Grab your bucket and spade!

Summer is here so grab your bucket and spade…and maybe a spray bottle, masonry trowel, spatula, Popsicle stick or pastry brush. Get down to the beach for some training because you could be carving out a sand sculpture at the Inaugural New Zealand Sand Castle Competition at New Brighton beach on 4 to 6 March 2010.

Check out New Zealand Sandcastle Competition for some inspiration and handy hints on creating that masterpiece. You can also enter one of the three competitions on offer or book your place at the Sandcastle Ball. So, get down to the beach and get building!
See what is in our collection on sandcastle building.

160 years ago today – The Charlotte Jane arrived in Lyttelton

The first of the famed First Four Ships arrived exactly 160 year ago today. These vessels carried the first organised group of settlers to the Canterbury Association’s new settlement.

The Charlotte Jane anchored at Lyttelton at 10am on Monday 16 December 1850, and James Edward Fitzgerald was the first of the new arrivals ashore.

The second of the ships, the Randolph, arrived on the afternoon of 16 December, followed by the Sir George Seymour on 17 December, and the Cressy, on 27 December.

And the arrival it looked a lot like this:

Port Lyttelton, showing the first four ships and emigrants landing from the Cressy, December 28th 1850

 

A summer outing- Image of the Week

A motor boat approaches a moored yacht on the Estuary at Redcliffs, 1960.

Do you have photos of Christchurch? We love donations.

Also contact us if you have any further information on any of the images. Want to see more? You can browse our collection.