A trip to Rotorua can offer much more than mere scenic delights.
On the road south, a 10-minute detour will deliver your tastebuds to Mamaku Blue winery for a glass or three of award-winning berry wines, gooseberry candy or berry-glazed venison.
The winery, owned by Anne and Harry Frost and opened in 1999, is nestled among green orchards, farms and native bush.
While its two-storey building is fairly modern on the outside, when you cross the threshold you are transported back in the 1900s.
That is because the winery comes complete with not only a retail store, restaurant and bar, but a museum of the town's pioneering days.
While dining, customers can sit on the balcony and watch the berries being meticulously hand-picked.
On request, Mr Frost will even play a tune on his pianola.
After an experience of berry heaven, there is another local treasure to check out.
About a 20-minute drive away, in the heart of Rotorua's thermal reserve, a hangi feast is being prepared.
At the Whakarewarewa Maori Village Tours they avoid adding herbs and spices to their food.
The village is easy to find. Just follow the highest point of floating thermal steam in the sky while passing the hundreds of motels and hotels on the city's main drag.
Every day about noon, the villagers, who own and operate the business, cook food as their ancestors did.
And while the menu might not be fancy, it is certainly food in its most natural form, with chicken, pork, beef, potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, watercress and steamed pudding never tasting better.
But a hangi at Whakarewarewa is like no other.
Rather than cooking the food in the ground, villagers use the steam from their ngawha (boiling pools).
"Earth hangi are good but steamed hangi are even better," says Miriata Raponi, who guides visitors through the village.
"The meat is so much more tender and just rolls off the bone.
"And because it's steamed there's no chance of it being burned or tasting like soil."
Temperatures in the ngawha can reach more than 120C. It takes just over an hour to cook a hangi - three hours less than an earth hangi.
If your schedule is tight, takeaway hangi can be arranged but villagers prefer at least an hour's notice.
While waiting for their food, visitors are offered corn on a cob, which takes just 30 seconds to cook in the ngawha.
"We allow our food to cook in its own juices and adding herbs and spices, we believe, would just ruin it," says Miriata Raponi.
"A lot of people say to us that they didn't know what a chicken really tasted like until they came here."
The business opened six years ago and provides a livelihood for the villagers, who are all descendants of the resident subtribe Tuhourangi/Ngati Wahiao.
If summer in Rotorua is proving too hot, head for Lake Tarawera, southeast of the city.
The 20-minute drive is an experience in itself, passing the popular Blue and Green lakes on the way.
When it comes to breathtaking views and great food, the Lake Tarawera Landing, only metres away from the lake's edge, has it all.
While eating the highly recommended salad nicoise, visitors can feast their eyes on one of the country's most spectacular dormant volcanoes.
Even when the weather is bad at Lake Tarawera, it still offers the best of views and serenity.
If heading deeper into the central North Island, visitors should not miss the world's only geothermal Prawn Farm, 45 minutes south of Rotorua and 10 minutes from Taupo.
The riverside location provides a fabulous venue with large open fire and spectacular views of the Waikato River.
The fury of the Huka Falls is just a short walk away.
Prawns feature heavily on the menu, with delicious platters and prawn burgers as well as a range of non-prawn dishes.
If your schedule is too tight to dine at the restaurant, you can have prawns delivered to your door.
If you fancy a trip to the beach, then Maketu is perhaps the place to go.
On the way you will take in views of Lake Rotorua, Lake Rotoiti and orchards of kiwifruit and fields of corn.
The small town is a 30-minute drive northeast of Rotorua.
After taking a dip in the ocean, the award-winning fish'n'chips at Maketu are sure to satisfy.
The crisp fish is dubbed some of the best in Bay of Plenty, and what better way to end a hot summer's day.
Don't forget that good old Wattie's tomato sauce.
MORE INFORMATION
Rotorua Information Centre, ph (07) 348-5179,
Information Centre, Taupo. Ph (07) 376-0027, Lake Taupo
Prawn Farm (Huka Falls Rd, Wairakei Park, Taupo).
Blue Winery (333 Maraeroa Rd, RD 2, off SH5, Mamaku, Rotorua).
Whakarewarewa Maori Village (Whakarewarewa, Rotorua) Ph (07) 349 3463.
Landing Restaurant & Bar Cruises (The Tarawera Landing, Lake Tarawera, Rotorua).
* TOMORROW Gisborne
Gourmet road trips
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