craving crayfish from Kaikōura and clams from Cloudy Bay; feijoas from a backyard tree and stonefruit from the South Island. I want to spend an afternoon in a Waiheke winery, and experience an evening at Monique Fiso’s fine-dining restaurant Hiakai. I want flat whites and eggs benedict for breakfast, and fish and chips and L&P at the beach for dinner.

Basically, I’m feeling greedy, and it’s all because of the wonderful stories from our writers in this week’s magazine.

Food and drink has become a vital part of any holiday or short-break and in New Zealand, we’re truly spoilt for choice. Whether you’re heading north, south, east or west for your next Kiwi getaway, there is something delicious waiting there for you, and you’re likely to find inspiration in these 36 pages.

Over lockdown, many of us discovered how comforting food could be — the incessant Instagram photos of sourdough starters and elaborate home-cooked dinners certainly proved that. But now we have the freedom to travel New Zealand, it is time to let someone else clear our plates and nourish our souls. We really do deserve it.