North Canterbury - New Zealand

NORTH CANTERBURY - NEW ZEALAND The Canterbury Region includes a large central portion of the East Coast of the South Island, centred around the city of Christchurch . From the silvery beaches of the East Coast to the jagged peaks of the Southern Alps, the Canterbury landscape is impossible to ignore. Big scenery is the order of the day—huge panoramas of ocean or mountains, great sweeps of pastureland, massive amounts of sky. It's easy to be awestruck—but if you want to be totally flabbergasted, take a hot air balloon ride. The experience of floating across the Canterbury Plains with the majesty of the Southern Alps behind you will ingrain itself on your memory forever. The highest point of the region is the highest point of New Zealand. The spectacular Aoraki /Mount Cook stands at 3,754 metres ( Aoraki is Maori for Cloud Piercer ). At the other end of the scale, the submarine trenches off the coast of Kaikoura are thousands of metres deep, providing an ideal environment for the whales, dolphins and seals that live there permanently.