You could get lost out here, in the back blocks of rural North Canterbury. In fact, you should try to. For as you meander, following nothing but your whims amongst the hillsides and side-roads, the boltholes and back streets of this rugged South Island landscape, you'll find secrets sprinkled...

"You must try a Rigid Richard," says Debbie Ambler at Prenzel of Canterbury in Woodend. She expertly fills a shot glass with creamy butterscotch liqueur and translucent butterscotch schnapps. "It's our signature drink," she says.

Debbie's compact timber shop isn't a secret - it's on the main road through town, also known as State Highway 1. But the secrets are in the details: the enticing rainbow of award-winning New Zealand made liqueurs, oils and condiments that line the shop walls, and the thrillingly clandestine smuggling operation that started the Blenheim-based Prenzel chain in the 1980s.

The oft tread roads between Christchurch, Kaikoura and Hanmer Springs, are known to many a traveller; namely those en route to the whales, thermal pools or surf breaks that this triangle is famous for. But in 2008, local tourism marketers cooked up the concept of the North Canterbury Food & Wine Trail, linking the region's three key destinations with a string of wine, food and accommodation providers and creating an enticing excuse for visitors to linger.

At The Brick Mill Cafe near Waikuku Beach, Kathie Scott divulges a pearl of local wisdom: "This wine is so good, we call it Mother's Milk," she says, indicating a local chardonnay on the wine list. Converted to its cosy self from a once famous string and twine factory, the Brick Mill is an alluring roadside oasis of red brick and timber, with a flickering fire and a comfortable cafe buzz. It's certainly no mystery why every table here is full; especially with those exquisite Moroccan mushrooms on the menu...

Turn off State Highway 1 just north of the Brick Mill Cafe and you'll find yourself wending through rural heartland New Zealand, dotted with sheep-studded paddocks and roadside stalls selling free range eggs. If you're lucky, you'll happen across Karikaas - specialists in handcrafted Dutch cheeses (think Gouda and Leyden) made with milk supplied from nearby Oxford. Every year since first entering the New Zealand cheese awards in 2005, Karikaas has come out on top, and in the factory's small, chilled ageing room are some clues as to why. Perfect rounds of waxy cheeses are stacked, row upon row on white pine boards. "We turn the young cheeses three times a week and the vintage twice a week," explains Karikaas owner, Di. "I love it - looking after all these little babies."

This is real get-lost country now. One wrong turn and you could find yourself in the Ashley Forest, or at some unsuspecting farmer's house. One right turn, however, and you'll discover Okuku Country Estate with its air of grandeur and a paddock of pet goats. "We used to travel around Europe and stay in Bed & Breakfasts and old country lodges," recalls proprietor Lorraine Smith, as she serves tea and ginger muffins beside the roaring fire in the sitting room. "We would think to ourselves 'we should start something like this in New Zealand!'" Eventually returning from overseas, Lorraine and husband Robert came across Okuku and spent a year renovating the six ensuite bedroom property - in keeping with its original 1920s style - before opening it to the public as an exclusive B&B operation.

Looping back to the main road you may end up in Amberley where, nestled at the town's southern entrance is something of a local treasure: The Brew Moon Cafe, home to not only a disarmingly chilled out eatery but an onsite brewery as well. The townspeople won't tell you what makes the beer taste so good, but they will tell you to enjoy an Amberley Pale Ale with a beef fillet, gourmet roast potatoes and a green peppercorn jus of an autumn evening. After that, you'll trust them for life.

At nearby Purple Patch Lavender Farm and Bed & Breakfast, the main ingredients aren't such a secret. Ann and Ken Chaney have been based just outside of Amberley for eight years, tending to their 8000 lavender plants and operating their home-based Bed & Breakfast right next door. The couple's recipe of two parts lavender, one part good old fashioned hospitality goes down a treat. Especially when it's raining out and there are lavender muffins before bed.

In Amelia's next post, she continues along the North Canterbury Food & Wine Trail to Kaikoura, before looping back through the Waipara Wine District to Christchurch...

Amelia experienced the North Canterbury Food & Wine Trail courtesy of Alpine Pacific Tourism and the New Zealand travel website www.fourcorners.co.nz.