Christchurch, New Zealand

Christchurch (Otautahi) is a paradox. Spreading outwards from the brown shoulders of the Port Hills, with the sea to one side and the Southern Alps in the distance, it is a typically colonial city of wisteria-decked verandahs and wide streets. Its many old stone buildings, tree-filled parks and meandering streams give Christchurch the air of an English town—just as the city's founders had intended. Indeed, the London-based Canterbury Association envisioned Christchurch as an English utopia in the South Pacific. They planned an orderly, tiered society (the first settlers had to brandish a reference from an English vicar attesting to their "sobriety and respectability"), with an aristocracy and the Church of England as its head, and an underclass of artisans and minions to serve them. They named their fledgling city after an Oxford college (Christ Church) and laid it out like an English city, complete with a Cathedral, University and a boys' school, Christ's College, modeled on Eton.

This orderly existence was a far cry from the ravages of the Maori civil war in the early 19th century. Maori people (chiefly the Ngai-tahu tribe) had occupied the Canterbury area for several centuries prior to the European arrival. However, by the time European settlement began in the 1840s, around 500 Maori remained in Canterbury. Their numbers had been decimated first by the tribal wars and then by raiding parties from the North Island. Most notably the army of Te Rauparahan, who ransacked Kaiapohia Pa (village), north of present-day Christchurch, and Onawe Pa, in Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula in 1832.

In Maori legend, Banks Peninsula is a pile of mountains heaped by Maui, upon a marauding giant. But when Captain James Cook sighted this curiously-shaped landform from the Endeavour on February 17, 1770, he famously mistook it for an island, which he named after the ship's botanist, Joseph Banks. Sealers and whalers frequented the deep harbours of the peninsula during the following 70 years, but it was not until 1839 that the first settlers began hacking a living out of its rough hill country. A French colony was established at Akaroa in 1840. But the British, sensing the impending loss of the South Island to French interests, sent a frigate into Akaroa Harbour to hoist the Union Jack over Banks Peninsula. When French settlers aboard the Compte-de-Paris arrived at Akaroa on August 19, 1840, they discovered that the British had pre-empted them by seven days. The British, however, granted them the right to stay in Akaroa where they flourished, creating a community which still retains its French flavor.

By 1848, preparations were underway for the arrival of the first four ships of the Canterbury Association at Lyttelton Harbour. Land in Canterbury had been purchased from local Maori, a site for Christchurch, with quarter-acre sections available at £25 each. This land was surveyed and a Bridal Path over the Port Hills was constructed.

Though the lofty ideals of the Association, and its talented, rather despotic, leader John Robert Godley, foresaw an Anglican promised land peopled by an English elite, they were pragmatic about the need for practical, self-reliant people in the new colony. Presbyterians had already been farming at Riccarton Bush for six years, Scottish shepherds were at work in the hills and many of the settlers arriving from Australia had cast off the class system, and in some cases, their chains!

The first of the four ships, the Charlotte Jane, sailed into Lyttelton Harbour on December 16, 1850, followed a few days later by the Sir George Seymour, the Randolph and the Cressy. The scattered buildings, muddy tracks and lone jett—where Pilgrim's Rock now stands—presented a less than romantic impression to the settlers. Further, having crossed the Bridal Path and descended to Ferrymead, where a ferry crossed the Heathcote River, the first settlers found little in the way of civilisation at Christchurch.

But in less than a year, Charlotte Godley was able to write of "tidy and weather-tight" houses, and "gardens and cultivation all the way along" Riccarton Road. Christchurch was becoming a town. Long streets intersected with the Avon River which was widened and straightened to enhance its beauty. The first Anglican church, where St Michael's and All Angels stands today, was opened in July 1851, and New Zealand's first railway, the Christchurch-Ferrymead line, began operations in 1863.

Settlers flooded into Canterbury and the economy boomed. The Estuary and the Heathcote and Avon rivers provided navigable waterways into the city. Between 1850 and 1867, 240 vessels plied the river trade. In 1860 alone, goods worth £700,000 entered the Estuary. Fuelled by produce, especially wool, from the vast farmlands of Canterbury, Christchurch grew into a prosperous commercial city. Municipal architects such as BW Mountfort and FW Petre set about designing a city built to last. Stout stone buildings—the Provincial Council Chambers, Canterbury University (now the Arts Centre), the Canterbury Museum, Christ Church Cathedral and St Luke the Evangelist—constructed of stone hewn from Hallswell Quarry, began to replace the wooden structures of the early town. Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens were also formed. Along the Avon, the Antigua Boatsheds were one of several commercial enterprises catering for the city's leisure time. The Christchurch Tramway Company began operations in 1893, providing public transport to the suburbs, including Sumner.

Throughout the 20th century Christchurch grew and thrived. The city's founders may have dreamed of a conservative community, but in recent decades Christchurch has matured into a relaxed, cosmopolitan city. A stroll through Cathedral Square or along Worcester Boulevard is confirmation of Christchurch's growing sophistication and diverse population of over 300,000 people.

One symbol of Englishness that will endure is the Avon. Originally christened The Shakespeare but re-named after the Scottish Avon, the river flows through the city, Christchurch's English heart.

It is not surprising that Christchurch is called the Garden City; one third of its public land is devoted to reserves and parks. It was Anglican ideals that instigated this lavish spread of greenery, yet New Zealand's third largest city remains firmly rooted in the Antipodean soil. The city lies on the coastal hem of the vast, patch-worked Canterbury Plains, and is tantalizingly close to the adventure playground of the Southern Alps. Christchurch is regarded as one of the friendliest cities in the world. It is an easy place to get to know, just ask the locals!

Tour One: Orientation

To get your bearings, take a ride on the City Loop Tramway, or hop aboard the free Shuttle bus which circumnavigates the central city—you can get on and off both services as often as the mood takes you. From the bus terminus in Cathedral Square, buses run to every corner of the city. For an overview of the city, ride the Christchurch Gondola to the summit of Mt Cavendish on the Port Hills. For a unique view of the city, try a hot air balloon ride with Aoraki Balloon Safaris or a flight in a classic DC10 aircraft with Pionair.

Explorer Tourline and Christchurch Sightseeing Tours offer introductory bus tours of the city and surrounding areas, while Canterbury Leisure Tours also offers excursions to Kaikoura for whale-watching, pelagic bird-watching, and swimming with seals; Mount Cook/aoraki, the alpine thermal resort of Hanmer Springs; and the historic French settlement of Akaroa. A railway journey not to be missed is the TranzAlpine Experience, taking you across the mountainous spine of the South Island to the rain forest's of the West Coast.

Tour Two: Bike or Hike

Pancake-flat, Christchurch lends itself to exploring by foot or by cycle. The Historic Christchurch Walk takes you through some of the city's magnificent architectural heritage, while the Writers' Walkway lets you indulge in a more literary ramble of such famous local scribes as Ngaio Marsh. Take a stroll down Worcester Street, past the Arts Centre, the Canterbury Museum and the striking Peacock Fountain, and end up at the Botanic Gardens. Several short central city walks (around 45 minutes) are outlined in a brochure available from the Visitor Information Centre.

If you prefer an organized walk, Walkaway Tours offer several walks around the city and further afield to Banks Peninsula and the Southern Alps. Do-it-yourself explorers will find a wealth of walking tracks on the Port Hills—Godley Head Walk, Major Hornbrook Track, the Bridle Path—and on Banks Peninsula, Southern Bays Walkway, and Banks Peninsula Track - or far beyond the city limits at Geraldine, Peel Forest and Woolshed Creek.

The best way to explore the Avon River is to hire a bike, pack a lunch and set off downstream along the riverbank. A good starting point is Hagley Park where the river bends around the Botanic Gardens and past the Antigua Boatsheds. Take a Punt in the Park while you are passing time, before beginning the long, gentle meander to the Estuary.

Tour Three: Over the Hill

It is worth hiring a car for an excursion to the east coast, and over the Port Hills, where you will be introduced to some of the landscapes and historic places, which have defined Christchurch, from the central city drive, to Sumner Beach along the southern shore of the Estuary. Sumner is worthy of a day trip by itself, but before you begin the ascent of the Port Hills, take a detour to the top of Scarborough Hill. From the cliff top, one of New Zealand's great vistas unfolds, across the clustered houses of Sumner to Southshore Spit and the long northern sweep of Pegasus Bay leading away toward the distant Seaward Kaikoura Range.

For a change of scene, take the Evans Pass Road to the summit of the Port Hills and down the other side to Lyttelton. Stop here for a view of Lyttelton Harbour at Windy Point then carry on down to the town, past the Timeball Station. Lyttelton is full of interesting historic buildings—outlined in the Historic Walk brochure available from the Information Centre—and is a colorful working port.

You can return to the city via the Road Tunnel or carry on along the edge of Lyttelton Harbour, past Corsair, Cass and Rapaki Bays, to Governors Bay then take Dyers Pass Road back up to the Crater Rim. From the Sign of the Kiwi either descend to the city through Cashmere or turn right along the Summit Road which will bring you, eventually, back to Sumner.

Tour Four: Proud to be Green

Along with the formal gardens of Mona Vale, Millbrook and the Botanic Gardens, there are literally thousands of private suburban gardens to be admired in Christchurch. Garden aficionados can pick up a Garden Drive leaflet from the Visitor Centre and tour the city's plots, including the city cemeteries. Private gardens and heritage homes can be visited with Christchurch Sightseeing Tours.

Tour Five: Maritime Escapades

Canterbury Sea Tours offers a boat tour of Lyttelton Harbour while Christchurch Wildlife Cruises will introduce you to the harbor's unique marine fauna. You can swim with dolphins in Akaroa Harbour or take a cruise out to the Akaroa Heads with Akaroa Harbour Cruises. Aspiring mariners can even learn the ropes with the Jack Tar Sailing Co.

Tour Six: Thrills & Spills

Adventure buffs are well catered-for in Christchurch with activities to suit every adrenaline-charged whim. You can jump out of an airplane, be hurled skyward via a bungee cord, or take a ride on the Waimak Alpine Jetboat. Staunch thrill-seekers can experience terror and exhilaration at the same time rafting the Grade 5 rapids of the Rangitata River with Rangitata Rafts. Anglers will find fish aplenty in the turquoise waters of the Rangitata, Rakaia and Waimakariri rivers. Whether you are looking for adventure, a cultural experience or simply a place to unwind, you will likely find something to your liking in Christchurch. As the locals promise, there is something "fresh each day."