Christchurch, Canterbury & the Chathams

Ngāi Tahu, the dominant iwi of the South Island, held Canterbury from fortified villages such as Kaiapoi pā, which Ngāti Toa under Te Rauparaha sacked in the early 1830s. Far to the east, the Chatham Islands, Rēkohu, were settled by the Moriori, who developed a culture that renounced war. In 1835 Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama from Taranaki invaded the islands, killing many Moriori and enslaving the survivors.

French settlers arrived at Akaroa in 1840, days after the British had asserted sovereignty, and stayed. The Crown bought most of Canterbury from Ngāi Tahu in the 1848 Kemp's Deed, whose broken promises became the core of the iwi's long claim. From 1850 the Canterbury Association, an Anglican colonising body, landed its settlers at Lyttelton and laid out Christchurch as a planned church city with a cathedral and college on English lines. Sheep runs spread across the plains and high country, and the Arthur's Pass route to the West Coast gold fields was found in the 1860s.

The Ngāi Tahu settlement of 1998 brought a Crown apology and the restoration of the name Aoraki to the country's highest mountain; the Moriori reached their own settlement in 2020. The earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011, the second of which killed 185 people, forced the demolition of much of central Christchurch, including its cathedral spire. On 15 March 2019 a gunman killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques. The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake cut the coast road north.

Christchurch long had a reputation as the most English city in New Zealand, with Anglican institutions, punts on the Avon and a formal, conservative air. The rebuild changed its tone, adding street art, new public spaces and a younger, more experimental culture. The Transitional Cathedral, built partly of cardboard tubes by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, became a symbol of that period. Christchurch is also a gateway to Antarctica, used by the New Zealand, United States and Italian programmes.

The rural culture is sheep and high-country station life, farm shows and rugby; the Crusaders, Christchurch's professional team, are among the most successful in Super Rugby. Ngāi Tahu is a major economic and cultural force since its settlement. In Akaroa the French heritage survives in its street names. The Chatham Islanders, of Moriori, Māori and European descent, live by fishing and farming, with a strong island identity.

About 400,000 people live in Christchurch, the country's second-largest city, and the Canterbury region has around 650,000. Timaru and Ashburton are the main country towns; the Chatham Islands have only about 600 residents.

The economy rests on farming, food processing and the services of a regional capital. Irrigation has turned much of the plains to dairy since the 1990s, driving growth but also raising demand for water, a live public issue. The rebuild made Christchurch one of the country's more affordable big cities, and it has grown fast. Tourism and hydro-electric power dominate the Mackenzie Basin.

Christchurch is flat and spread out, and many of its people cycle or drive short distances between suburbs; the University of Canterbury and Lincoln University bring students, and weekends take families to the Port Hills, the beaches of New Brighton and Sumner, or the ski fields and lakes inland. Much of the eastern suburbs' land, too damaged by the earthquakes to rebuild, has been cleared and left as a green belt along the Avon.

On the Chatham Islands, life revolves around fishing, farming and the supply ship. Most goods and fuel arrive by sea, prices are high, and the islands depend on flights to the mainland for specialist health care.

Canterbury is known for its lamb and for high-country merino, and farm-gate produce, from cherries to cheese, fills its farmers' markets. The hydro canals of the Mackenzie Basin are used to farm salmon. Fairlie, a small South Canterbury town, is famous for its bakery pies.

The Waipara Valley north of Christchurch is the main wine district, known for pinot noir and riesling. Christchurch has a growing restaurant scene built around local produce.

The Chatham Islands are known for seafood: crayfish, pāua and blue cod caught in cold, clean waters. Moriori and Māori traditions of harvesting seabirds and shellfish remain part of island life.

Christchurch's sights include the Botanic Gardens and Hagley Park, punting on the Avon River, the Christchurch Art Gallery, the heritage tram, the Transitional Cathedral and the International Antarctic Centre near the airport. The Port Hills and the harbour town of Lyttelton lie over the ridge. Banks Peninsula, formed by old volcanoes, holds Akaroa, with its French-style village, harbour cruises and Hector's dolphins.

Inland, the TranzAlpine and the road climb to Arthur's Pass National Park, with alpine walks and kea. Hanmer Springs, in North Canterbury, is a spa village with thermal pools. Kaikōura, on the coast to the north, is known for whale watching, seals and dolphins, with mountains rising behind the town.

In the Mackenzie Basin, Lake Tekapo has the Church of the Good Shepherd and the observatory on Mount John, at the heart of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. Lake Pukaki leads to Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, where the Hooker Valley Track and the Tasman Glacier's lake offer views of the peak. The Chatham Islands offer coastal walks, bird life and Moriori tree carvings.