The tranquil township of Oxford sits on the Inland Scenic Route, Route 72, in the Waimakariri District of Canterbury. Not so long ago it housed simply the basics required to service the surrounding rural outposts. Nowadays it’s a major ‘foodie’ destination.

Everywhere you look in Oxford there’s food.

Café 51 with its fluffy muffins, the bakers with basic take-outs including fish and chips, the rural butchery, Emma’s, a new emporium stuffed with gourmet paraphernalia and ingredients not often seen south of Auckland and now there’s Jo Seagar’s Café and Cook School, too.

Jo Seagar is to New Zealand what Delia Smith is to the U.K and what Martha Stewart is to the U.S.  She’s a national institution and, of all the places she could have opened up a cook-school and café, she chose Oxford. Now, customers come from all over the country to enroll in her courses and eat at her café. Once fired up with ideas her customers can then stroll down Main Street to Emma’s where they can pick up those special ingredients needed to recreate their masterpieces at home.

If “Seagars at Oxford” is full, and it is often very busy even a year after its grand opening, you can always try your luck getting a seat in the equally popular Café 51.

In the evenings you are quite restricted food-wise in Oxford as nothing remains open.  The bakery/takeaway is your only refuge, or a bag of sweets from the local gas stations. Only at weekends do Café 51 and the Workingmen’s Club offer evening meals. A 25-minute drive will take you in to the local town of Rangiora where you can find all sorts of food outlets open in the evenings.

Local accommodation, such as Hielan House and Chirbury Manor, can provide home-made evening meals and the local supermarket has everything you need to cook up a feast in your tent or campervan.

As if all the café’s weren’t enough, if you’re in Oxford on a Sunday between September and March you will be able to visit the local Farmer’s Market with preserves, handicrafts and Kiwi treats galore.

Don’t panic about your waistline. There are plenty of bush walks and tramps in the area, or a brisk walk down at the Waimakariri Gorge, to help you shift some of the Oxford ounces.