Christchurch, New Zealand

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

Christchurch is a city in the South Island of New Zealand. It is on the east coast. Christchurch has a population of about 320,000 and is the largest city in the South Island.

The city was begun by British settlers in 1850. They were organised by the Canterbury Association, which had links with the Church of England. Before that, Māori people lived in a number of settlements in the area, such as Kaiapoi and Rapaki.

The city has many fine stone and wooden buildings dating from its early period, including the Christchurch Cathedral in the square at the centre of the city. Much is made of the Englishness, with attractions like a tourist tramway and punting on the river Avon.

Christchurch is built on fairly swampy ground close to the Pacific Ocean at the edge of the wide Canterbury Plains. Just to the south of the city is Banks Peninsula, a series of extinct volcanoes. The port of Lyttelton is in the drowned crater of one of the volcanoes, and there is a scenic road around the crater rim.

[change] Climate

Christchurch is fairly dry all year round, and has warm summers and cold winters. The most common wind is a northeasterly sea breeze, but the city is famous for Nor'westers, hot dry, dusty winds which blow across the plains. Many people complain that the nor'westers give them headaches.