Cracroft Reserve
Cracroft Reserve is a public reserve on Cracroft Hill in the Cashmere suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated next to the Sign of the Takahe. Cracroft Reserve is a popular stop for tourists, and residents, with its viewing platform at elevation providing panoramic views of Christchurch city, the Canterbury Plains, and the Southern Alps. The main entrance to the reserve is from the southern end of Hackthorne Road. The reserve features a sturdy stainless steel plane table pointing to a wide range of landmarks visible from Cracroft Reserve, from Aoraki / Mount Cook to the south to Mount Tapuaenuku to the north. This sign, set on a Halswell stone base, was erected by the Rotary Club of Christchurch in 1967. Cracroft Reserve is named after John Cracroft Wilson. Cracroft Wilson sold the property, once part of the larger Cashmere farm, to the city in about 1925, as part of prominent local politician Harry Ell's initiative to establish a network of reserves, rest houses, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The View From Cracroft Reserve
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Cashmere, New Zealand
Cashmere is a suburb which rises above the southern end of the city of Christchurch in New Zealand's South Island. Geography Cashmere is situated on the north side of the Port Hills, immediately above the southern terminus of Colombo Street and approximately five kilometres south of the city centre. The suburb's location on the Port Hills offers it a commanding view over the rest of the mostly flat city. Cashmere's proximity to the rest of the Port Hills has also made it a favourite for recreation, with the upper reaches of the suburb dominated by Victoria Park with its multiple bike and walking tracks and connections to further tracks running the length of the Port Hills. Above Victoria Park is Sugarloaf, a peak which is the location of a transmission tower used for local radio and TV stations. The Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River marks the northern extent of the suburb, flowing roughly along the base of the Port Hills. History Cashmere takes its name from Sir John Cracroft Wils ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / Ōtākaro flows through the centre of the city, with an urban park along its banks. The city's territorial authority population is people, and includes a number of smaller urban areas as well as rural areas. The population of the urban area is people. Christchurch is the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand, after Auckland. It is the major urban area of an emerging sub-region known informally as Greater Christchurch. Notable smaller urban areas within this sub-region include Rangiora and Kaiapoi in Waimakariri District, north of the Waimakariri River, and Rolleston and Lincoln in Selwyn District to the south. The first inhabitants migrated to the area sometime between 1000 and 1250 AD. They hunted moa, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the List of island countries, sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's Capital of New Zealand, capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sign Of The Takahe
The Sign of the Takahe is a neo-Gothic style historic building in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is currently leased from Christchurch City Council and run as a cafe, bar, and function centre. History Construction began on the building in 1918, spearheaded by Christchurch City councillor and New Zealand Member of Parliament, Henry George (Harry) Ell. Ell envisioned the building as the entrance rest house of Summit Road, one of four planned rest houses in the area for those walking the reserves of Port Hills that overlook Christchurch and Lyttelton harbour. The other rest houses are Sign of the Kiwi, Sign of the Bellbird, and Sign of the Packhorse. While part of the building opened to the public as the Tram Terminus Rest House in 1920, which featured a tram terminus and tearoom, it would take decades for construction of the Sign of the Takahe to be completed. Ell died suddenly in 1934, having never seen the building completed. Construction of the building continued under t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Canterbury Plains
The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in the south they merge into the plains of North Otago beyond the Waitaki River. The smaller Amuri Plain forms a northern extension of the plains. Geology The Canterbury Plains were formed from Quaternary moraine gravels transported from the Southern Alps and deposited here during glacial periods in the late Pleistocene approximately 3 million to 10,000 years ago. The alluvial gravels were then reworked as shingle fans of several of the larger rivers, notably the Waimakariri, the Rakaia, the Selwyn / Waikirikiri, and the Rangitata. Part of the Canterbury-Otago tussock grasslands, the land is suitable for moderately intensive livestock farming but is prone to droughts, especially when the prevailing wind is from the northwest. At these ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Southern Alps
The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern Alps" generally refers to the entire range, although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it. The range includes the South Island's Main Divide, which separates the water catchments of the more heavily populated eastern side of the island from those on the west coast. Politically, the Main Divide forms the boundary between the Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago regions to the southeast and the Tasman and West Coast regions to the northwest. Names The Māori name of the range is , meaning "the Mirage of the Ocean". The English explorer James Cook bestowed the name ''Southern Alps'' on 23 March 1770, admiring their "prodigious height". p. 384. They had previously been noted by Abel Tasman in 164 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Aoraki / Mount Cook
Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as . It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite challenge for mountain climbers. Aoraki / Mount Cook consists of three summits: from south to north, the Low Peak (), the Middle Peak () and the High Peak. The summits lie slightly south and east of the main divide of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, with the Tasman Glacier to the east and the Hooker Glacier to the southwest. Location The mountain is in the Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, in the Canterbury Region. The park was established in 1953 and along with Westland National Park, Mount Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park forms one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The park contains more than 140 peaks standing over and 72 named glaciers, which cover 40 percent of its . The peak is located at ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mount Tapuaenuku
Tapuae-o-Uenuku, formerly Mount Tapuaenuku, is the highest peak in the northeast of New Zealand's South Island. The name translates from Māori as "footprint of the rainbow", though is usually regarded as being named after Chief Tapuaenuku. At it is the highest mountain in New Zealand outside the main ranges of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, and over 80 metres taller than Mount Ruapehu, the tallest peak in the North Island. It dominates the Inland Kaikōura Range, rising high above the valleys of the Waiau Toa / Clarence and Awatere Rivers. It can be seen from as far away as the Kapiti Coast in the North Island, nearly 165 kilometres away, and is a prominent point on the horizon for travellers on the interisland ferries that ply Cook Strait. The first European to sight the mountain was James Cook, who called it ''Mount Odin'', but later nicknamed it "The Watcher" since his ship seemed to be visible from it at so many points along the coast. The first Eur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
John Cracroft Wilson
Sir John Cracroft Wilson (21 May 1808 – 2 March 1881), also known as Nabob Wilson, was a British-educated civil servant in India, farmer and politician in New Zealand. Early life John Cracroft Wilson was born in Onamore, India, the son of Alexander Wilson , a judge in the Madras Civil Service and a noted botanist, and Elizabeth Clementina Wilson ( Cracroft). His mother was from a long established family—the Cracrofts of Hackthorn Hall in Lincolnshire. Her family name was given to him as a second Christian name, a custom that has been followed by the family ever since; they are thus known as the Cracroft Wilsons. He was educated at Haileybury College and Brasenose College, Oxford. He returned to India in 1828 and entered the Bengal Civil Service as a cadet, advancing to become a magistrate. Advancing to the rank of assistant commissioner to William Sleeman, he was assigned to the Doab region in 1832 where he investigated men who were accused of thuggee. He married Elizabet ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Harry Ell
Henry George Ell (probably 24 September 1862 – 27 June 1934), commonly known as Harry Ell, was a Christchurch City councillor and a New Zealand Member of Parliament. He is famous for his conservation work around Christchurch's Port Hills, his advocacy for the Summit Road, and his construction of the Sign of the Takahe and other road houses along the Summit Road. Early years Ell was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and grew up on his father's farm in Halswell. As a teenager he worked at the Canterbury Museum, then as a farm hand. Between 1881 and 1884 he was a member of the Armed Constabulary in Taranaki, where he participated in the destruction of Parihaka. This experience turned him into a stern critic of the race-relations policies of the time. Ell was a Christchurch City councillor in 1903 and then again between 1917 and 1919. He was a member of the Knights of Labour and the Canterbury Liberal Association. Member of Parliament Ell stood as a prohibitionist for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Port Hills
The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The hills start at Godley Head, run approximately east–west along the northern side of Lyttelton Harbour, and continue running to the south, dividing the city from the harbour. The range terminates near Gebbies Pass above the head of the harbour. The range includes a number of summits between 300 and 500 metres above sea level. The range is of significant geological, environmental and scenic importance. History The volcano is one of two from which Banks Peninsula was originally formed 12 million years ago. The area was first populated by Māori during the 14th century. During early European settlement some 500 years later the Port Hills presented a challenging barrier between the harbour and the planned settlement of Christchurch, their s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |