Do you know where in New Zealand to find a collection of 125 historic potato mashers? Or ever wondered why there is a bald kiwi (the bird) in a rugby museum? No need to fret, the answers are to be found in these fascinating books (one for the North Island and one for the South) in which Peter Janssen travels from top to bottom, keeping his eyes open and his nose for a story attuned. All the well-known places are covered, and so too are numerous bush reserves, beaches, museums, walks and notable buildings, but it’s the quirky finds and ‘did you know’ snippets that make these books a delight. With our food-and-drink hats on, we’re always keen to find out about the bakeries, pubs, cafés, pie shops, cheese-makers, breweries, wineries and distilleries that will fuel our journey and Peter gives us plenty of those: the top shortbread in Reefton; the best cheese scone in the south; plum and gin tarts in Manaia, Taranaki; and why it’s worth a trip to Mega Mitre 10 on Andersons Bay Road, South Dunedin. But if, like me, you are always up to veer off the beaten track in search of something delectable or fascinating, Peter will also help you discover New Zealand’s largest producer of port, point you towards a brewer of dessert beers (think raspberry ripple sour) or explain what a 1500-gallon barrel on the edge of a car park in the Waikato has to do with WWI. Honestly, I could go on for days – I still want to tell you about Danish hair embroidery, West Coast washing lines, how a bottle of beer is an official RSA war memorial… TRACY WHITMEY