© Lonely Planet Publications 522 lonelyplanet.com CHRISTCHURCH •• History 523 Climate Christchurch & Canterbury is one of NZ’s driest regions. CHRISTCHURCH & CANTERBURY Moisture-laden westerlies from the Tasman FACTS Sea hit the Southern Alps and dump their Eat Amid the up-and-coming restaurant scene in Canterbury rainfall on the West Coast before reaching the Lyttleton ( p546 ) eastern South Island. The result? Canterbury Drink A beer from one of Canterbury’s emerging has an annual rainfall of only 0.75m, com- microbreweries, such as Brew Moon, Three Boys or pared with a soaking 5m on the West Coast. the Wigram Brewing Company The good people of Canterbury are probably only half-joking when they say it would be good Read A Land of Two Halves by Lyttelton local and if the South Island was a separate country, but when you consider the region surrounding Getting There & Around well-known newspaper columnist Joe Bennett them you can understand their parochial pride and confidence. Christchurch has an international airport Listen to NZ’s best bands, (and a few inter- serviced by several domestic airlines flying national visitors), at the rockin’ Southern Amp Christchurch is undoubtedly one of New Zealand’s most liveable cities, combining an to key destinations around NZ. Festival ( p536 ) easy-going provincial charm with the emerging energy and verve of a metropoplis. Modern Bus and shuttle operators scurry along the Watch The mighty Canterbury Crusaders Super 14 east coast, connecting Canterbury’s coastal Rugby team at Christchurch’s Holy Grail pub ( p541 ) bars and restaurants complement Gothic architecture, and locals know how lucky they are (and near-coastal) settlements with northern Swim at Akaroa, with the dolphins ( p549 ), or to blend all the attractions of a city with the relaxed ambience of a small town. destinations such as Picton and Nelson, and soak at Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve ( p553 ) southern towns like Dunedin. Operators con- Festival Free street performances at Christ- To the east the volcanically uplifted hills of Banks Peninsula conceal a wealth of hidden bays nect Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass, the West church’s World Buskers Festival (p535 ) and isolated beaches, forming a backdrop for kayaking and wildlife cruises with an eventual Coast and Mt Cook. Tackiest tourist attraction Christchurch’s sunset return to the Francophile attractions of Akaroa. To the north are the up-and-coming Rail options for east-coast and coast-to- floral clock ( p533 ) vineyards of the Waipara Valley and the take-it-easy spa town of Hanmer Springs, and westwards coast travel are provided by Tranz Scenic; its Go green At the ecofriendly Onuku Farm Hostel the preferred weekend backyard of active Cantabrians builds quickly from the well-ordered TranzAlpine service connects Christchurch ( p551 ) CHRISTCHURCH & and Greymouth, and TranzCoastal trains CANTERBURY farms of the Canterbury Plains to the rough-and-tumble wilderness of the Southern Alps. chug north to Picton, with connections to the North Island. For information on getting the original urban vision. The settlement Summertime attractions include tramping in the braided rivers and alpine valleys around to and from Christchurch, see p552 . of Christchurch in 1850 was an ordered Arthur’s Pass or mountain biking around the turquoise lakes of the Mackenzie Country, and Church of England enterprise, and the fer- tile farming land was deliberately placed in CANTERBURY CANTERBURY during winter the attention switches to the mountains with skiing at Mt Hutt. During all the hands of the gentry. Christchurch was CHRISTCHURCH & seasons, the country’s tallest peak stands sentinel over Canterbury, and indeed all the South Is- CHRISTCHURCH meant to be a model of class-structured land. Fly over it or walk around it, but you’ll never forget your first view of Aoraki/Mt Cook. pop 344,100 England in the South Pacific, not just an- Traditionally the most English of the NZ other scruffy colonial outpost. Churches cities, Christchurch has been slower than were built rather than pubs, and wool made Auckland and Wellington to embrace the the elite of Christchurch wealthy. In 1862 HIGHLIGHTS increasingly multicultural nature of urban it was incorporated as a very English city, Exploring the history of Christchurch ( op- NZ society. Change is now coming through but its character slowly changed as other posite ) by tram, river punt or two legs – it’s a more diverse immigration and a cosmopoli- migrants arrived; new industries followed, city made for walking tan tinge is being added to the city’s earlier and the city forged its own aesthetic and conservatism. There’s still plenty to remind cultural notions. Compared to Auckland, its Marvelling at the views of the Mackenzie visitors of Christchurch’s English past though, Country from atop Mt John ( p566 ) economic and sporting rival in the north, with a grand Anglican cathedral rising from a Christchurch is still largely a bicultural so- Discovering funky restaurants and friendly Christchurch stately square, punts gliding down the sleepy ciety, but increasing immigration is finally locals in raffish Lyttelton ( p545 ) Aoraki/Mt Cook Methven Lyttelton National Park Banks Avon River, and trams rattling contentedly alerting parochial Cantabrians to the wider Peninsula Taking a soothing soak at Lake Tekapo’s Lake Tekapo along Worcester St. But scratch the surface world around them. a little, and a more dynamic Christchurch is Alpine Springs & Spa ( p566 ) Mt John reflected in the restored laneways and squares Negotiating the outer bays of Banks ORIENTATION around Lichfield St, High St’s hip café scene Peninsula ( p547 ) by mountain bike, kayak Cathedral Sq is the centre of town and is and locals’ immese pride in their beautifully and boat punctuated by the spire of Christ Church maintained Arts Centre. Cathedral. The western inner city is domi- Tramping in the shadow of NZ’s highest mountain in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park ( p571 ) nated by the Botanic Gardens. Being surprised by the size of the Canterbury Plains on a hot-air balloon flight from Methven HISTORY Christchurch is compact and easy to walk ( p558 ) Though it still has the Gothic architec- around, but slightly complicated by the river ture and wooden villas bequeathed by its twisting through the centre and constantly TELEPHONE CODE: 03 www.christchurchnz.net www.mtcook.org.nz founders, Christchurch has strayed from crossing your path. CHRISTCHURCH & CANTERBURY 524 0 50 km CHRISTCHURCH & CANTERBURY 0 30 miles CHRISTCHURCH ••ChristchurchCHRISTCHURCH &Canterbury To Westport 7 Mt Haast To Blenheim (60km); A B (130km) C (1587m) D E Picton (88km) F Barrytown Maruia St James Seaward Blackball Ikamatua Walkway Springs Springs Rapahoe Lewis Pass Mt Lyford Kaikouras Grey River ᝲᝲJunction (907m) Runanga Village Nelson Creek 4 Kaikoura 1 Greymouth Stillwater Goose Bay Paroa Brunner Hanmer Hanmer 70 8 Oaro Shantytown Mt Ajax Springs Springs NP Moana (1832m) Kumara Junction 7 1 Kumara Lake Sumner River Waiau T A S M A N Lake Brunner ᝲᝲForest Park Waiau (Moana Kotuku) Mt Longfellow S E A (1898m) Ὀ Parnassus Hokitika Lake Lake Arthur's Pass Sumner Hurunui Culverden Kaniere Otira (924m) Mahinapua 7 River Cheviot Mt Rolleston 13 Arthur's Pass (2272m) Ross Hokitika Arthur's Pass National Park Gore Bay Gorge 73 ᝲᝲ Mt Murchison Pukekura (2400m) Bealey Hurunui Weka Pass Waipara Valley 2 Cass Wineries 2 Waipara Motunau Beach Lake Ianthe Mt Bryce Craigieburn Forest Park 1 Craigieburn S O U T H 6 (2188m) ὈLake Pearson 5 Amberley P A C I F I C 9 Castle Hill Harihari ᝲᝲ Rangiora O C E A N Mt Whitcombe Lake Okarito (2638m) Whataroa Coleridge 11 Oxford Cust Mt Tyndall (2524m) Rakaia Springfield Woodend Franz Southern Alps Porters Pass Pegasus Bay Mt Arrowsmith Sheffield Kaiapoi To Haast Josef Elie de (2795m) (945m) Riv Belfast (107km) Beaumont Mt D'Archiac Lake 7 Glenntunnel er Kirwee (3116m) (2865m) 10 Heron New Brighton Fox Glacier Darfield SKI FIELDS Mt Hutt CHRISTCHURCH ὈὈMt Tasman (3498m) The Thumbs Windwhistle Broken River............................1 C2 Pudding Hill Banks 3 Mt Malte Brun (2545m) Rolleston Lyttelton Craigieburn..............................2 C2 (3154m) Dunsandel Peninsula Sefton Mesopotamia Methven Fox Peak..................................3 B3 (3159m) Mt Somers 1 Mt Cook Lyndhurst Hanmer Springs.......................4 D1 (3755m) Two Thumb Range Ben McLeod (1952m) 72 Mt Cheeseman........................5 C2 Mt Cook Aoraki/ Lake Mt Dobson..............................6 B4 Village Mt Cook NP 3 Mayfield Rakaia 75 Rangitata Ellesmere Mt Hutt...................................7 C3 12 Fox Peak 77 Chertsey Akaroa Lake 72 Mt Lyford.................................8 E1 Tekapo (2331m) Ashburton Mt Olympus............................9 C2 Glentanner See Banks Peninsula Map (p548) Mt Potts.................................10 B3 Lake Peel Forest Tinwald ὈὈLake Mt 6 Riv Porter Heights........................11 C2 Tekapo er Pukaki John Burkes Pass Round Hill..............................12 B3 lonelyplanet.com Hakatere 80 (701m) Geraldine Temple Basin.........................13 C2 Fairlie Rangitata 4 79 Kirkliston Hunters Hills Southwest New Zealand Pleasant (Te Wahipounamu) World Lake Ranges Albury Ohau Range Point Temuka Heritage Area Boundary Ben Ohau Twizel Ohau 8 1 Clearburn Timaru To Ohau Ski Field (5km) floors. 133 Manchester St)Secondhand bookshopoverthree periodicals. international St)Travel,historyandMaori79 Hereford plus culture, mobile-phone rentals, wi-fi and luggage storage. mobile-phone