Ethicare Resourcing
Oysters, blue cod and cheese rolls

Food, shopping & the everyday

Southland Guide · Chapter 8 of 9

Southland has a stronger food identity than any region in this collection, and almost none of it is fashionable. It comes from the sea, the farms and a hundred and fifty years of Scottish stubbornness, and locals are unembarrassed about all of it.

What comes out of the water

Bluff oysters are the region’s great annual event. Wild dredge oysters from Foveaux Strait, in season roughly March to August, and by common agreement among the best in the world. There is a festival, there are queues, and there is a whole local calendar built around the opening.

Blue cod is the local fish and the correct order at any chippy in the region. Crayfish, pāua and mussels come off the same coast, and tītī — muttonbird — remains a customary harvest on the islands off Rakiura, sold locally in season and an acquired taste that Southlanders are pleased to watch you acquire.

And cheese rolls: rolled bread with a cheese and onion-soup filling, grilled. Every café, every fundraiser, every school gala. Do not describe them as a novelty in front of a local.

What comes off the land

Southland is intensively farmed dairy and sheep country, and the produce reflects it. Local lamb and beef, exceptional dairy, and a real culture of home baking and preserving that has survived here better than in the cities. Gore is brown-trout capital and takes that seriously too.

The farmers’ markets in Invercargill and Gore cover produce, meat and baking. Between them and the coast you can eat extremely well from within fifty kilometres, and cheaply.

Eating out and the everyday

Invercargill
A modest but improving scene — good cafés, a handful of strong restaurants, craft beer, and the best-value eating out in the country. The city centre has been steadily redeveloped.
Riverton & Bluff
Small coastal spots punching above their weight, particularly for seafood. Where locals take visitors.
Te Anau
Tourism-facing and better than you’d expect for the size, with prices to match the visitor market.
Groceries
All the main chains, and prices at or below the national average. Food in New Zealand is expensive by British or Australian standards — that is national, and this is the cheapest place in the country to deal with it.

Specialist and imported ingredients are the weak point. There are Asian and Indian grocers in Invercargill and the range is better than the city’s size suggests, but it is narrower than any of the main centres. If a particular cuisine is central to how your family eats, check before you commit — the national chapter Finding your feet & your people covers where to look and which communities are established here.

The rhythm of the year

Summer is lived outdoors, late
Light until nearly ten. Barbecues at nine, cricket, the beach, the estuary. Four months of the year the evenings are enormous.
Winter is lived indoors, well
Dark and damp, and the region has responded with unusually good indoor facilities for its size — pools, gyms, a velodrome, indoor sport and a strong club culture.
Sport and motorsport are the social glue
Rugby first, but also netball, cycling, hockey, and a serious motorsport tradition. Joining a club is by far the fastest way to know people properly.
Newcomers are noticed, and welcomed
A small city that has worked hard to attract people tends to look after the ones who arrive. Southland hospitality is not a marketing line.
Limitations
  • Retail is functional. Serious shopping means Dunedin, Christchurch or online, and delivery takes a day or two longer than up north.
  • Touring music, theatre and major exhibitions mostly stop at Dunedin or Christchurch.
  • Specialist imported groceries are limited. Most people build up a Dunedin or Christchurch order a few times a year.

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