Riccarton House and Deans Bush

The Deans brothers settled here in 1843, before the organised Canterbury settlement, and the family kept a block of the original forest uncut when everything around it was cleared for farmland and then for a city. Riccarton Bush - Putaringamotu - is the result: about six hectares of kahikatea forest, some trees over six hundred years old, the last remnant of the podocarp forest that stood on the Canterbury plains, now enclosed by a predator-proof fence completed in 2004. It is small enough to walk in twenty minutes and significant out of all proportion to its size. Beside it stand Riccarton House, the family's 1856 cottage - the oldest building in Canterbury - and the larger Victorian homestead, open for guided tours. On Saturday mornings the grounds hold the Christchurch Farmers' Market, which is one of the better ones in the country and draws a considerable crowd.

What you actually see

• The kahikatea remnant - six hectares, some trees over six hundred years old.
• The 1843 Deans cottage - the oldest building in Canterbury.
• Riccarton House - the Victorian homestead, on guided tours.
• The Saturday market - the farmers' market in the grounds.

When to go

Any season. Saturday morning for the market. House tours run to a schedule with limited numbers - book if it matters.

Honest expectations

The bush is small - twenty minutes - and its value is scientific and historical rather than scenic. House entry is guided and ticketed. The market makes Saturday mornings crowded and parking hard.

Nearby

Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens are east; central Christchurch is fifteen minutes away.