Justcol

My brothers coming over from blighty in Feb for a holiday and is looking around at places to visit while he's here.
He asked me about Christchurch and I said I've never been but TBH I have never had the urge to go
as all I have seen on TV and in travel guides is a City (nothing special) and now a building site.
I'm guessing this is a pretty negative view so can the Canterbury folks tell me what there is to see and do down there.
I'm sure there most be heaps of stuff in Canterbury but I'd rather go on personal recommendation than believe the often
over hyped tourist brochures

Stormer999

To start...............
A trip to Ferrymead historic centre, Antartic centre, drive out to Spencers park and a walk along a completely empty beach, Gondola ride, drive along the coast through Sumner and out to Taylor's Mistake and a walk along the cliff tops. Drive down to Birdlings Flat to gather semi precious stone off the beach, carry onto Akaroa for a fish supper. In Feb take out a visitors licence and fish the Waimakariri for fresh run Salmon. Drive all over Banks Peninsula and discover all of the tiny secluded little bays and beaches. Get down to the Botanical gardens in Hagley park. Down to the racecourse for the market, Drive down to Lyttleton Harbour and catch a ferry to Diamond Harbour for a coffee......that's for starters Quick look at the restart Mall and the paper cathedral and the white chairs

LauraNotts

In addition to the above. You can do the TranzAlpine...I highly recommend that, plus there are heaps of new eateries and places to check out around town. Come have a look at the city and how its faring. I will never advocate for souvenir road cones but I think the council missed a trick not selling them off .

Justcol

he's touring so wont be able to do all those things, he doesnt do beaches or fish so with that in mind
what would be the must do's

LauraNotts

Perhaps ask him exactly what interests him about coming down to shaky town and we can go from there with more tailored advice?

alanmacc

Ok my 2 cents worth, hes touring so personally id say drive to akaroa the hilltop views are stunning, or trip up to hamner, nice day in the pools cant beat it, my brother came over last year and loved sitting in the pools with the snow on the hills

Mark Smith

Riccarton bush house and saturday foodie market, walk up mount Herbert from Diamond Harbour, Isaac theatre royal wil be open, trams, restart mall , punting on the avon to add to the current list.

cappuccino

If he doesn't drive, there are private day trips to Akaroa and Hammer (both well worth visiting).

davros1984

4 things I'd def recommend:
Hamner Springs, Kaikoura (a must), Akaroa, Arthurs Pass NP.

If it was winter time, I'd def suggest going further towards the Ashburton region.

As for CHCH itself, yeah spend a day or three there walking around, seeing the chaos from the EQ but also the positivity that's come out of it and the new developments.

Hope the bro and yourself have a great time Col!

moving2NZ2013

I've been here under a week and been to ash beach . Raikia river, mount hutt n lake Coleridge all free n fab

BEVS

Col. Is he set on Christchurch ? Reason I ask is that those from overseas can think they want to visit Christchurch as they have this notion of seeing quake ruins - if you see what I mean.

As he is going up to you , I would have thought there was plenty and more for him to see and do up your way.
If not and it is the actual South Island he is interested in , then he would be better doing a concise Tiki tour to hit points of interest.

Snap Shot

Nothing more to add, really. I was in Christchurch and Methven over the weekend.

My husband was skiing. I don't ski so I found other things to do. Such as I went for a run along the clear roads around Methven village. It was like running in an advertising poster for clear Canterbury roads with the snow capped mountains around me. Gorgeous.

The next day I spent all day Sunday in Canterbury. I visited our old haunts from when we lived there in 2011.

Yeah, Christchurch city is a demolition/construction zone presently. There's a good expo of how the city will be/is changing with an interactive map in a retail space in the re: start mall.

Col, your brother might as well just have a look at the ruined Cathedral which still has safety hoardings around it. It's one of the saddest things I've seen in a long time. I asked outright what's happening with the cathedral. 'It's owned by the Anglican Church' was the reply.

However, what really moved me was the 185 white chairs opposite the cleared ground of the Canterbury T.V. (CTV) building where the majority of the deaths occurred during the earthquake of Feb 2011. The chairs are all random chairs, 185 in number because that's how many people died as a result of the earthquake across Christchurch. There's a poignant signboard with information as to why this memorial is there.

The 'Cardboard Cathedral' is actually on the cleared site of the CTV building which is opposite Cranmer Square.

There's still a sense of stillness in the city, a sense of loss.

We used to live in Worcester Street. Christchurch city was at the bottom of our Street

Justcol

I think this is the best suggestion, lets be honest, no one is going to travel half way round the world to see any of the fairly dull major cities of NZ

BEVS

I agree.

anewstart

Head into Botanic Gardens (free) and have a look around (v.pretty). Book a punt down the river Avon which also goes through the gardens. For a view of the city and area the gondola is back up and running. Time permitting, Akaroa is a 90 minute drive east and well worth an overnight stay. If he is touring the south island from Christchurch he can do a loop drive with stops along the way. Christchurch via Mt Cook National Park (recommend staying in Tekapo or Mt Cook Village itself) to Queenstown (amazing drive). Then leaving Queenstown up the west coast past Wanaka up to the glaciers before driving over Arthurs's Pass back to Christchuch (unless heading to North Island which means Nelson should be visited before getting the ferry over to Wellington and up via Rotorua and onto Auckland).