Methven Mecca
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A weekend escape shows Methven offers a lot more than snow business.
More than mountains by Jamie Hanton
En route to Methven for a weekend break, we cross the Rakaia in the driving rain. The river has braided so many times it could be a metaphor for modern Canterbury, where ideas, cultures, and ways of living are being woven together.
At the southern end of New Zealand's longest bridge, a super-sized salmon welcomes visitors to Rakaia. Like the Ohakune carrot and Gore's giant trout, the sculpture is a New Zealand icon and a beacon for the successful Salmon Tales Café.
Lunch there is a global fusion, with Uruguayan chef Federico's twist on local produce. Our pick of the menu, a trio of raw salmon, includes a delicious Peruvian ceviche, created with the delicate fish, coconut milk and red capsicum.
Next door, Salmon World offers a breeding salmon aquarium and a 4D movie theatre, incorporating adventure activities from throughout the region in a thrusting, bumping simulation.
An easy 25-minute-drive from Rakaia, Methven comes into view, with the Southern Alps rising proudly over some of the most picturesque farm land in the country. It's raining and we amble rather soggily into the able hands of Jenny Lott, at the Methven Sports Massage Clinic. What is a mountain town without the decadence of a great massage therapist? After a day on the slopes, decadence rapidly becomes necessity. Jenny's goal is to help her clients understand their bodies better and, although her healing hands find a very 'city body' in me, the knots are loosened with a luxurious deep-tissue massage that I don't want to end.
The rain practically bounces off our glowing bodies as we arrive at Ski Time Villas, where we open the door to our new two-bedroom villa to find a roaring gas fire. While it is hard to leave our opulent lodgings, a reservation at The Blue Pub is calling, and so we venture into the breach once more.
The affable Chilly - a native Australian lured here for good by the Methven lifestyle - welcomed us, takes our drink orders and promptly seats us in the quieter restaurant area of the spacious old building. A Mt Hutt ski instructor by day and manager at The Blue Pub by night, Chilly has that typical Methven work-hard play-hard ethos.
We are introduced to the new winter menu, but stick with a couple of old favourites. The ribeye steak is cooked to the Oxford dictionary definition of medium-rare and matched appropriately with a glass of Game Hunter shiraz.
After dinner, Chilly takes us into The Blue Pub's gig room to watch former Methven College lads - and next big things - Doppler jam to Shihad's Kiwi classic Home Again. "And this is just a Monday!" Chilly says. One can only imagine The Blue Pub at the height of the season.
I wake the following morning to the sound of silence. Gone is the ubiquitous pitter-patter of precipitation and in its place is a universal quiet. Drawing back the curtains feels like lifting the veil of the world. The clouds sit halo-esque above the snowy peaks, which seem to be right across the road. And just when the world looks to have found peace, hundreds of thousands of delicate white flakes descend to earth.
The bedroom view and the bathroom's heated floor make the morning cold bearable, as does our breakfast jaunt to the renowned Arabica café. Perfectly crafted coffee and eggs benedict with yolks that break at the touch of a fork warm the heart and soul, and fortify us for the day.
On the main street, the once-dated memorial hall is again a focal point after a comprehensive revamp that transformed it into the Methven Heritage Centre and i-SITE Visitor Centre. In a year's time, the venue will showcase New Zealand's only Snow Heritage Collection, exhibiting items and stories from the nation's history of snow sports.
Further tying the past to the present is The Methven Heritage Trail, an intriguing walk around the township's historic locations and their various incarnations. Highlights include The Last Post, formerly the town post office and now Methven's premier dining spot.
*Read more in the July issue of Avenues*
