Hidden gems of Mid-Canterbury

Mike Yardley discovers aviation riches and an oustanding museum in Ashurton

Fanning out from Ashburton and bounded by the Rakaia and Rangitata rivers, Mid-Canterbury is a region ripe for discovery and exploration, particularly when you’re road-tripping the Mainland.

The Blue Pub in Methven is a main-street treasure, with nearly 110 years of trading history under its belt. This time-honoured hospitality beacon is a major year-round crowd-pleaser, whether it is the après ski set or summer road-trippers. The comprehensive menu spans snacks, salads, platters, pub grub and main meals. You can’t go wrong with their winning Kiwiburger.

While in town, don’t skip the chance to savour the wrap-around splendour of the Ōpuke Thermal Pools  and Spa. It’s not only a spectacularly designed pool complex, with mountain-fed water powered by the sun, but its economic impact has been profound since opening two years ago. It has helped turbocharge Methven’s pitch as a year-round tourist town – not just a ski town. The Tranquility Pools serve up a premium adult’s exclusive experience including an interconnected network of pools, star-lit caves and swim-up bar, offering complete indulgence.

The elemental design touches, artfully swathed in native grasses, heighten the sense of being at one with nature. The water is a toasty 38.5C which, on my December visit, was accentuated by a dramatic hailstorm which cast the surrounds into a theatrical winterscape! The swim-up bar service is a delight to watch in action, with all manner of poolside drinks and meals, set afloat in the pool in surprisingly sturdy baskets.

Driving through the pastoral folds of Mid-Canterbury farmland, the bustle of Ashburton is just a 30-minute drive away. I love how there are still so many independent retailers in the shopping heart, including the family-owned fashion store Sparrows, which has been in operation since 1887. For a culture fix, I headed to the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum, which are housed in the same building, adjacent to the Ashburton Domain. The gardens are gorgeous and the specimen trees simply glorious. At the centre of the gallery’s collection is the wonderful work of award-winning children’s book author and illustrator David Elliot.

But it’s the great roster of visiting exhibitions that enrich the gallery offerings. A superb summer exhibition well worth perusing is Suffrage in Stitches. Hot on the heels of the 130th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand, Suffrage in Stitches features a 300-metre-long textile work made up of 546 individual panels, representing the length of the main Suffrage Petition presented to Parliament in 1893.

Ashburton Museum does a great job of telling the district’s backstory and its agricultural heft. It showcases some local trailblazers like John Grigg, John Hall and more recent historical figures like Dame Jenny Shipley.

But Ashburton’s greatest hidden treasure is its aviation riches. The town was used as a training base for the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War 2, with 50 Tiger Moths based here. At the airport today, the Ashburton Aviation Museum displays almost 30 aircraft. These include a Skyhawk and Strikemaster, formerly used by the RNZAF, a Vampire FB5 and a Canberra B2 Bomber. The collection also includes the only British Aerospace HS Harrier Jump-jet GR3 in the Southern Hemisphere. The museum, which turns 50 this year, has ambitious expansion plans with new hangar space in the works. The entry fee is only $10 and it’s totally volunteer-run, by passionate locals and aviation buffs. It’s a real gem.

Where to stay? Revive on Oakview Boutique Accommodation and Spa is a private and peaceful retreat, nestled under oak trees on a 32-acre lifestyle farm. Situated on Longbeach Rd, this gorgeous little haven brims with comforts and trimmings. Beyond the bed and breakfast offer, enjoy free wifi, tea and coffee facilities, a spa and a hot tub. For added indulgence, seize the opportunity to enjoy a pampering beauty treatment in Nicky’s on-site Day Spa. The magnificent gardens and shady specimen trees heighten the sense of luxuriating in a slice of paradise.

Where to dine? Just three years old and perfectly sited in the heart of town, The Fine Lion has raised the bar in Ashburton. This multi-cuisine restaurant has a stylish interior with nods to the Art Deco age, in addition to a sun-splashed balcony. Plush pink booths, a gold and navy bar and eye-catching lighting are just some elements that make The Fine Lion so distinctive. With a menu anchored by premium local ingredients, the culinary array of delights is expansive, from free-range pork belly and fillet with soy glaze, chorizo and smoked kumara, to ora king salmon rice en papillote, with rose harissa labneh, cauliflower and beetroot dip. The Silere lamb ribs and lamb burger dishes are wildly popular.

Top drawer service seals the deal on this exceptional restaurant experience. https://midcanterburynz.com