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Christchurch, New Zealand, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
▶ Video · Best of Christchurch
Video guide · 12:31
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Top 10OceaniaNew Zealand

Top 10 Things To Do in Christchurch

Country
New Zealand
Best months
Nov · Dec · Feb · Mar
Population
407,800 urban area
Language
English · te reo Māori
Budget / day
NZ$180–330
Quick answer

The best things to do in Christchurch are the Botanic Gardens, the Christchurch Art Gallery, a punt on the Ōtākaro Avon from the Antigua Boat Sheds, the gondola up Mt Cavendish, and Quake City for the story of the earthquakes. Give the city two days, add a third for Akaroa or the TranzAlpine, and a fourth for Kaikōura or Hanmer Springs. Travel between November and April for the long evenings, or in autumn for the colour in Hagley Park.

Best of Christchurch

▶ Video guide Open the film page (12:31) →

Christchurch is the one New Zealand city that had to decide what it wanted to be. The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes took most of the centre, and what stands there now is fifteen years of rebuilding wrapped around the Gothic Revival stone that survived. The Garden City is still underneath it, in Hagley Park and the botanic gardens.

The 10 best things to do in Christchurch

Walk the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Christchurch, New Zealand
1

Walk the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Garden· Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch Central City 8013

Twenty-one hectares inside a bend of the river, planted since 1863 and the reason the city is called the Garden City. It is not one garden but a dozen. The oldest thing in it is an English oak planted in July 1863, which is the moment the gardens began. Entry is free and the grounds open every day.

Time1–2 hrs
CostFree
Best atMorning
TipEnter from Rolleston Avenue and walk out through Hagley Park to the Armagh Street bridge
Map↗ Website
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch, New Zealand (Wimup)
2

See the collection at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū

Gallery· Corner Worcester Boulevard and Montreal Street, Christchurch Central City 8013

The city's public gallery, behind a facade of curved glass that has been the most argued-over building here since it opened in 2003. It served as the civil defence headquarters after the 2011 earthquake and reopened in 2015 with the collection intact. Entry is free, which is the point.

Time1–2 hrs
CostFree
Best atWednesday evening
TipOpen 10am to 5pm daily and until 9pm on Wednesdays, the one late night in the centre
Map↗ Website
Take a punt down the Ōtākaro Avon from the Antigua Boat Sheds, Christchurch, New Zealand
3

Take a punt down the Ōtākaro Avon from the Antigua Boat Sheds

River· Antigua Boat Sheds, 2 Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch Central City 8013

A punter in Edwardian dress poles a flat-bottomed boat upriver through the Botanic Gardens for half an hour. It is the only way to see the river the city is built around from the water. The boat sheds have stood on this bend since 1882 and are the last Victorian ones still in use.

Time30 min
CostFrom NZ$30
Best atLate afternoon
TipPunts run 9am to 6pm from October to April and 10am to 4pm the rest of the year
Map↗ Website
Ride the gondola to the Mt Cavendish summit, Christchurch, New Zealand
4

Ride the gondola to the Mt Cavendish summit

Viewpoint· 10 Bridle Path Road, Heathcote Valley, Christchurch 8022

Ten minutes up the rim of an extinct volcano, and the one view that explains the geography in a single turn: the city and the plains running north to the Southern Alps on one side, Lyttelton Harbour drowned in its own crater on the other. The Crater Rim Walkway starts at the door.

Time1–2 hrs
CostNZ$15 return
Best atClear afternoon
TipWalk up the historic Bridle Path from the base station and buy a one-way ticket down
Map↗ Website
Understand the earthquakes at Quake City, Christchurch, New Zealand
5

Understand the earthquakes at Quake City

Museum· 299 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central City 8013

The earthquake exhibition, and the room that explains everything else in the centre. The 2010 quake did the structural damage; the shallower aftershock in February 2011 killed 185 people and took the centre with it. It holds the salvaged rose window and first-hand video. Go on your first day.

Time1 hr
CostTicketed
Best atFirst day
TipRavenscar House Museum is in the same building and the two sell a combined ticket
Map↗ Website
Walk the courtyards of The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Christchurch, New Zealand
6

Walk the courtyards of The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora

Landmark· 2 Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch Central City 8013

Twenty-three Gothic Revival stone buildings that were Canterbury College before the university moved out, and the largest group of Category 1 heritage buildings in New Zealand. The earthquakes damaged nearly all of them and the restoration has run for more than a decade, stone by stone.

Time1–2 hrs
CostFree to wander
Best atWeekend
TipThe quadrangles and lanes cost nothing; Rutherford's Den is the one ticketed part
Map↗ Website
Eat your way along Riverside Market, Christchurch, New Zealand
7

Eat your way along Riverside Market

Food hall· 96 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch Central City 8011

Two storeys of traders under one roof, opened in 2019 and the piece of the rebuild that actually gave the centre a crowd. Butchers and a cheesemonger below; dumplings, tacos and ramen around the edges, with long communal tables in the middle. Saturday morning is the best time.

Time1 hr
CostNZ$15–30 a plate
Best atSaturday morning
TipOrder from two counters and share; the seating is communal and nobody minds
Map
8

Stand at Ōi Manawa, the Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial

Memorial· Oxford Terrace, Christchurch Central City 8011

A curved marble wall along the river carrying the names of the 185 people who died in February 2011. The design is deliberately quiet: no sculpture, no explanation, just the names cut into stone at eye height. It takes twenty minutes and it is why the rebuilt centre makes sense.

Time20 min
CostFree
Best atDusk
TipIt sits on the riverside walk, so pair it with the walk down to Riverside Market
Map
Ride the heritage tram through New Regent Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
9

Ride the heritage tram through New Regent Street

Tram· New Regent Street, Christchurch Central City 8011

One block of pastel Spanish Mission shopfronts built in 1932, and the first street in New Zealand designed as a single architectural composition. It is pedestrianised now except for the tram, which runs a hop-on loop past most of the centre. A reasonable way to get your bearings.

Time1 hr
CostFree to walk
Best atLate morning
TipTrams run 10am to 4pm; the ticket is a day pass, so get off and back on
Map↗ Website
Go south at the International Antarctic Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand
10

Go south at the International Antarctic Centre

Attraction· 38 Orchard Road, Harewood, Christchurch 8053

Christchurch has been the last stop before Antarctica since Scott and Shackleton provisioned at Lyttelton, and the airport still runs three national Antarctic programmes south each season. The visitor centre is the closest most people will get: a storm room at Antarctic wind chill, an all-terrain ride, and rescued little blue penguins.

Time2–3 hrs
CostTicketed
Best atRainy day
TipTen minutes from the airport door, so it works on the day you fly
Map↗ Website

9 of the 10, mapped

Christchurch · 9 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsGardensFree

Christchurch travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Christchurch?+
Two days covers the city: the Botanic Gardens, the art gallery and the Arts Centre on one, Quake City, the memorial and the gondola on the other. Add a third for Akaroa or the TranzAlpine to Arthur's Pass, and a fourth if you want Kaikōura or Hanmer Springs. Three days is the number most people should plan for.
Is Christchurch still damaged from the earthquakes?+
The centre has been rebuilt rather than repaired, so what you see inside the four avenues is mostly less than fifteen years old, built around the heritage stone that survived. The cathedral in Cathedral Square is the visible exception: its reinstatement is unfinished and it is still fenced.
What is the best time of year to visit Christchurch?+
November to April, and February is the most reliable month for warm, still weather. Autumn is the quiet recommendation: the park and the gardens turn in April and May and the light is better than midsummer. Winter is cold and clear, which suits the hot pools and the ski fields.
Do you need a car in Christchurch?+
Not for the city. The centre is flat, gridded and walkable, the tram loops the sights and Metro buses reach Sumner and Lyttelton. You want a car for Banks Peninsula, Waipara, Castle Hill and Mt Hutt, unless you take a tour or use the TranzAlpine, which reaches Arthur's Pass without one.
How do you get from Christchurch Airport to the city?+
The Metro Purple Line runs from outside the terminal to the central Bus Interchange roughly every 30 minutes and takes 30 to 40 minutes. Pay by tapping a contactless card. Taxis and rideshare pick up outside arrivals, and the airport is about 12 kilometres from the centre.
The Garden City

Best gardens & parks in Christchurch

Six green spaces, from a 165 hectare park in the middle of town to a bush remnant older than the city.
Hagley ParkCentral

Hagley Park

Free · Open daily

One hundred and sixty-five hectares set aside in 1855 and never built on. The river runs through it, and so does the loop half the city runs on a Sunday.

Map
Christchurch Botanic GardensCentral

Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Free · Conservatories

Twenty one hectares of themed gardens inside a bend of the river, planted from 1863 and the reason for the nickname. The conservatories are the reason to come in July.

Map
Riccarton House and Bush PūtaringamotuRiccarton

Riccarton House and Bush Pūtaringamotu

Free · Farmers market Sat

The last remnant of the kahikatea forest that covered the plains, with trees over 600 years old. The 1856 homestead stands beside it.

Map
Mona ValeFendalton

Mona Vale

Free · Gardens

An Edwardian homestead and its grounds on the Avon, with a rose garden and lawns running down to the river. Punts leave from here in summer.

Map
Central

Victoria Square

Free

The oldest public space in the city, laid out as a market square in the 1850s and reopened in 2018 after a full post-earthquake rebuild.

Map
Halswell

Halswell Quarry Park

Free · Dogs allowed

A worked-out stone quarry turned into parkland, with gardens planted for each of the city's sister cities and a short climb to a view.

Map
What to see indoors

Best museums & galleries in Christchurch

Eight museums and galleries, including the two rooms that opened while the main museum is closed for rebuilding.
Central

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū

Free · 10am–5pm

The city's public collection, free to enter, behind the wall of curved glass. Open until 9pm on Wednesdays, the one late night in the centre.

Map↗ Website
Central

Quake City

Ticketed

Canterbury Museum's earthquake exhibition on Durham Street: the salvaged cathedral rose window, the toppled spire, and first-hand accounts of 22 February 2011.

Map↗ Website
Ravenscar House MuseumCentral

Ravenscar House Museum

Ticketed

A purpose-built house museum around a collection of New Zealand art, furniture and classical antiquities. It shares an entrance with Quake City.

Map↗ Website
Central

Canterbury Museum Pop-Up at CoCA

66 Gloucester St

The Rolleston Avenue museum closed in 2023 for a redevelopment measured in years. Half its collection favourites moved into a pop-up on Gloucester Street.

Map↗ Website
Air Force Museum of New ZealandWigram

Air Force Museum of New Zealand

Ticketed for visitors

The RNZAF's own museum on the old Wigram aerodrome, with more than two dozen aircraft and a restoration workshop you can watch through glass.

Map
The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi OraCentral

The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora

Free to enter

Restored Gothic Revival stone around a set of quadrangles, holding galleries, makers' studios, a cinema and Rutherford's Den. Free to walk through.

Map↗ Website
Central

Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

Free

The University of Canterbury's Logie Collection of Greek, Roman and Egyptian objects, shown in one high stone room inside the Arts Centre. Small, free and easy to miss.

Map
Ferrymead Heritage ParkFerrymead

Ferrymead Heritage Park

Ticketed · Trams run weekends

A working replica of an Edwardian township on the estuary edge, run by volunteer societies, with heritage trams and a steam railway.

Map
Where Christchurch eats

Best restaurants in Christchurch

Ten kitchens, from a chef's table on Hereford Street to a brewery kitchen in a converted tannery.
Central

Inati

Modern New Zealand · Dinner

A horseshoe counter wrapped around the pass, serving a set run of small plates that changes with what came in. The best seat in Christchurch is the one facing the chefs.

Map
New Regent Street

Twenty Seven Steps

European · Dinner

Up the stairs on New Regent Street, doing modern European plates and a short seasonal list. The windows look straight down the pastel row and the tram passes under them.

Map
Merivale

Gatherings

Set menu · Dinner

Twenty seats in Merivale and a set menu that changes every week around whatever the growers sent, with a natural wine list to match.

Map↗ Website
Park Terrace

Pescatore

Fine dining · Dinner

The formal dining room at The George, looking across to Hagley Park. Tasting menus and the most old-fashioned service in the city, in the good sense.

Map
Riverside MarketCentral

Riverside Market

Food hall · All day

Thirty-odd traders under one roof on Oxford Terrace. Dumplings, bao, tacos, ramen and a pasta counter, with a butcher and a fishmonger downstairs for anyone cooking.

Map
Central

Little High Eatery

Food hall · All day

Eight independent kitchens sharing one room on Madras Street, which is the easy answer when a group cannot agree. Order separately, sit together.

Map
Bryndwr

Kinji

Japanese · Dinner

A suburban Japanese restaurant that locals have driven across town for since long before the rebuild. Sushi and sashimi first, the grill second.

Map
Sydenham

Rangoon Ruby

Burmese · Dinner

Burmese cooking on Colombo Street: tea leaf salad, coconut noodles, and the kind of menu that rewards ordering two more dishes than you meant to.

Map
Woolston

Cassels & Sons at The Tannery

Pizza · Brewery

The brewery's own kitchen in a restored Woolston tannery, built around a wood-fired pizza oven and its own beer. The building is half the reason to come out here.

Map
Coffee at C1 EspressoCentral

Coffee at C1 Espresso

Cafe · Daytime

A roaster in the old high street post office, pouring some of the best coffee in a city that takes it seriously. Sliders arrive through a pneumatic tube.

Map
After dark

Best bars in Christchurch

Eight rooms, from the yard bar that opened first after the earthquakes to a doll-lined pub over the hill.
Central

Smash Palace

Beer garden

A bus, a shipping container and a gravel yard on High Street, and one of the first places to reopen in the ruined centre. No pretence at all.

Map
Cathedral Square

O.G.B.

Cocktails

Cocktails inside the Old Government Building on Cathedral Square, in a room that has kept its 1900s bank fittings and takes its list seriously.

Map
New Regent Street

The Last Word

Whisky · Cocktails

About twenty seats on New Regent Street and a whisky list far longer than the room deserves. Cocktails made slowly, conversation at a volume you can hear over.

Map
Central

Dux Central

Brewpub

A brewpub, a poolroom and an upstairs dining room in one restored building off Poplar Street, brewing under its own name since long before the rebuild.

Map
Central

Boo Radley's

Whisky · Late

Dark wood, a New Orleans theme played straight, a deep whisky and bourbon list and a kitchen running late. The place to end up rather than start.

Map
Woolston

Cassels & Sons Brewery

Brewery

The Tannery's own brewery bar in Woolston, pouring its beer beside the pizza oven. Live music in the Blue Smoke room next door.

Map
Lyttelton

Wunderbar

Live music

Up an unmarked staircase in Lyttelton, walls lined with doll heads, live music most nights and a view over the port from the back. Worth the drive through the tunnel.

Map
Central

Pink Lady Rooftop

Rooftop

Open air above the centre, which Christchurch had almost none of before the rebuild. Best on a still evening in February, which is most of them.

Map
Where to spend your time

Best neighbourhoods in Christchurch

Eight areas, from the rebuilt grid inside the four avenues to a port town on the far side of a tunnel.
Central CityCentral

Central City

Base yourself here

The rebuilt grid inside the four avenues, and where almost everything in this guide is. This is where to base yourself.

Map
New Regent StreetCentral

New Regent Street

Heritage · Bars

One pedestrianised block of 1932 Spanish Mission shopfronts, painted in sherbet colours, with the tram running down the middle and a bar or a coffee at either end.

Map
Sumner

Sumner

Beach · Cafes

A seaside suburb twenty minutes east, built around a patrolled beach, the volcanic stack of Cave Rock and a row of cafes on the esplanade. The Coastal Pathway ends here.

Map
LytteltonLyttelton

Lyttelton

Port · Saturday market

The port town on the far side of the Port Hills, ten minutes through a road tunnel. A Saturday farmers market and the best small bars within reach.

Map
Riccarton

Riccarton

Student · Cheap eats

West across Hagley Park, built around the university and a long run of cheap Asian kitchens, with the bush and the Saturday market at the quiet end.

Map
Merivale

Merivale

Boutiques · Dining

North of the park and the most expensive few streets in the city, with boutiques, a tight cluster of restaurants and large gardens behind hedges.

Map
Addington

Addington

Events · Rail

Racing at the raceway, rugby at the stadium, the station for the TranzAlpine, and a strip of bars that fills whenever any of the three has something on.

Map
Woolston

Woolston and The Tannery

Shopping · Brewery

A working suburb with a Victorian tannery rebuilt into an arcade of independent shops, a brewery and a theatre. Worth the twenty minutes out.

Map
Within two hours

Best day trips in Christchurch

Eight trips out, from a French harbour town over the crater rim to a train ride across the Southern Alps.
Akaroa and Banks PeninsulaBanks Peninsula

Akaroa and Banks Peninsula

1 hr 30 by car

An hour and a half over the crater rim to a harbour town the French settled in 1840. Hector's dolphins live in the harbour and the drive is half the trip.

Map
Southern Alps

The TranzAlpine to Arthur's Pass

Train · Daily

One of the great train journeys: across the plains, up the gorge and through the Southern Alps to Greymouth. Get off at Arthur's Pass and take the afternoon train back.

Map
Hanmer SpringsNorth Canterbury

Hanmer Springs

1 hr 45 by car

Ninety minutes north to an alpine basin built around a thermal pool complex, with forest walks above it and a bungy off the Waiau Ferry Bridge on the way in.

Map
Kaikōura

Kaikōura

2 hrs 30 by car

Two and a half hours up the coast to the one place in New Zealand where a deep ocean canyon comes close inshore. Sperm whales are resident year round.

Map
North Canterbury

Waipara Valley

45 min by car

Forty-five minutes north to North Canterbury's wine country, warm and dry behind the hills. Pinot noir and riesling, with cellar doors close together.

Map
Kura Tawhiti Castle HillCanterbury high country

Kura Tawhiti Castle Hill

1 hr 30 by car

An hour and a half west, a basin of weathered limestone boulders on land of significance to Ngāi Tahu, used as a film location and climbed by boulderers.

Map
Mt Hutt and MethvenMid Canterbury

Mt Hutt and Methven

1 hr 30 by car

Ninety minutes southwest to the Canterbury ski field with the longest season in the country. In summer the same road leads into the Rakaia gorge.

Map
Aoraki Mount CookMackenzie Country

Aoraki Mount Cook

3 hrs 30 by car

Three and a half hours inland past Lake Tekapo and the blue of Pukaki to the country's highest mountain and the Hooker Valley Track. Doable in a day, better as two.

Map
Out of the grid

Best outdoors in Christchurch

Six ways out of the city on foot or two wheels, all of them inside half an hour of the centre.
The Port HillsPort Hills

The Port Hills

Free · Walking & MTB

The volcanic rim between the city and the harbour, laced with tracks: the Bridle Path the first settlers walked, and the Crater Rim Walkway.

Map
Christchurch Adventure ParkCashmere

Christchurch Adventure Park

Ticketed · Chairlift

Three hundred and fifty-eight hectares on the Port Hills, fifteen minutes out, with a chairlift serving mountain bike trails and four ziplines.

Map
Godley Head ŌtokitokiGodley Head

Godley Head Ōtokitoki

Free · 2–3 hrs

A loop around the headland at the mouth of the harbour, past the tunnels and gun emplacements of a Second World War coastal battery.

Map
Sumner Beach and the Coastal PathwaySumner

Sumner Beach and the Coastal Pathway

Free · Sealed path

Te Ara Ihutai runs flat and sealed around the estuary to Scarborough, good for a bike or a pushchair, and the beach is patrolled through summer.

Map
New Brighton Pier and He Puna TaimoanaNew Brighton

New Brighton Pier and He Puna Taimoana

Pier free · Pools ticketed

A 300 metre concrete pier into Pegasus Bay, with saltwater hot pools beside it looking out to sea. The best thing to do on a cold, clear day.

Map
Bottle Lake

Bottle Lake Forest Park

Free · Trails

A working pine plantation on the northeast edge, with waymarked walking and riding trails and a track out to the dunes and the beach.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Christchurch (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Jan – Feb

Bread & Circus, World Buskers Festival

Street performance across the central city, on outdoor pitches and in pop-up venues, mixing international and New Zealand acts.

Feb

Electric Avenue

The city's largest music festival, staged in Hagley Park on multiple stages over a summer weekend.

Jun – Jul

Matariki

The Māori new year, a public holiday since 2022 and marked with dawn ceremonies and light installations.

Jul

KidsFest

A children's festival run through the July school holidays, with hundreds of workshops, shows and events across the city.

Oct – Dec

SCAPE Public Art Season

Free outdoor sculpture installed across the central city each spring. Several past works have stayed, so the trail grows.

Nov

New Zealand Cup and Show Week

Canterbury's biggest week: the Trotting Cup at Addington on the Tuesday and the New Zealand Cup at Riccarton on the Saturday.

Nov

Canterbury A&P Show

The country's largest agricultural show, run since the 1860s and the reason Show Day is a holiday at all.

Dec – Mar

Summertimes

The council's free outdoor summer programme, running concerts, films and family days in Hagley Park from December to March.

Getting around

Christchurch transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
CHC

Christchurch Airport

About 12 kilometres northwest, and the South Island's main international gateway. The Purple Line runs to the central Bus Interchange every 30 minutes, taking 30 to 40 minutes.

Map↗ Christchurch Airport
Metro

Metro buses

One network across Greater Christchurch, run through the Bus Interchange in the centre. Most visitors will not need it: the centre is walkable and the buses matter for Sumner and Lyttelton.

Map↗ Metro
Rail

Long-distance rail

The station sits west of the centre and is not a commuter station. It exists for two scenic services: the TranzAlpine across the Alps, and the Coastal Pacific up to Picton.

Map↗ Great Journeys NZ
On the ground

Taxis, rideshare and bikes

For the centre neither is usually the fastest option: Christchurch is flat, gridded and small enough to cross on foot in half an hour, with separated cycleways since the earthquakes.

↗ Christchurch City Council
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Christchurch, New Zealand

The classics to order before you leave.
Green-lipped mussels, Christchurch (Wimup travel guide)

Green-lipped mussels

New Zealand's own mussel, farmed in the Marlborough Sounds and steamed open in white wine or a chilli broth.

Alpine salmon, Christchurch (Wimup travel guide)

Alpine salmon

King salmon farmed in the hydro canals under Aoraki, where the water runs off the glaciers near freezing.

Pavlova, Christchurch (Wimup travel guide)

Pavlova

Meringue with a marshmallow centre under whipped cream and fruit. Australia disputes the invention.

Canterbury lamb

The region's best-known export, and the thing to order in a Christchurch dining room.

Whitebait fritter

West Coast whitebait bound with egg and fried flat, with lemon and white bread.

Bluff oysters

Dredged from Foveaux Strait and in season from March into August. Order them raw; cooking them is a waste.

Cheese rolls

A South Island staple and a Canterbury winter habit: white bread rolled around cheese and onion, then grilled.

Hokey pokey ice cream

Vanilla ice cream studded with lumps of honeycomb toffee. The correct order at a beach kiosk at Sumner.

Christchurch fact sheet

Christchurch at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
New Zealand
Region
Canterbury
Population
407,800 urban area
Founded
City by royal charter, 1856 · Ōtautahi, Ngāi Tahu land long before
Nickname
The Garden City
Language
English · te reo Māori
Currency
New Zealand dollar (NZ$)
Time zone
NZST · UTC+12 (UTC+13 in daylight saving)
Calling code
+64 3
Airports
CHC
Power
230V · Type I
Emergency
111
Ideal length
3 days
Getting around
Metro buses, the tram & a flat bike grid
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • Christchurch was proclaimed a city by royal charter on 31 July 1856, which makes it the oldest established city in New Zealand.
  • The Māori name Ōtautahi means the place of Tautahi, a Ngāi Tahu chief whose settlement stood on the riverbank near the present centre.
  • The magnitude 6.3 earthquake of 22 February 2011 struck at 12:51pm and killed 185 people, whose names are cut into the memorial wall.
  • Hagley Park covers 165 hectares in the middle of the city and has been public land since 1855, when building on it was barred.
  • Christchurch has been the last stop before Antarctica since Scott and Shackleton, and still sends programmes south each summer.

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