Canterbury for Easter - top tips?

[norma]

Having realised that it is now 10 years since my OH and I last travelled in Canterbury, we've booked the flights and a campervan for a week at Easter. We have two kids ages 8 and 5 who love wildlife and walking and intend to visit Akaroa, Kaikoura, Hanmer and possibly Mt Cook if we can fit it in. So residents of Canterbury, do you have any top tips on those off-the-beaten-track places to camp, visit, walk, etc? We're big fans of remote DOC campsites if we can get to them in a 4-berth camper.

[Gnomon]

http://www.oranawildlifepark.co.nz/about.htm

Orana wild life park is very closed to Christchurch airport on McLeans Island road and the thing we most enjoyed there is the kids could hand feed the giraffes at 2pm. It was fantastic!

[Jon-and-Lou]

Try Mount Grey (Just off from Amberley, North of Christchurch)

Basic Campsite which you get to via about 10km gravel road (unsealed). However it's wonderful views ... usually very quiet, and some fantastic walks.

Also further North is Gore Bay - beautiful. There are also a couple more campsites near there too, all accessble.

Walking .. you must go out to Godley Head, and do the tunnel walk - my kids loved it. It's a good hour or so walk, through 100m tunnel which was dug in WW2. Several gun stations still exist, and also the old planning and engine rooms at the top.

We haven't travelled south of Christchurch really so someone else will need to advise you of those places.

Lou

[mylesdw]

Some good suggestions there already. We climbed Mt Grey just the other day; a couple of hours to the top from Lake Janet and some great views from the top.

At Akaroa, great camping at Okane's Bay.

At Hamner the Waterfall Walk is very nice and not too demanding. Loads to do at Hamner in general.

Kaikoura, you may want to pre-book whale watching if you want that. It can be fully booked.

I'd consider not doing the Mt Cook bit. The drive down through Mackenzie country is superb but to me that would make the difference between a nice laid-back week and a week with a lot of driving.

[benandclare]

We've camped out Lake Coleridge way and it's superb

http://www.lakecoleridgenz.info/

[norma]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I can start planning our itinerary now.