Christchurch is full of really nice tree-lined suburbs located around the city center. The Cathedral square, botanical gardens would be the center of the cultural and historical experience.
The issue with Christchurch is the lack of parking space for tourists who have their own vehicles. Since it's a fairly large city for NZ standard, it's hard to always have to walk around the places you want to go. There are some free transport facilities I noticed though.
Most of Christchurch pubs, motels, cafes do not have free wifi or internet access. It's actually a shame that these establishments do not provide wifi as a free facility considering that we now all live in a global world where we would like to be connected in real time.
There is so much reluctance business owners have with providing wifi. It's actually just a $100 setup and $100 monthly expense for an unlimited vodafone or telecom access. Perhaps even telecom and vodafone themselves are preventing business owners to stop using their services - I do not know.
Christchurch is not the only NZ city that is like this.
Wellington,
Auckland and
Queenstown do not have free wifi facilities.
Some motels in Riccarton, Christchurch say they offer free internet. But beware, if you really need internet, before you book, be sure:
1. Check how fast it is. Even if you are a small user, most of these hotels won't even let you check your email! That's how slow the connection is.
2. If they say they offer complementary wifi - check how long - it might be 15 minutes...
3. Some say they are wifi-enabled but you actually have to pay!
