H & Rick
11th October 2006, 08:19 AM
Having just come back from our reccy we thought we would give everyone our view Christchurch, the places and areas that took our fancy.
Our trip started at Diamond Harbour on the Banks Peninsular where we rented a very basic bach (pole house) with views across to Lytletton Harbour.
Diamond Harbour is about 30 mins drive from Christchurch centre, it’s a long twisty road over the mountains and then along the coast road taking in some beautiful areas like Church Bay, Governors Bay, Charteris Bay where all the houses perched high and low all over the mountains most with breathtaking sea views.
As you drive into Christchurch itself the houses are a mixture of modern brick, French renaissance and American colonial styles. The centre itself has a very British feel with a small shopping centre that did not seem that busy even on a Saturday.
Arriving from the south on the road from Diamond Harbour there are some really nice areas. Cashmere, Huntsbury, St Martins and Opawa really appealed to us.
East Christchurch and you are at the beach in New Brighton area. Although it’s a seaside area surprisingly many of the houses were in a state of disrepair, however travel north on towards North New Brighton and you find more modern developments that are well worth a look (are quite expensive).
Travel further north 30/40 mins outside Christchurch and you are in Kaipoi then on to Rangiora both really nice areas mostly brick modern family houses with added luxuries like double glazing and some even have central heating..
West Christchurch, areas like Burnside, Avonhead stand out from the rest. Drive 30/40 mins further west outside Christchurch and you hit Darfield then follow the road north to Oxford both areas are well worth a look especially if you fancy a little bit of land.
All in all we really enjoyed having a good look around, hope this will be of some use to someone out there. :D
Our trip started at Diamond Harbour on the Banks Peninsular where we rented a very basic bach (pole house) with views across to Lytletton Harbour.
Diamond Harbour is about 30 mins drive from Christchurch centre, it’s a long twisty road over the mountains and then along the coast road taking in some beautiful areas like Church Bay, Governors Bay, Charteris Bay where all the houses perched high and low all over the mountains most with breathtaking sea views.
As you drive into Christchurch itself the houses are a mixture of modern brick, French renaissance and American colonial styles. The centre itself has a very British feel with a small shopping centre that did not seem that busy even on a Saturday.
Arriving from the south on the road from Diamond Harbour there are some really nice areas. Cashmere, Huntsbury, St Martins and Opawa really appealed to us.
East Christchurch and you are at the beach in New Brighton area. Although it’s a seaside area surprisingly many of the houses were in a state of disrepair, however travel north on towards North New Brighton and you find more modern developments that are well worth a look (are quite expensive).
Travel further north 30/40 mins outside Christchurch and you are in Kaipoi then on to Rangiora both really nice areas mostly brick modern family houses with added luxuries like double glazing and some even have central heating..
West Christchurch, areas like Burnside, Avonhead stand out from the rest. Drive 30/40 mins further west outside Christchurch and you hit Darfield then follow the road north to Oxford both areas are well worth a look especially if you fancy a little bit of land.
All in all we really enjoyed having a good look around, hope this will be of some use to someone out there. :D