Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Drinking & Nightlife
The Brewery
(see 20)
Volstead Trading Company
(see 15)
Entertainment
24
AMI Stadium
A2
Court Theatre
(see 16)
25
Dux Live
A2
Hollywood Cinema
(see 11)
26
Hoyts Riccarton
A2
Shopping
Sunday Artisan Market
(see 4)
The Tannery
(see 20)
Westfield Riccarton
(see 26)
History
The first people to live in what is now Christchurch were moa hunters, who arrived
around 1250. Immediately prior to colonisation, the Ngai Tahu tribe had a small seasonal
village on the banks of the Avon called Otautahi.
When British settlers arrived in 1880 it was an ordered Church of England project; the
passengers on the 'First Four Ships' were dubbed by the British press 'the Canterbury
Pilgrims'. Christchurch was meant to be a model of class-structured England in the South
Pacific, not just another scruffy colonial outpost. Churches were built rather than pubs,
the fertile farming land was deliberately placed in the hands of the gentry, and wool
made the elite of Christchurch wealthy.
In 1856 Christchurch officially became NZ's first city, and a very English one at that.
Town planning and architecture assumed a close affinity with the 'Mother Country' and
English-style gardens were planted, earning it the nickname, the 'Garden City'. To this
day, Christchurch in spring is a glorious place to be.
