Christchurch

In summer an unpleasant hot, dry wind from the northwest often blows for days at a time.

With its spacious parks, its numerous sports grounds and well-tended gardens - amounting altogether to more than 30 sq.km of green space - Christchurch has become known as the Garden City. The city's architecture and atmosphere lead many visitors to declare that it is the most British of New Zealand's towns. Its situation in an extensive plain has allowed its planners to lay it out on a rectangular grid with broad main streets. Only the winding course of the Avon River and the diagonal line of the High Street and Victoria Street disturb the regularity of its plan.

The main sights of Christchurch can be seen in a 3-hour walk. The first stage begins in Cathedral Square and leads past the Regent Theatre and over the Avon Bridge, with the Scott Memorial and the visitor center. Then along Cambridge Terrace, passing the Bridge of Remembrance, to the Botanic Gardens, with the Arts Centre and the Canterbury Museum.

From the Canterbury Museum the second stage leads past Christ's College to Hagley Park and along Armagh Street to Cranmer Square, with two former schools, the Girls' High School and the Normal School. At the end of Chester Street is the city's oldest stone church, the Methodist Church (1864). At the south end of Durham Street, where it reaches the Avon, are the Provincial Government Buildings. On the far side of the bridge are Victoria Square and the modern Town Hall.

From Victoria Square the third stage continues along Oxford Terrace, skirting the Avon, to Madras Street, and south along this to Latimer Square. From there Worcester Street runs back to Cathedral Square.