Canterbury Plains

As well as the usual trig, the summit had an unusual can surrounded by wooden railing saying, Revere yesterday, build on today, absorb energy and inspiration from this place.

The 1,686-metre summit also had the views you'd expect, to the east over the endless expanse of the Canterbury Plains, prime dairy country made clear by every other vehicle on the road being a Fonterra milk tanker, and to the west the Southern Alps, some of them snow-capped.

I made my way back down to collect my overnight bag and continued along the track to Raya Light Ridge Track Junction.

The forest soon turned to more open landscape with views of the plains, and I briefly stopped at the Ackland Shelter, where thankfully nearby there was a stream to refill my empty water bottles.

... currently.

Um, and, uh, the, under the government's new rules, um, tens of thousands of new dairy cattle have been consented onto the Canterbury Plains over the last 12 months, so it's gonna get considerably worse.

And of course, it's rural people on the front lines.

Yeah.

So we'd go nor'west, southwest, nor'west, southwest.

We had thunderstorms, hailstorms on the Canterbury Plains.

Um, we had southwest changes working their way through the North Island as well.

Um, quite squally conditions at times in western parts of the North Island.

But across New Zealand, there are a number of regions, and Jolie is a good example.

We're growing on the Canterbury Plains, and that's a new region for significant apple growing.

That was Director of Apples at TNG, Managing Director Shane Kingston.

All right, let's finish with the markets.

Shane Kingston says the company has big plans for Jolly and it aims to significantly increase production in the country by 2030.

They're looking to encourage growers in regions such as Marlborough to consider diversifying into planting the apples, which is currently being grown on the Canterbury Plains.

And you don't really think about New Zealand's sort of scientific and intellectual property advances, but in the field of horticulture in particular, we're world leaders.

Yeah, do some good apples.

I could just perceive that we had entered a plantation, the first trees since we left Christchurch.

Nothing seemed so wonderful to me as the utter treelessness of the vast Canterbury plains.

Occasionally you pass a few titi palms, ordinarily called cabbage trees, or a large prickly bush which goes by the name of wild Irishman.

But for miles and miles you see nothing but flat ground or slightly undulating downs of yellow tussocks, the tall native grass.

Here the sky was still sheltering the flying night, and the white outlines looked ghostly against the dull neutral tints, though every peak was sharply and clearly defined.

Then I turned round to see before me such a glow of light and beauty.

For an immense distance I could see the vast Canterbury Plains.

To the left the Waimakariri River, flowing in many streams, like a tangled bunch of silver ribbons, as Mr. Butler calls it in his charming book on New Zealand, down to the sea.

I could just perceive that we had entered a plantation, the first trees since we left Christchurch.

Nothing seems so wonderful to me as the utter treelessness of the vast Canterbury Plains.

Occasionally you pass a few titi palms, ordinarily called cabbage trees, or a large prickly bush which goes by the name of wild Irishman.

But for miles and miles you see nothing but flat ground or slightly undulating downs of yellow tussocks, the tall native grass.

Here the sky was still sheltering the flying night, and the white outlines looked ghostly against the dull neutral tints, though every peak was sharply and clearly defined.

Then I turned round to see before me such a glow of light and beauty.

For an immense distance I could see the vast Canterbury plains.

To the left the Waimakariri River, flowing in many streams, like a tangled bunch of silver ribbons, as Mr. Butler calls it in his charming book on New Zealand, down to the sea.