Flying into Christchurch International Airport, visitors get a spectacular introduction to the diversity and beauty of the Canterbury region.

The bird’s-eye views of the patchwork-like Canterbury Plains and how they interact with New Zealand’s largest and most picturesque mountain range, the Southern Alps, offer an unforgettable welcome.

Spanning 190 kilometres, the Canterbury Plains are New Zealand’s largest area of flat land at low altitude.

Converted from indigenous tussock into productive farm land by the early settlers in the mid 19^th century, they represent a cornerstone of the Canterbury economy.

To the east of the plains is the South Pacific Ocean, while the western boundary is marked by the Southern Alps, extending 550 kilometres in a south westerly direction from beyond Canterbury’s northern border.

The beauty of the alps can be experienced by a visit to Aoraki Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak, while living remnants of the ice age in the form of spectacular glaciers are also within driving distance of Christchurch.

The other major geographical feature of Canterbury is Banks Peninsula, a cluster of volcanic hills on the eastern coast. About 10 million years ago, this area was an active volcanic island. But after two eruptions, the sediment brought down by the glaciers and rivers of the Southern Alps enlarged the Canterbury Plains until the island became joined to the mainland.

The two volcanoes, which are now the Akaroa and Lyttelton harbours, left what have become sheltered valleys, cliffed headlands and dramatic seascapes from throughout the peninsula.

While the Canterbury Plains, the Southern Alps and Banks Peninsula illustrate the geographical diversity of the region, there are also other features scattered throughout that contribute to this uniqueness.

At the top of this list is the Cave Stream Scenic Reserve. About two hours west of Christchurch, a 362 metre long cave within the reserve would have to be one the most outstanding natural features in Canterbury.

The cave is in the Castle Hill basin, named from the castle-like forms of the prominent limestone outcrops. The cave, which takes an hour to walk through, has formed from the dissolving of limestone over time.

It is not only the unique nature of the geography and landscape that sets the region apart, but some of the extraordinary engineering feats that have been accomplished with it.

This stretches back to the building of the Otira Tunnel in 1923. The structure was built to create a rail link between Canterbury and Greymouth on the western side of the Southern Alps.

Built with astounding accuracy in the days before lasers and other technology, the 8529 metre tunnel was the longest in the British Empire at the time.

In the following decade, another major engineering feat began with the opening of the Waitaki dam and power station. The Waitaki River is right on Canterbury’s southern boundary and its water is now used by eight hydro power stations. These, coupled with another one on nearby Lake Manapouri, now generate around 30 percent of New Zealand’s electricity.

Although these examples only highlight a fraction of the geographic diversity of the region and how it has been used, they do show that Canterbury has a special character like no other part of New Zealand.

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