Canterbury Plains

The direct route from Christchurch to Oamaru is State Highway (SH) 1. We read that it was more scenic to take an inland route, and so we took State Highways 73, 77 and 72 along the western edge of the Canterbury Plains, before returning to SH 1 near Temuka.

The Canterbury Plains lie between Christchurch on the coast and the mountains to the west—the Southern Alps. The Plains contain much agriculture, and the drive was indeed scenic. This is just outside Christchurch:

The Canterbury Plains are one big gravel bank that washed down from the glaciers in the mountains. I did not notice any land tilled for row crops, but there were endless pastures bounded by trimmed hedgerows and full of sheep:

...and dairy cows:

We also saw beef cattle and deer. Much of the pasture was irrigated:

On the western edge of the Plains, the road crossed the Rakaia River near the Rakaia Gorge. The color of the water is typical of glacier melt: