Christchurch and Canterbury

Christchurch and Canterbury Travel Guide

Your initial impression of Christchurch will likely be one of a genteel, green city. The drive from the airport into town takes you past tidy wooden villas and brick mansions. Joggers loop through lush Hagley Park, and punters ply the narrow Avon River, which bubbles between banks lined with willows and oaks.

With a population approaching 350,000, Christchurch is the largest South Island city. It is also the forward supply depot for the main U.S. Antarctic base at McMurdo Sound, and if you come in by plane in summer, you are likely to see the giant U.S. Air Force transport planes of Operation Deep Freeze parked on the tarmac at Christchurch International Airport.

The face of Christchurch is changing rapidly, fueled by both internal and international immigration. The Maori community, although still below the national average in size, is growing. Ngai Tahu, representing many South Island Maori, settled Treaty of Waitangi claims in 1997 and have been investing in tourism ventures. Old wooden bungalows are making way for town houses, the arts scene is flourishing, and the city's university attracts cutting-edge technology companies. In short, there's plenty of fresh energy percolating underneath the English veneer.

Beyond Christchurch sweep the wide-open Canterbury Plains. This is some of New Zealand's finest pastureland, and the higher reaches are sheep station territory, where life and lore mingle in South Island's cowboy country. This is where young Samuel Butler dreamed up the satirical Erewhon -- the word is an anagram of "nowhere." But the towns here are no longer considered the back of beyond; communities like Timaru and Geraldine are now favorite day trip destinations. The Waipara Valley to the north of Christchurch, meanwhile, is quickly becoming one of the country's hot new vineyard areas.