Nine must-do highlights of Christchurch, New Zealand

Experience a new dawn at He Puna Taimoana's indulgent Sunrise Soak.

THE HOT POOLS

After a mammoth, decade's long reconstruction following the 2011 earthquake, New Zealand's second biggest city is experiencing a new dawn. You, too, can literally experience a new dawn at He Puna Taimoana's indulgent Sunrise Soak. These popular hot pools, opened in 2020, are set right on the beach at suburban New Brighton from where you soak it all in, accompanied by a morning mocktail in the deliciously warm waters. See hepunataimoana.co.nz

THE RESTAURANT

Foodies have been really looking up to Jackson Mehlhopt, head chef at Christchurch's new Tussock Hill Vineyard and Cellar Door Restaurant, and in more ways than one. Mehlhopt, in his early 20s, won the 2022 "rising star" award in the leading Kiwi magazine, Cuisine for his skilled and imaginative cooking at this hilltop boutique architect-designed winery restaurant and accommodation hotspot, situated high above the remade city. See tussockhill.co.nz

THE BAR

Eschew the flashier drinking holes elsewhere and head directly to the cosy and much more grown-up Cellar Door wine bar inside the glorious neo-gothic School of Art building in Christchurch's restored heritage Arts Centre precinct. Home to curated wine tasting flights and a wide selection of local, New Zealand drops by the glass and bottle as well as local craft beer. It's all complemented by an excellent seasonal food menu with al fresco tables overlooking the gorgeous centre's elegant quadrangle and lawn. See cellardoor.nz

THE MARKET

Credit: Pam Carmichael

In the mostly revived central Christchurch CBD, gone is the imaginative shopping precinct artfully fashioned from shipping containers erected as a temporary measure post the quake. But the coolly-designed and decorated Riverside Market (riverside.nz), is a more than worthy and permanent replacement. Set beside the charming willow-lined Avon River, renowned for its Cambridge-style punts, Riverside's a lively indoors local marketplace stuffed with fresh food stalls, providores and casual eateries. See riverside.nz

THE ROOFTOP BAR

Each of the five floors at the boutique-style Muse Art Hotel (musehotel.co.nz) in the CBD has been assigned to a different local artist but the level that impresses most is the rooftop. It's home to the happening, mostly open-air bar, Pink Lady (pinkladyrooftop.co.nz) along with the snazzily retro-designed (and fully enclosed) Seven, a relaxed share plate-based restaurant (sevendining.co.nz). Both the bar and restaurant deliver fabulous city and hillside panoramas by day and night but do rug up on cooler days and nights.

THE HOTEL

Christchurch has long required a genuine signature design hotel to compete with the more fashionable, and for that matter favoured, likes of Auckland and Wellington and here it is in the form of the elegant The Observatory Hotel. This colourful 33-room bolthole - which, yes, was once a university observatory - opened only earlier this year, introducing chic and characterful digs to the Arts Centre precinct. To add to its stylish, coffee-table book strewn main guest lounge space, The Observatory is set to open its own onsite bar. See observatoryhotel.co.nz

THE BRUNCH

Even if the imaginative, contemporary food, including at breakfast and brunch, served at Miro was not as terrific as it is, it'd still be well worth a visit to the superb Avon River-side Art Deco building, a notable quake survivor, in which it operates. Built in 1934, the building is a former exclusive (legit) gentlemen's club with its timber-clad glory fully intact with MIro's dining room also featuring high ceilings, outsized windows and open fires. A true architectural and culinary gem. See miro.nz

THE MUSEUM

Credit: Kevin Clarke

New Zealand's most famous Nobel Laureate, Ernest Lord Rutherford is the subject of the free Rutherford's Den museum. Here you can trace the brilliant career of one of the world's greatest scientists. Housed in the 19th century era Arts Centre Clock Tower, the den is home to the actual rooms where Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, studied while a student when the facility was home to Canterbury College, nowadays the University of Canterbury. See artscentre.org.nz

THE DETOUR

Christchurch is an ideal base for easy day trips around the surrounding South Island with the Waipara wine region, an hour by road from town, a lesser-known option. Home to the cool, sunny and dry climate drops of the emerging North Canterbury wine regions, including lauded premium pinot noir, chardonnay and riesling, Waipara's Black Estate organic winery, with its striking, suitably all black cellar door and restaurant, is a beaut spot for lunch overlooking the vines and the valley offering Southern Alps glimpses. See christchurchnz.com; newzealand.com

ONE MORE THING

New Zealand's main cities are overlooked as viable short break destinations with the new-look Christchurch perfect for a four to five day escape from Australia's east coast (and there's also the bonus of our relatively strong dollar against the Kiwi).

The writer visited as a guest of Tourism New Zealand, ChristchurchNZ and Air New Zealand. See newzealand.com; christchurchnz.com; airnewzealand.com.au