View from Bendamere House

Beautiful Banks Peninsula

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October 2nd 2005
We left Kaikoura just as their annual Seafest began, and tourists started flooding into the city. We drove about two and a half hours to the beautiful city of Christchurch, and spent a few hours wandering around the city center. We explored the botanic garden, and punted down the Avon River in this very English inspired city. It was a very different (and welcome) boating experience from the day ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains

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The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year... ... read more