Kerikeri, New Zealand

KERIKERI, 25km northwest of Paihia, is central to the history of the Bay of Islands and yet geographically removed from it, strung out along the main road and surrounded by the orchards that form Kerikeri's economic mainstay. Two kilometres to the east of town, the thin ribbon of the Kerikeri Inlet forces its way from the sea to its tidal limit at Kerikeri Basin, the site chosen by Samuel Marsden for the Church Missionary Society's second mission in New Zealand.

In the 1920s the area was planted with the subtropical crops that continue to thrive here – mainly citrus fruit, along with tamarillos, feijoas, melons, courgettes, peppers and kiwifruit. In recent years Kerikeri has earned itself a reputation for its high-quality craft shops dotted amongst the orchards.