Town Tonic Restaurant, Christchurch. Photo / Supplied
Jesse Mulligan explores beautiful Christchurch.
It's time to put Canterbury back into your thinking when you're planning a luxury escape.
Though the diggers are still digging and the cones are still coning, Christchurch is operating at full speed, with plenty for foodies, nature lovers and anyone curious to know how a beautiful city gets wrecked and becomes beautiful again. Here's how my wife and I spent a long weekend there.
SATURDAY
The Christchurch Farmers' Market is a brilliant place to get breakfast. The most picturesque market in New Zealand, it features local produce as well as delicious food that is good to eat on the spot. On this blue-skied spring morning it was the hottest millennial hangout in the city, with students and young professionals happily scoffing dumplings and Spanish tortillas on the bank of the Avon River. Parking is tight, so bike or walk if you can then, afterwards, wander through the grounds of Riccarton House, Canterbury's oldest homestead, and check out Pūtaringamotu, a grove of 600-year-old kahikatea just behind the market.
We had another walk in mind, travelling south to pick up a coffee from XCHC, a post-quake shared artists' space and cafe, then heading out to the appealingly named Taylors Mistake, a beach with access to a stunning but undemanding walk around the cliffs of Godley Head. Again I was surprised by how many people in their teens and 20s were out enjoying the fresh air — not just the usual hiking suspects. This walk is part of the circular Christchurch 360 Trail, a fantastic initiative by scientist Colin Meurk that lets you take in all the city's natural wonders on foot.
Back in the CBD we ate well at Town Tonic, where vegan food takes precedence and meat is treated as a condiment — the fried cauliflower, a sort of a vegetarian KFC, is a must-order dish. There's a notable respect for plant food in this city — more so even than Wellington or Auckland. Soon, musician Flip Grater will open a vegan butchery but for now I had to try her dairy-free cheeses the same way her other customers do; by waiting outside a factory in an industrial district for her weekly 1pm delivery.
After a quick kip back at the hotel we dressed up and headed to happy hour at Gatherings . This is a tiny restaurant of international class and I would have liked to stay longer, but we had a date at Roots, arguably New Zealand's best restaurant, on the main drag of Lyttelton. This is careful, labour-intensive food that surprises and delights — make a reservation as soon as you've booked your flights.
SUNDAY
If you're staying in the CBD, a circuit on the tram is the perfect way to get your bearings. I got up early to visit Unknown Chapter, a new and modern brunch spot where the portions are huge and colourful. Just across the road is Little High (littlehigh.co.nz), an upmarket food court with eight different family-owned restaurants and unlimited Wi-Fi. While you're in the area check the opening hours for Kakano (130 Manchester St), a cafe and cooking school that is part social enterprise too, reviving and promoting Māori ingredients and techniques in a modern eating environment.
After breakfast we met KT at Christchurch Sea Kayaking, who guided us down the Avon, under bridges and between ducks. Her personality-filled tours start at Hagley Park, pause at the Margaret Mahy Playground then continue into the Red Zone. This is a tour recommended for all ages and abilities, and an unbeatable way to feel at one with the garden city.
Afterwards, we got in the rental car and headed for Banks Peninsula, a geographical nodule on the East Coast that is at the heart of the Canterbury origin story. Though the area was cleared of trees in order to build Christchurch, there are now pockets and strips of restoration taking place, largely led by local farmers. We stopped in former French stronghold Akaroa and ate the meal of our lives at Rona's, in a courtyard in the sun. This is next-level food, cooked by two chefs who've just returned from a big stint overseas. Visit this place before word gets around and you can no longer get a booking.
We extended our weekend by booking two nights at Annandale, an ultra-luxurious hideaway on the northern coast of the peninsula. A bolthole for wealthy overseas tourists, it's the place James Bond would stay after vanquishing his latest supervillain. We stayed at Seascape, a glassy studio built into the side of the cliff, but we also had our eye on Scrubby Bay, which has room for two or three families to split costs and spend a weekend swimming in the pool and gazing out towards the Pacific. The food at Annandale is first class too, with a three-course meal precooked and ready for your assembly, or the option to call in a private chef to cook you a tasting menu while you drink wine.
There were plenty of cafes and restaurants I didn't get to try, and I would have liked to explore more of Canterbury's natural attractions — the wetlands, the hills and the braided rivers. But we'll do it next time. Christchurch is undeniably open for business, combining the energy of a young city with the history and mana of an old one.
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