It’s a popular question to ask any engaged couple but when you’re a travel journalist who visits bucket-list international destinations for a job, people are especially curious.
Would we head to a capital-H-Honeymoon spot like Rarotonga or Queenstown? Or adventure somewhere exotic like Ecuador or Vanuatu? As it turned out, not a single person guessed we would pack our bags and spend our honeymoon in … Christchurch.
Responses varied from faux-enthusiasm (“Oh? Erm, iiiiinteresting!”) to blatant disappointment (“Isn’t that a bit sad?”) but none were surprising. Even I didn’t consider Christchurch a “special occasion” destination, let alone the place where you should spend your only honeymoon.
Yet, when my then-fiance and I discussed what we wanted from our honeymoon (unhurried days together spent exploring a culture-rich city and indulging in incredible food), Christchurch appeared to tick all the boxes. And if I’ve learnt anything about travel, the destination’s reputation isn’t as important as whether it actually fits your desires.
So, would Christchurch be a massive mistake or the perfect choice?
DAY ONE
After three days off the grid in Sheffield, we arrive in Christchurch city centre and roll straight into Westend Stories. Tucked in amongst a block of tall glass buildings in the bustling CBD, the 6-year-old eatery is a popular spot for city-goers, especially at 7.30am on a weekday. A “Full Westend” (think eggs on sourdough with all the fancy fixings), super sweet toasted granola bowl, and several coffees later, it’s 8.30am, time to amble two blocks over to Chill - Explore With Us to check out Christchurch from two wheels for a few hours.
Breakfast at Westend Stories. Photo / Sarah Pollok
For this morning’s bike tour, it’s just us two and Dave, a self-described “straight to the point kinda guy” with 20 years of touring experience and an exhaustive knowledge of Christchurch. In five minutes flat, we’re set up with bikes and rolling out into the heart of the (blissfully flat) city. As we spin along streets, wide pathways and bike lanes, Dave reels off a guidebook’s worth of recommendations. Whether it’s locally-made hot sauce or sunset spots, farmers markets or walking tracks, Dave knows where to find the best of whatever takes your fancy.
Within minutes, we’re at the entrance of Hagley Park, the green gem west of Christchurch, which buzzes with dog walkers, joggers, parents pushing prams and friends walking laps. After literally stopping to smell the roses in one of the manicured gardens, and learning some botany from our mate Dave, we zoom back east to visit Margaret Mahy Family Playground and try a lap of the small urban pump track, before closing our loop at the shop.
See the city on two wheels with a urban bike tour. Photo / Sarah Pollok
With the sun firmly in the crisp, cloudless sky, it’s time for lunch at Tussock Hill Cellar Door, tucked up in the Port Hills. Up this high and with a floor-to-ceiling glass front, the petite restaurant is flooded with light and sweeping views of the vineyards and city below.
Noon on a workday, we’re amongst a handful of other diners but in no rush, so we leisurely make our way through the menu: gamefish crudo topped with rhubarb granita, oyster-cut lamb shoulder so tender you could cut it with a spoon and barbecued asparagus with grilled artichokes. The star of every dish is whatever is in season in Canterbury.
A delicious lunch at Tussock Hill. Photo / Sarah Pollok
Cheeks pink from the decadent dishes, champagne and generous sun, we wind the windows down and loop down into the city again to check in to one of Christchurch’s most romantic hotels, The Observatory. Once part of the University of Canterbury science faculties, the late 19th-century buildings ooze old-school class, with handsome dark stonework and spacious courtyard “quads”.
The decor is old yet playful at The Observatory hotel. Photo / Sarah Pollok
Stepping inside, though, we’re greeted by decadent decor in playful tones. In hotel suite The Verdigris Room, lilac-lacquered side tables and a floral patterned chaise lounge are featured, with turquoise walls and gold lamps on either side of the palatial white bed. This is even before considering the hotel’s unbeatable location in the heart of Christchurch Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, and thus a five-minute walk from countless restaurants and shops such as Fragranzi, our next stop.
Trip mementos take many forms (photos, T-shirts, artwork or tea towels) but few are as romantic or memorable as making your own perfume, which is exactly what we’re doing at Fragranzi. Located on the ground floor of the old Boys’ High School in the Arts Centre, the perfumery sells a range of fragrances but today, we were going DIY. Sure enough, 45 minutes later we leave with two unique bottles of personalised perfume and a new understanding of perfume-making courtesy of Glenda Evans, Fragranzi’s co-owner.
The romance continued at Lovoir Day Spa, where we were booked in for a couple’s hot stone massage and relaxation facial. Following a few wrong turns in The Crossing shopping centre, we find the glossy fit-out on level one and hand ourselves over to Meg and Emily, beauticians tasked with kneading eight months’ worth of wedding-related knots out of our bodies. Did they succeed? According to my husband’s gentle snores around 45 minutes into the treatment, yes.
We ended the day at INATI, a restaurant that forever changed my impression of degustation dining from something pretentious, overpriced and pretty bland to a playful, innovative and unbelievably delicious experience. This is all thanks to Simon and Lisa Levy, the chef and front-of-house duo we meet after climbing onto the tall cushy barstools surrounding a small open kitchen. Within minutes we’re bantering like old friends, as Simon recommends then dishes up large and small tasting plates that look like small sculptures and taste so good I shamelessly scrape most of them clean.
INATI means 'to share' but it's hard to when the food is so good. Photo / Sarah Pollok
I’m not a morning person but I am a soaking-in-a-hot-pool and a relaxing-in-a-sauna person. So, we are all too happy to wake up early for He Puna Taimoana Hot Pools’ “Sunrise Soak” in New Brighton. Today, we are the only two in the top pool, which is heated to a delicious 40C and sits parallel to New Brighton Beach’s magnificent surf. But even on a typical morning, limited booking spots and a 16-plus age requirement mean the sunrise experience, held on Thursdays and Saturdays from winter to spring, is always peacefully private.
Once the sun has burned through the eastern horizon fog, we don our pristine waffle robes and jump between the icy plunge pool and dry hot sauna until our skin prickles with energy. An hour later, Christchurch is just waking up but we’re fizzing and ready to hit the ground running, or walking, on a tour with Watch This Space.
A street art tour is best given by the man with a PhD in the topic. Photo / Sarah Pollok
When it comes to guiding us around Christchurch’s street art scene, few people are better qualified than Dr Reuben Woods, a kind-faced, deeply passionate Canterbrian with a PhD in street art. In 2016, Woods set up “Watch This Space”, an organisation that documents and supports Ōtautahi street art, which flourished post-quake. Much like art in a gallery, many of the city’s giant murals or installations are objectively beautiful. But it’s only with context that we fully appreciate the technical skill or heartfelt meaning. A two-storey-high black cat was commissioned to raise awareness of pet adoption, while a tiny sculpture attached to a street lamp pays homage to an area destroyed by the 2010 quake. With Woods there to translate, our eyes are opened to the stories scattered throughout the city.
All too soon, it’s time to hit the road to make lunch. Christchurch may not be considered a wine mecca but drive 45 minutes north of the city and you’ll hit Waipara, which boasts 75 vineyards and counting. Today, we’re stopping at Black Estate’s cellar door, a stylish black barn that looks down on kilometres of vineyard and out across the towering valley. Here, everything from the polished waitstaff and tasty set menu to the thoughtful wine pairings and interior decor is elegant yet understated; a combination that makes the experience feel special yet comfortable. Our recommendation? Trust the pairings, get the set menu and grab a spot by the window.
The food is as good as the view at Black Estate. Photo / Sarah Pollok
It wouldn’t be a trip to Christchurch without a punt along the Avon River. So, after cruising back through the lush valley, we park up at Punting On The Avon for a romantic boat ride. After a quick safety briefing, four of us, plus our punter, set off from the Antigua Boatsheds towards the Botanic Gardens. Gliding along, we pass troupes of fuzzy ducklings bobbing along, riverbanks blanketed in wildflowers and willows lazily arched over the river.
The city is metres away but here, in this picturebook moment, all is quiet bar the birdsong and rhythmic swish of the punter’s quant, the romance of it all only heightened by learning the other couple in front also got married last week and had flown to Christchurch for their honeymoon. Fifteen minutes later, we smoothly pivot and return to the boatsheds just as a drizzle shakes loose from the sky.
Anticipating a celebratory last dinner, we’re thrilled to discover Cellar Door, a gorgeously classy wine bar, is a literal stone’s throw from our hotel. Or rather, just across the stone courtyard, in what was Canterbury College’s School of Art building. The cosy bar’s interior honours these roots, with forest green walls, dark wooden tables and moody pendant lighting that, when combined with the view of the Gothic buildings outside, makes one feel like they’re in an old Oxford pub.
With a name like Cellar Door, one arrives with expectations for gorgeous vino and Beth the sommelier does not disappoint, expertly explaining wine flights best suited to our dishes: a roasted oyster mushroom with celeriac almond creme I would buy by the jarful, some perfectly charred asparagus with olive powder and tender tuna pastrami. Tealights flickering low some hours later, we amble back to The Observatory, utterly convinced that, if the perfect honeymoon includes a dynamic arts scene and old-world class, delicious, innovative dining and a lot of beautiful wine, you really can’t go wrong in Christchurch.
Cellar Door dishes up old school vibes with vibrant dishes. Photo / Sarah Pollok
Staying longer?
Don’t miss out on Lyttelton’s gorgeously bohemian weekend, take a drive to the French settlement of Akaroa on Banks Peninsula, or grab a bite at one of the dozens of new eateries that pop up every week, such as Bar Franco, a Mediterranean delight in the heart of the city.
