1.
Christchurch
–
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. The Christchurch urban area lies on the South Islands east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula and it is home to 389,700 residents, making it New Zealands third most-populous urban area behind Auckland and Wellington. The city was named by the Canterbury Association, which settled the province of Canterbury. The name of Christchurch was agreed on at the first meeting of the association on 27 March 1848 and it was suggested by John Robert Godley, who had attended Christ Church, Oxford. Some early writers called the town Christ Church, but it was recorded as Christchurch in the minutes of the management committee of the association, Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The Avon River flows through the centre of the city, with a park located along its banks. At the request of the Deans brothers, the river was named after the River Avon in Scotland, the usual Māori name for Christchurch is Ōtautahi. This was originally the name of a site by the Avon River near present-day Kilmore Street. The site was a dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Potiki Tautahi. The Ōtautahi name was adopted in the 1930s, prior to that the Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration of the English word Christian. The citys name is abbreviated by New Zealanders to Chch. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is the fingerspelled letter C signed twice, with the second to the right of the first. Archaeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250 CE. These first inhabitants were thought to have followed by the Waitaha tribe. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha were dispossessed by the Ngati Mamoe tribe and they were in turn subjugated by the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers. Their abandoned holdings were taken over by the Deans brothers in 1843 who stayed, the First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the first 792 of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton Harbour. These sailing vessels were the Randolph, Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, the Charlotte Jane was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850. The Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, the name Christ Church was decided prior to the ships arrival, at the Associations first meeting, on 27 March 1848
2.
Estuary
–
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea began to rise about 10. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns, the banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along estuaries and the coast. The word estuary is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, there have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. However, this definition excludes a number of water bodies such as coastal lagoons. This broad definition also includes fjords, lagoons, river mouths, an estuary is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the water flowing from rivers. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of water, the tidal range. Drowned river valleys are known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and this is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border, the width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m, examples of this type of estuary in the U. S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations and these estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches. Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters, bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U. S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments, barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries
3.
Heathcote River
–
The Heathcote River lies within the city boundaries of Christchurch, New Zealand, and is fed from springs near Templetons Road and also receives wet weather flows from as far west as Pound Road. It meanders around the base of the Port Hills from west to south-east, the catchment of the Heathcote River extends to the suburb of Yaldhurst. It drains an area of approximately 100 square kilometres, with the Cashmere Stream the largest tributary and it flows through Wigram, Hillmorton, Hoon Hay, Spreydon, Cracroft, Cashmere, Beckenham, St Martins, Opawa, Woolston and Ferrymead. It drains into the Avon Heathcote Estuary before draining into Pegasus Bay, the original name of this river, Ō-pa-waho means The Place of the Outward Pā, or The Outpost and refers to this pā being an outpost of Kaiapoi. The pā was built in a location just downstream of the present Opawa Road Bridge. It was a place for Ngāi Tahu travelling between Kaiapoi and Horomaka. The surrounding area was an important mahinga kai, a source of food, especially tuere. The river historically meandered through extensive wetlands prior to urbanisation, historic survey maps from the mid-19th century indicate that the habitat that the river passed through was abundant in flax, toetoe, raupo, tutu and ferns and was dotted with ti kouka. The river corridor was low-lying and very wet, when the Waimakariri River rose and flowed across the plains, even higher ground was prone to flooding. Over many centuries of using the river as a source and transport corridor. The swamp forest around the river provided gathering grounds for water fowl, traps were regularly set for inanga, pātiki, and tuna. The Heathcote River is named after Sir William Heathcote, secretary of the Canterbury Association, the Heathcote River provided Woolston plentiful water for industries like wool scouring. In 1966 the Woolston industrial sewer was built, and up until that time the river had become increasingly polluted. Flooding had also become a problem and in 1986 the Woolston Cut began to flood waters to bypass a long loop of the river. The 510-metre long project, which cost NZ$2m, had as a consequence that the trees on the riverbank died as far upstream as the Opawa bridge, and that banks collapsed. As a mitigating measure, the Woolston Tidal Barrage was built at the end of the cut. During normal flow regimes, the Heathcote remains to flow through the Woolston Loop, but despite the Woolston Cut, parts of the Heathcote River flood about annually. During 2008, Christchurch City Council consulted on a management plan for the section of river located between Colombo Street and Opawa Road, which was adopted on 9 April 2009
4.
Hagley Park
–
Hagley Park is the largest urban open space in Christchurch, New Zealand, and was created in 1855 by the Provincial Government. According to the decree at that time, Hagley Park is reserved forever as a public park. Hagley Park is characterised by its trees and broad open spaces, Hagley Park was named after Hagley Park, the country estate of Lord Lyttelton, who became chairman of the Canterbury Association in March 1850. The boundaries of the park, which is located in the city of Christchurch, are defined by both the Avon River and the surrounding roadways. The longest road boundary is that along Deans Avenue on the side adjacent to the suburb of Riccarton. To the north and northeast, the path of the Avon River bounds the park. Moorhouse Avenue and Hagley Avenue form the south and south-eastern boundaries, along the eastern boundary, the Park is defined by the two kilometre loop of the Avon River, which extends into the side of Hagley Park. The Christchurch Botanic Gardens are located within this loop and frequent bridges provide connections, the Botanic Gardens contain a collection of beautiful flowers and trees from around the world. The gardens attract many birds to the park, and sightseers frequently visit the park to view the plants, the Canterbury Museum and Christs College are the two other land uses that take up the balance of the land within the rivers loop. Two major avenues subdivide the park into three units, the northern unit is Little Hagley Park, with North Hagley Park lying to the south of Harper Avenue. South Hagley Park lies to the south of North Hagley Park, at various times, it was proposed to build additional roads through the park. In the 1860s, it was considered to connect Armagh Street with the Great South Road, in its early days, Hagley Park was used for horse races. In 1906, the Australasian tennis championships were held in Hagley Park as part of the Grand Slam, the singles event was won by Tony Wilding, who defeated Francis Fisher in three sets. In recent years, the park has hosted many visiting circuses, the Ellerslie Flower Show has been held in North Hagley Park since 2008. A golf course is located in North Hagley Park, South Hagley Park contains several netball courts, the Hagley Oval cricket ground and a heliport for Christchurch Hospital. Hagley Park Map, Christchurch City Council Hagley Park, Christchurch City Council The Christchurch Botanic Gardens
5.
Christchurch Central City
–
Christchurch Central City is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It suffered heavy damage in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake and was devastated in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, following this second earthquake, the Central City Red Zone was set up and, with a gradually shrinking area, remained inaccessible except to authorised contractors until June 2013. At the centre of the city is Cathedral Square, surrounding the Anglican cathedral, the area around this square and within the four avenues of Christchurch is considered the central business district of the city. The city centre is laid out in a pattern, interrupted only by the curvilinear alignment of the Avon River. Christchurch has four pairs of one-way streets, the grid pattern within the outermost one-way streets is very regular, as this is the area that was laid out in the original survey. The surrounding area, i. e. the belt between the outer one-way streets and the avenues, was developed later in a progressive fashion, like most of the city, the centre is relatively flat. The European settlement of Christchurch was undertaken by the Canterbury Association and that year, the Canterbury Association sent out Captain Joseph Thomas, accompanied by surveyors, to select and prepare a site for settlement. Back then, the Avon River was navigable as far as The Bricks just upstream of the Barbadoes Street bridge, the site is these days marked by a riverbank cairn. The site got its name when the Deans Brothers in the 1840s had shipped bricks for their Riccarton homestead up the Avon River, the first city built with this pattern was Philadelphia, later came Savannah and Adelaide. The fourth city using this pattern was Christchurch, as such Christchurch holds an important legacy and a strong platform for future development. Thomas plan for Christchurch was the rectangular grid of colonial settlement. Thomas did not allow Jollie to include crescents to provide variety, two diagonal streets also broke the regularity of the grid. At the very centre of the city was a Square intended as a centre for the city. The grid was laid out originally between Salisbury Street to the north and St Asaph Street to the south and between Barbadoes Street to the east and Rolleston Avenue/Park Terrace to the west. The streets of the grid were mostly projected out to the Town Belts. The names chosen for the streets of the city almost all commemorate the English colonial origins of the settlement. The names chosen later for the town belts commemorate important personalities of early Christchurch, if I agreed with him that it did, I put the name to one of the streets requiring baptism. This accounts for, what to anyone not knowing the circumstances, appears strange, viz, Sumner in fact died too late for the names there used to be again employed in Christchurch
6.
Pacific Ocean
–
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
7.
Sumner, New Zealand
–
Originally a separate borough, it was amalgamated with the city of Christchurch as communications improved and the economies of scale made small town boroughs uneconomic to operate. Sumner was surveyed in 1849 by Edward Jollie for Captain Joseph Thomas and his map showed 527 sections and numerous reserved and provisions for churches, schools, cemeteries, town hall, emigration barracks and other town amenities. However, his plans were abandoned through lack of funds and a new survey on which Sumner is based was carried out in 1860, Captain Thomas named the settlement for Bishop John Bird Sumner, one of the leading members of the Canterbury Association. The Māori name for the area is Ohikaparuparu, Sumner was at first under the control of the Canterbury Provincial Council. In 1872, it came under the control of the Heathcote Road District, when provincial councils were disestablished in 1876 and replaced with counties, Sumner had a second parent body, the Selwyn County added to the continuing road board. In 1883, Sumner was constituted as a district and was run by a board of five elected commissioners. The board elected its own chairmen, and the two people who filled that role were C. L. Wiggins and J. M. Wheeler, on 1 June 1891, Sumner was proclaimed a borough. Mayoral elections were held on 27 June, and the last chairman was elected the first Mayor of Sumner, Sumner was settled in late 1849 or early 1850 by work crews building the road to Lyttelton, Sumner is thus one of the oldest European settlements in the Christchurch area. The Day family was the first to settle permanently in Sumner followed by Edward Dobson, Sumner had its first shop early in 1870, and its proprietor, S. E. Horneman, was postmaster from 1873 until 1876, in 1885 the Harbour Board granted the concession to build a bath at the East end of Sumner beach. Bell enclosed some of the sea, built dressing sheds and a tea shop, the bathing pool was a great attraction but every year terrific storms would batter the bath and gradually dump fine sand. Eventually a flood filled the bath with clay and silt from the hills causing its closure, in 1912 Sumner established its own gasworks and electricity was connected in 1918. The Anglican evangelical leader William Orange was vicar of Sumner from 1930–1945, on 22 February 2011, Sumner was hit by the Christchurch earthquake, which destroyed or made uninhabitable a large number of the local houses and commercial buildings. On 13 June the same year, Sumner was hit by earthquake of almost the same magnitude as the February event. These two earthquakes caused many of Sumners iconic cliffs to collapse, and many areas to be cordoned off with both traditional fences and shipping containers. Sumner is nestled in a coastal valley separated from the adjacent city suburbs by rugged volcanic hill ridges that end in cliffs that descend to the sea shore in places. Sumner Bay is the first bay on the side of Banks Peninsula and faces Pegasus Bay. Because of its exposure, a high surf can form in some swell conditions
8.
William Shakespeare
–
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
9.
Punt (boat)
–
This article concentrates on the history and development of punts and punting in England, for other usages see Norfolk punt and the general disambiguation pages at punt and punter. A punt is a boat with a square-cut bow, designed for use in small rivers or other shallow water. Punting refers to boating in a punt, the punter generally propels the punt by pushing against the river bed with a pole. A punt should not be confused with a gondola, a shallow draft vessel that is different. Punts were originally built as boats or platforms for fowling and angling. The term punt has also used to indicate a smaller version of a regional type of long shore working boat. This derives from the usage in coastal communities of the name punt for any small clinker-built open-stem general purpose boat. In Canada, the punt can also refer to any small flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow, regardless of purpose, building material. In Australia, cable ferries are commonly referred to as punts, a traditional river punt differs from many other types of wooden boat in that it has no keel, stem, or sternpost. Instead, it is rather like a ladder with the main structure being two side panels connected by a series of 4 in cross planks, known as treads. The first punts are traditionally associated with the River Thames in England and were built as cargo boats or platforms for fishermen. Pleasure punts – specifically built for recreation – became popular on the Thames between 1860 and 1880, since a punt has no keel, it draws only a few inches even when fully laden, this makes it very manoeuvrable and suitable for shallow water. A punt can be punted with equal facility in either direction, the square-cut bow gives greater carrying capacity for a given length than a boat of the same beam with a narrow or pointed bow, it also makes the boat very stable, and suitable for passengers. Punts are still made in England to supply the tourist trade in Oxford, the construction material of choice for most punts is wood. Fibreglass is used for very light and narrow racing punts. The sides, the ends, and the till are normally made of such as mahogany. The treads are made from teak. The bottom is made of softwood and may be replaced several times during the life of a particular boat, a traditional punt is about 24 feet long and 3 feet wide
