Christchurch Travel Blog

Each district in New Zealand has different rules about freedom camping and the parking of campervans. Sometime places it’s permitted, and in others,  it will result in a fine and you being moved on. The best place to find information about where you can camp and what procedures to follow is...

Multi-Emmy Award winner and host of hit TV programme The Amazing Race, Phil Keoghan is a Christchurch boy and still one of our biggest fans. "Try our crayfish" (lobster) says Phil. Tks to Christchurch & Canterbury Marketing for this photo He has signed on as a tourism ambassador for us...

What’s the best deal for deal for souvenirs in Christchurch? Intro: when I travel I often find it difficult to see good souvenirs for myself and, or friends and family. So, let me help you find authentic, affordable gifts to take home from Christchurch, New Zealand. We Kiwi would never travel without...

Christchurch (& NZ in general) is well served with clean, free public toilets. Sometimes labelled  restrooms or bathrooms, they are mostly labelled ‘toilet’. If it’s written in Maori (an official language in NZ)  its will usually be very obvious, or be in English too: in Maori it’s whare...

Diwali festival Intro: Writing about clothing fashions in Christchurch is very much like trying to describe the homes in my inner city, very short, street.  I could say they are million dollar apartments or homes,  circa1850 cottages, Victorian villas, or social City Housing – because my street has...

The Christchurch Casino won NZ’s supreme tourism award the Air New Zealand Supreme Award in the 2010 Tourism Industry Awards. Christchurch Casino on Victoria St Judges said Christchurch Casino was a business that put innovative workplace training at the heart of its culture, and as a result had...

View down into Akaroa harbour Despite not one French beret or baguette maker in my ancestry, I love attending the bi- annual (October) French Festival in Akaroa, the oldest colonial town in the South Island, and famed as New Zealand’s sole French Settlement - and  just over the hill from Christchurch. Akaroa, ...

Sunday 19th 2010 (Suffrage Day) It’s two weeks,  since our earthquake:  7.1 with no deaths and very few injuries thanks to it happening at 4:35am and our wonderful building standards. In the inner city we have lost a few heritage buildings ( see here)unfortunately, many more need repairs, and...

real time information We have an efficient public transport system in Christchurch. All our local buses (Red Bus, Leopard, Christchurch Bus Services, Orbiter, Metrostar, and the Diamond Harbour Ferry) come under the umbrella of “Metro” and their tickets transfer from one bus to another. Each ticket...

Simply Catering Congratulations to these places for providing free Wi-Fi in Christchurch! Well done Christchurch Libraries (City, New Brighton, South) for providing free Wi-Fi for all – even on one of the few days they’re closed I still see travellers, and local I assume, sitting outside checking...