4 Best Sights in Christchurch and Canterbury, New Zealand

When this museum was founded in 1867, its trading power with national and international museums was in moa bones (these Jurassic birds roamed the plains of Canterbury and are believed to have been hunted to extinction by early Māori). The museum still houses one of the largest collections of artifacts from the moa hunting period. You'll also find an interactive natural-history center, called Discovery, where kids can dig for fossils. The Hall of Antarctic Discovery charts the links between the city and Antarctica, from the days when Captain Cook skirted the continent in a small wooden ship. Among the 20th-century explorers celebrated here are the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who was first to visit the South Pole, and Captain Robert Falcon Scott, who died returning from the continent. Fred & Myrtle's Paua Shell House tells the story of an iconic Kiwi couple and recreates their paua (abalone) shell--covered living room which was originally in Bluff. The café looks out over the Botanic Gardens.

Starting in 1916, New Zealand pilots learned how to fly at Wigram Airfield. The Air Force's old hangars plus a state-of-the-art aircraft hall now hold exhibits on aviation history, including the Royal New Zealand Air Force, flight simulators, and 30 classic aircraft. Take the behind-the-scenes guided tour to see aircraft restoration projects in action in other hangars.

The focus of historic interest is the Akaroa Museum, which has a display of Māori pounamu (greenstone) as well as alternating exhibits on the area's multicultural past. The peninsula supported a significant Māori population, and the collections and displays tell some of the exciting stories of Kai Tahu, the people of the land. The building is currently being strengthened for earthquakes, but the museum is still open. The Old Courthouse, the old Custom House, and Langlois-Eteveneaux House, the two-room cottage of an early French settler, are also part of the museum.

This collection of buildings contains 20,000 Māori and 19th-century colonial artifacts, including waka (canoes) used in Waitangi Day celebrations and displays such as a smithy and print shop. There are also a wharenui (Māori meetinghouse), colonial homes, including a totara slab cottage, and a saddlery and harness shop. If you happen to be in the area on Waitangi Day (February 6), New Zealand's national day, the museum marks it in style.