Geraldine Township

I didn’t come to Geraldine hungry but I should have.  I left with lots of goodies to take home from this quaint little gem of a town.  The first night I visited the Geraldine Kiwi Holiday Park and walked into town for a lovely dinner downtown.  The next day I was told I have to stop by the Barkers Shop in the Four Peaks Plaza, where they make all the fabulous chutneys and jams.  I’m not a big chutney fan but somehow walked out of there with 3 chutneys (the sundried tomatoes and olive is to die for) and several jams,  The lady at the store told me that the red chili jam is really nice with blue cheese and crackers.  Wow was she right, it’s the only way I will serve it now.  In the same plaza is the Prenzel shop which is a distillery specializing in fruit brandies, liqueurs, schnapps and gourmet sauces.  They let you try whatever you want which is dangerous as again I left with an armful of amazing products.  Across the way is a boutique cheese factory and the famous Berry Bakery so you won’t leave the area hungry.

I then took a stroll through the town and back in time as I visited the Geraldine Vintage Car and Machinery Museum.  A unique display of vintage cars, tractors, farm machinery.  The Harley Davidson Hearse was my favourite.  I also visited the Medieval Mosaic which is in the back of The Giant Jersey, a wool shop with the world’s largest jersey on display.  The mosaic is amazing and something you would expect to see in a European castle.  It depicts the battle of Hastings (1066) and takes up an entire room and 42 meters of wall space.  Each analysis of the battle is painted onto millions of steel chips and took years to complete.  Really something to see located on Wilson Street.

Time for some nature, the Talbot Forest is a 5 minute walk from the main street. There are four easy walks through a lowland podocarp and native forest that is centuries old.  There are plenty of places to stop and have a picnic and feast on some of the goodies you purchased in town.