Sights in Christchurch & Canterbury
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Arts Centre
The former Canterbury College site (later Canterbury University), with its enclave of Gothic Revival buildings, is now the excellent Arts Centre, where arts and craft outlets share the premises with cinemas, a live theatre, restaurants and cafes. Visit the workshop and gallery of Te Toi Mana for traditional and contemporary Maori carving and design. Visually Maori also showcases interesting Maori art.
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Botanic Gardens
The Botanic Gardens comprise 30 riverside hectares planted with 10,000-plus specimens of indigenous and introduced plants. There are conservatories and thematic gardens to explore, lawns to sprawl on, and a cafe at the Botanic Gardens visitors centre. Get the kids active in the playground adjacent to the cafe. Guided walks depart daily from the Canterbury Museum, or you can ride around the gardens in the electric ‘Caterpillar’ train. Hop-on, hop-off tickets are valid for two days and include a commentary.
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International Antarctic Centre
The International Antarctic Centre is part of a huge complex built for the administration of the NZ, US and Italian Antarctic programs. See penguins and learn about the icy continent via historical, geological and zoological exhibits, including videos of life on Scott Base. There’s also an aquarium of creatures gathered under the ice in McMurdo Sound, and an ‘Antarctic Storm’ chamber where you get a first-hand taste of minus 18°C wind chill (check at reception for ‘storm’ forecasts). Admission includes unlimited rides on the Hägglund outdoor adventure course. An optional extra is the Penguin Backstage Pass (adult/child $20/15) taking visitors behind the scenes…
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Canterbury Museum
The absorbing Canterbury Museum has a wonderful collection of items of significance to NZ. Highlights include the Maori gallery, with some stunning pounamu (greenstone) pieces on display; the coracle in the Antarctic Hall used by a group shipwrecked on Disappointment Island in 1907; and a wide array of stuffed bird life from the Pacific and beyond. Don’t miss the statuesque Emperor penguin. Guided tours (donations appreciated) run from 3.30pm to 4.30pm on Tuesday and Thursday. Kids will enjoy the interactive displays at Discovery (admission $2).
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Orana Wildlife Park
Orana Wildlife Park has an excellent walk-through native bird aviary, a nocturnal kiwi house and a reptile exhibit featuring the wrinkly tuatara. Most of the grounds are devoted to Africana, including lions, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, lemurs, oryx and cheetahs, and Asia is well represented with an array of Sumatran tigers. Guided walks start from the native bird feed at 10.45am and around the African lion enclosure at 2.30pm. The Orana Wildlife Park shuttle departs Cathedral Sq at 10am and 1pm daily.
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Tree Crop Farm
The quirky Tree Crop Farm is 1.8km off the main road through Akaroa (take Rue Grehan). This private wilderness garden is perfect for wandering on established tracks, relaxing on sheepskin-covered couches on the ramshackle veranda, or flicking through magazines and playing board games. A drink and snack is included in the admission price (try the berry juice). Rustic and romantic accommodation ($200 to $250) and a spa are also available here.
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Waeckerle Cottage
The Akaroa – an Historic Walk booklet ($9.50) details a walking tour starting at the 1876 Waeckerle Cottage and finishing at the old Taylor's Emporium premises near the main wharf. The route takes in the old wooden buildings and churches that give Akaroa its character. Audio guides for self-guided walking tours are available at the visitor information centre ($10 per 90 minutes).
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Timeball Station
The neo-gothic Timeball Station, built in 1876, was where (for 58 years) a huge time ball was hoisted on a mast and then dropped at exactly 1pm, Greenwich Mean Time, allowing ships in the harbour to set their clocks and thereby accurately calculate longitude. The time ball is still dropped at 1pm on days when the station is open. Access requires a short, steep climb.
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Ko Tane
Ko Tane at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve features traditional dancing, a wildlife tour and buffet dinner. You could forego the wildlife tour and/or dinner for a cheaper night out – the performance is $48/24 per adult/child. Another option is to incorporate a paddle in a traditional waka (Maori canoe) with Katoro Waka Heritage Tours, also based at Willowbank.
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Christchurch Art Gallery
Set in an eye-catching metal-and-glass construction built in 2003, the city’s art gallery has an engrossing permanent collection divided into historical, 20th-century and contemporary galleries, plus temporary exhibitions featuring NZ artists. Guided tours provide an excellent overview, or you can hire an audio guide ($5) for a self-guided tour.
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Mona Vale
Closed until further notice
This is a charming Elizabethan-style homestead on 5.5 hectares of landscaped gardens, ponds and fountains. Dine in the cafe inside the riverside homestead, wander the gorgeous grounds, or take a half-hour Avon River punt. Tasty picnic hampers (per couple $27 to $65) need to be ordered by noon the day prior. Mona Vale is just north-west of Hagley Park by bus 9.
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Akaroa Museum
The Akaroa Museum is spread over several historic buildings, including the old courthouse, the tiny Custom House by Daly’s Wharf, and one of NZ’s oldest houses, Langlois-Eteveneaux. It has modest displays on the peninsula’s once-significant Maori population, a courtroom diorama, a 20-minute audiovisual on peninsular history, and Akaroa community archives.
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Mt Cook Salmon Farm
Some 15km west of Lake Tekapo along SH8 is the signposted turn-off to the Mt Cook Salmon Farm. The farm operates in a hydroelectric canal system and is 12km from the turn-off. A scenic drive along the canal has popular fishing spots and enjoys great views of Mt Cook. Stop at the farm to feed the fish, or pick up something smoked or fresh for dinner.
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Science Alive!
Closed until further notice
Inside the city’s old train station, Science Alive! is crammed with ever-changing interactive exhibits, from optical illusions to things that children can push, pull and climb. Kids will love the climbing wall and NZ’s highest vertical slide. If the sprogs get bored with reality, movie make-believe is right next door.
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Aigantighe Art Gallery
Aigantighe Art Gallery is one of the South Island’s largest public galleries, a 900-piece collection of NZ and European art from the previous four centuries set up in a 1908 mansion, and adorned externally by a sculpture garden (always open). The gallery’s Gaelic name means ‘at home’ and is pronounced ‘egg-and-tie’.
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South Canterbury Museum
South Canterbury Museum has historical and natural artefacts of the region. Hanging from the ceiling is a replica of the aeroplane designed and flown by local pioneer aviator and inventor Richard Pearse. Many believe his mildly successful attempts at manned flight came before the Wright brothers first flew in 1903.
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Southern Encounter Aquarium & Kiwi House
Southern Encounter Aquarium & Kiwi House, is beside the i-SITE and has eels, seahorses, turtles and other marine life with specific feeding times. Don’t expect too much from the kiwi enclosure, as the endangered birds are hypersensitive to sound and light.
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Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre
In late 2007, the new Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre opened just three weeks before the death of the man regarded as the greatest New Zealander of all time. His recorded commentary for the museum was only recorded a few months before he died in January 2008.
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Maori & Colonial Museum
Maori & Colonial Museum at Okains Bay, north-east of Akaroa, began as a private collection of indigenous and pioneer artefacts but went public 28 years ago. It features a reproduction Maori meeting house, a sacred 15th-century god stick and a war canoe.
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Tamaki Maori Village
The Chronicles of Uitara performance at the Tamaki Maori Village brings to life early interaction between Maori and European settlers. The evening is set in a recreated Maori village, and concludes with a traditional hangi (Maori feast).
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Lyttelton Museum
This Museum has interesting maritime exhibits such as wreck-recovered artefacts and ship models, plus Lyttelton memorabilia including a 19th-century pipe organ and an Antarctic gallery (both Scott and Shackleton used the port as a base).
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Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden
Passionate rose buffs should visit the Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden with more than 1000 romantic blooms set around arbours and water features. The finest display is from December to February.
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Botanic Gardens
The Botanic Gardens, established in 1864, have ponds, a conservatory and a notable collection of roses and native tree ferns. The gardens are south of town; enter from Queen St.
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Church of the Good Shepherd
The diminutive, picturesque Church of the Good Shepherd beside the lake was built of stone and oak in 1935 and is a favourite for weddings given its postcard-perfect setting.
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