Located on the east coast of the South Island Christchurch - just like the rest of New Zealand - is a city of contrasts. It is a place where its residents continue to enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle amidst a natural environment world-renowned for its beauty. A growing cosmopolitan ambience also adds a touch of excitement without overt flashiness.Everywhere there is an understated elegance that speaks of times gone by and promises a future where anything is possible. It really is the city that shines.Maori oral history suggests that people first inhabited the Canterbury area about a thousand years ago. These first inhabitants were moahunting tribes and these were followed by the Waitaha who are thought to have migrated from the east coast of the North Island in the 16th century. This migration was joined by the Ngati Mamoe and Ngai Tahu and continued until about 1830. The first European landed in Canterbury in 1815 45 years after Captain James Cook sighted what he named Banks Island.