Canterbury & Christchurch

The Canterbury region is known for its wide open landscapes, spectacular high-country scenery, dramatic Southern Alps and sense of remoteness. From Christchurch the plains run flat to the foothills, then the road climbs into braided rivers, tussock basins and the limestone country of the Craigieburn Valley, where Flockhill Lodge sits on a working sheep station 90 minutes from the airport. Further inland, Arthur's Pass reveals a wilder side of Canterbury, with rugged mountains, native beech forest and some of the South Island's most spectacular scenery. The pass was surveyed in 1864, the national park around it was the South Island's first, and the TranzAlpine still crosses it daily, Christchurch to Greymouth in just under five hours.

There is plenty to discover beyond the mountains too, from the vineyards of Waipara to the gardens and culture of Christchurch. An hour north of the city, the Waipara Valley grows riesling and pinot noir on gravel and clay under some of the driest, sunniest skies in the country. On Banks Peninsula, Akaroa keeps the street names of the French settlers who arrived in 1840, and its harbour is home to Hector's dolphins, among the smallest in the world and found only in New Zealand. Christchurch itself has been the garden city since the Botanic Gardens were planted along the Avon in 1863. The earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 gave it something few cities ever get, a centre designed again from the ground up, and the result is a low-rise city of new architecture, laneways, the Riverside Market and river terraces that reward a slow day and a long lunch. Together, these landscapes and experiences make Canterbury a wonderfully varied part of New Zealand to explore.