Contemporary Christchurch

New Zealand’s oldest city Christchurch is more than punting on the Avon and Octagon wizardry, and boasts plenty to do for the intrepid, including tram, Segway and Antarctica tours, a visit to Fred and Myrtle’s Paua Shell House and sundowners at SOL Square’s “Austin Power”-like Minx. There’s more: “Ride the Christchurch Gondola to the Summit Cafe for a scenic lunch 500m above sea level, then meet your guide for a one- to two-hour downhill adventure,” suggests The Age’s Louise Southerden. Or if it’s raining catch “the world’s longest-running movie, cult classic Gloomy Sunday, which has been showing for eight years in the Arts Centre’s intimate Academy Classic cinema. For dinner, try Dux de Lux, a Christchurch institution founded in 1978 and specialising in fresh seafood, world-class vegetarian fare, beer brewed on site and live music.”