Canterbury
New Zealand
"Christchurch . . . a garden city more English than England"
Settled in an orderly way by a cross-section of the English class system, Christchurch was built as a snippet of The Old Country transported 12000km to the other ends of the earth. As ex-patriots are inclined, it became Super-English. In many ways it is more English than England is these days.
As a contrast, drive out to Akaroa, the nearest thing in NZ to a French settlement. Pretty drive of about 2hrs. Akaroa contains so many precious old buildings that the whole village has been declared an historic place by the NZ Historic Places Trust.
Cruise Akaroa Harbour aboard the Canterbury Cat, which - because it started in 1985 - claims to be the first eco-tourism operator in the country.
Come back along the Summit Road and have lunch or Devonshire Tea at "The Sign of The Takahe". Its ornate decorating and view of the Southern Alps are worth the visit. Not far out of Christchurch at the top of Dyers Pass Rd. Open D 10-4 and 6-late.
Great way to see this flat-as-a-pancake city is on a bicycle. Hire them from City Cycle Hire, 0800-343-848. They deliver the cycles to your door.
Or another easy travellin' option - take the tram. The Christchurch Tramway is a circular tram track that girdles the inner city. Fun way to get a fast orientation.
Christchurch Cathedral, the one in the square, of traditional gothic design, is a landmark. But the other cathedral, less well known, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, is architecturally more interesting. It's regarded as one of the finest examples of Italian Revivalist in Australasia. At the southern end of Barbadoes St. Open daily 8-8. 15min walk from the city or take a No 3 bus.
My favourite Christchurch attraction is The Wizard. His real name is Ian Brackenbury-Channel, and he claims to be a living work of art. Many days around lunchtime he stands on a soap-box in Cathedral Square and harangues the crowd on any topic that takes his fancy. He loves a heckler so go along and give him a hard time - but be aware he's fast and witty. You'll have to be good to beat him. Buy one of his maps which depicts the world with the South Pole at the top of the page. He, quite rightly in my view, claims that it is a northern hemisphere conspiracy that has us southerners allegedly hanging upside down.
The Town Hall complex and Canterbury Museum are both splendid examples of the architecture of their time. The Town Hall, built in 1972, is in Kilmore St. The museum is one of the best endowed in NZ. The ornithological (bird) section is one of the best in the Southern Hemisphere. There's also the Hall of Antarctic Discovery, special Polynesian and Maori collections, and a clever recreation of an early Christchurch street. Recommended. Rolleston Ave, at the entrance of the Botanic Gardens. Open Mon-Sat 10-4.30, Sun (free admission) 2-4.30.
But if you want to get a good look at things Antarctic the International Antarctic Visitor Centre in Orchard Rd near the airport brings the Southern Continent to the public through sound and light shows, interactive exhibits and audio-visuals. Experience the awesome beauty and grandeur of Antarctica in an entertaining and informative way.
If you're in to arts and crafts, the Arts Centre in Worcester St, near the museum is a must. It's in the old neo-Gothic buildings of the original University of Canterbury which are themselves worth the visit alone. A series of workshops cater for drama, dance, cinema, music, art and crafts. Couple of excellent restaurants there, and shopping is good for souvenirs.
Go boating on the lazy but pretty Avon River. Hire boats from the Antigua Boat Sheds, 2 Cambridge Tce. 03-366-5885. Daily 9.30-4 (winters) 9.30-5.30 (summer). It's an adventurous way to see the beautiful Botanic Gardens and Hagley Park.
Even if you're not into rowing your own boat, go to the gardens anyway. Christchurch is a city that prides itself on its gardens, private and public, and the Botanic Gardens are the paramount expression of that pride. The show houses are open daily 10-4. Conducted tours are available on "The Toast Rack" -- an electric vehicle that operates 12-4 daily in fine weather. Have tea at the Garden Restaurant in a lovely garden setting. Open daily 10-4.30.
If you're into losing money the fast way, there's always the Christchurch Casino, one of only a few in the country. Personally, I never could get any joy from watching hard-earned cash do down the neck of machines and tables where you know the odds make turkeys out of the players. But, hey, it's not the only viewpoint on the issue and if you enjoy a flutter then have fun.
Wafting aloft in a hot air balloon on a cool, calm, Canterbury morning has a romantic sort of appeal, hasn't it? Do it! Aoraki Balloon Safaris at Methven are one of the best balloon safaris in the country.
For more travel information on Christchurch ping the Christchurch and Canterbury Visitor Centre, Old Post Office Building, Cathedral Square West.
North Canterbury
Hanmer Springs has that sort of mountain spa feel about it. In part of course because at 380m above sea level it is quite "alpine" and also because it is set in a wooded valley.
It's big attraction is the thermal reserve which has a range of outdoor thermal pools including sulphur pools. There is something sensationally hedonistic lolling in an outdoor thermal pool when the snow is thick upon the winter ground.
During winter there are a couple of skifields within easy reach - Mt Lyford and Hanmer Springs (formerly Amuri).
Hanmer is a popular base for those going exploring in the gorgeously beautiful Lewis Pass National Reserve. One of the jewels in that particular crown is the St James Walkway, a 5 day 67km hike through alpine and sub-alpine scenery. You may even catch a glimpse of the wild but beautiful St James horses, a tribe of wild horses that roam the Ada Valley.
Further north is a slew of vineyards and wineries. The north Canterbury area is fast building a top rep for the quality of its wines. Chardonnay and pinot noir are the most widely planted with resling at number three. The long hot summers and a lengtrhy cool ripening period combine with sandy silt/loam over limestone soils to produce some impressive wines. For a list of local wineries go to the excellent Cuisine Magazine page on the subject.
Driving
South From Christchurch
To
Dunedin
Straight running (almost literally) for 427km across the Canterbury Plains, the home of Canterbury lamb. About 5'/2-6hrs driving. Straight, easy roads -- good day for the navigator to take the wheel. Cross the Rakaia River on the longest bridge in NZ
Ashburton, about an hour south of Christchurch, is home to the Ashford Craft Village, a co-operative of crafts people, located in the historic Mill House and built around the world-famous - to wool-spinners that is - Ashford Handicrafts whose spinning wheels and weaving looms are exported to all corners of the globe.
A few minutes south of the town you can get a taste of one of the more thrilling sports experiences - driving a champion pacer at breakneck speed around an all-weather track on board a specially designed twin sulky. Contact Horsepower Experience, 03-302-4800.
At Temuka, just north of Timaru, in 1902, Richard Pearse made what is now accepted as the first flight by a heavier-than-air machine, though whether it was "sustained, controlled flight" is a matter of debate. Temuka was also the home of the great horse Phar-Lap, unbeatable in the late 20s and 30s and a while back the subject of a major movie. Good commercial pottery can be bought at the Temuka Pottery, seconds shop on the left as you make your way along the by-pass.
Oamaru
In Oamaru you can catch a remarkably well-preserved glimpse of what this country was like a century or so ago. Gold-rich merchants built a fine little town, and when the gold ran out, so did the merchants, leaving behind a fine little legacy of fine little buildings. Go to the southern end of the main street and have a look at the "new" post office - built 1884. The "old" post office is alongside it. Look at the two banks directly across the street -- splendid buildings designed by R.A.Lawson, the country's pre-eminent architect of the time.
Just a little further around the corner is the "Historic Precinct" a collection of century-old buildings in good repair and gradually being refurbished and given new life for another hundred years. Cafes, bars, and craft workshops have taken the place of the grain, hides and wool that used to pass through here.
Each night swarms of penguins at the Blue Penguin Colony come ashore right in the heart of the town and a local group now watches gently over them. You can take your place on the viewing platform and watch the show. Well worth the overnight stop. ETA for the birds varies from around 5.30pm in the winter to as late as 10pm in summer. Anything from 25 to 180 birds will turn up.
A few minutes’ drive or a 30-minute walk away is another penguin colony, at Bushy Beach. This is the northern-most place where the rarest species, the yellow-eyed penguin, is known to nest and breed successfully. Visitors can watch them come ashore at dusk each evening before going along to see their smaller relatives at the harbour.
For a
quick tipple of whatever takes your fancy, combined with
a 
titbit of time
travel wander into the main bar of the 120 year old Criterion
Hotel. Bar staff dressed in period costume will
hand pump your beer for you . . . you'd better order
Speights, the local drop brewed in Dunedin. In this neck
of the country they're passionate about such things. They
also do a more than fair meal of local Otago-made foods.
So, plan you time to give this little gem more than you would otherwise expect. It's not a stop-over that many other guide books go on about, because their writers are usually rushing so fast recording the blindingly obvious that they shoot through a town like this without taking time to smell the flowers.
Atop a hill 6km past Oamaru on the l. is the Thomas Brydone Memorial. and nearby the buildings in which the first ever cargo of frozen meat for shipment to Britain was prepared. That shipment over a century ago was the foundation of NZ's greatest export income earner - the meat industry. The use of freezer technology was an innovation that changes the future and the face of this land The buildings are open to the public.
Just south of Oamaru is the township of Maheno and it you are interested in historic houses follow the signs from Maheno to Kuriheka Homestead, a country house that dates in part from 1889.
Moeraki
Just past Hampden, go left down a vehicle track to the beach to the Moeraki Boulders -- a collection of spherical rock curiosities that look like a head of bowls in a giants' game. Clearly signposted. About 10min walk along beach -- good fresh air stop.
But Moeraki has another treasure - a far more interesting one, especially if you like seafood. Fleurs Place, on the Moeraki Wharf, is probably the quirkiest restaurant, run by the quirkiest restauranteur in the country. There's no signpost on the old wharf shed converted into a restaurant. But, the fish couldn't be fresher - the fishermen pull their boats into the wharf and proprietor Fleur Sullivan winches the catch straight up into her kitchen. Don't go past it. Ph 03-439 5980.
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All you need to know about a visit to the place where God set the contrast and colour and man hasn'nt fiddled with the dials.
What, hopefully, you'll get out of this mish-mash of peripatetic ramblings.
Background bumpf on the country.
Visas, customs, immigration, duty free shopping, and getting away from the airport. Bloody important if you don't want to be arrested on arrival.
Moving on . . . by road or rail, by air or by sea.
"nuff said.
What to see, what to do, and why to go there.
Diving, fishing, golf, rafting, sailing, skiing - and more.