BOATING ON THE AVON, CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Graphic, 25 December 1905, Page 32

BOATING ON THE AVON, CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND.

EVERY large city ill New Zealand lias its own special scenic attractions, but there is only one Christchurch and one Avon. The “ City of the Plains ” cannot of course vie with Auckland, or Wellington, or Dunedin in the scale or the impressiveness of its surroun lings; but the little river that wanders through the town goes far to

make up for the absence of sea, or bush, or hill. It is a tiny little stream at best, for its source in upper Riccarton is not more than ten miles in a direct line from the sea. But the value of rivers cannot be measured by length alone, and the Avon is to Christchurch a unique and most beautiful possession. It is deep and broad enough even for regattas for about seven or eight miles of its course below the town, and some of the best oarsmen and most famous rowing crews that the Colony has produced have trained on the long stretch of winding water between the “Willows” and the Estuary. There are three or four rowing clubs and three or four boa* sheds, at which visitors can hire light pleasure boats ; and the amount of sculling, canoeing, and even punting done on the Avon in summer simply defies calculation. For though the river in and above the town is too shallow and too narrow, and too winding for serious rowing, yet it is an almost ideal stream for a boat on a summer afternoon or evening. To float on its clear pure waters—cold as the snow from which its sources spring—under the drooping boughs of huge old trees between the high green banks where the tall grass hides the buttercups, to watch the speckled trout darting from under the boat’s keel as silently it drifts down the stream, to mark the change of light and colour on the surface from the bright ripple over grey shingle beds to the cool green depths of shadow among the roots of the giant willows; to know the Avon, in short, is to gain an insight into the peace and perfection of quiet sylvan beauty that no other scene can afford, even in this land so richly dowered with all the gifts that lavish Nature can bestow.