Brooklands Lagoon

Brooklands is the northernmost suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. The settlement was built on former swamp land adjacent to Brooklands Lagoon, which forms part of the Waimakariri River mouth. The land damage sustained in the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and subsequent Red Zone classification resulted in the buyout and demolition of nearly all properties in Brooklands, effectively wiping the suburb off the map.

The Styx River (Māori: Pūharakekenui) runs along the northern boundary of Christchurch, New Zealand before flowing into the Waimakariri River close to its mouth via Brooklands Lagoon.

Spencerville is a semi-rural town on the east coast of Canterbury, New Zealand north of Christchurch. The town backs on to Bottle Lake Forest and includes a large (1 hectare) park and 80 hectare camping ground. These amenities, as well as wetlands and an animal and bird park make the town a popular camping area for Christchurch residents.After the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the New Zealand Government classified Spencerville land as Technical Category T3. This requires repairers, builders and developers to meet stricter building standards.

The Waimakariri River is one of the largest rivers in Canterbury, on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for 151 kilometres (94 mi) in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. The river rises on the eastern flanks of the Southern Alps, eight kilometres southwest of Arthur's Pass. For much of its upper reaches, the river is braided, with wide shingle beds. As the river approaches the Canterbury Plains, it passes through a belt of mountains, and is forced into a narrow canyon (the Waimakariri Gorge), before reverting to its braided form for its passage across the plains. It enters the Pacific north of Christchurch, near the town of Kaiapoi. Instead of being unoccupied Crown land as are most New Zealand river beds, the bed of the Waimakariri River is vested in the Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury).

Kairaki is a small rural community in the Waimakariri District, New Zealand. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "sky eater" for Kairaki.

The Pines Beach is a small town situated roughly 4 km east of Kaiapoi in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is 1 km north of the mouth of the Waimakariri River. It takes its name from its close proximity to both a pine forest and the beach. The Pines Beach is a relatively small town. The majority of the area consists of residential housing and a park called "The Pines Beach Oval". The village store was demolished after the September 2010 Canterbury earthquake, along with a considerable number of the houses in the village, which were placed into a residential red zone by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. Empty green spaces upon entering the village from Beach Road is all that remains of these earlier parts of the settlement. The Oval is a small section of land in the centre of the town. It is in the shape of an oval and has a playground, basketball court, swings, a skate park and a BMX track. An annual gala is held on the Oval.

The Kaiapoi River is a minor river of north Canterbury, in New Zealand's South Island. Originally called the Cam River, it is a tributary of the Waimakariri River, which it joins at the larger river's estuary. The river is 16 kilometres (10 mi) long, and its drainage area is about 430 square kilometres (170 sq mi).The towns of Rangiora, Kaiapoi and Woodend are situated on the banks of the river.The Kaiapoi River has several tributaries, including the Cam River, used for carting logs and wool in the 1890s and 1900s. There are also several streams that join the Kaiapoi River. Some hold a large population of salmon and trout—the Cam River was a fishing spot in the 1940s and still holds a large population of trout today.

Bottle Lake Forest is a production forest and recreational park located in Christchurch, New Zealand, approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north-east of the city centre. It makes up the vast majority of the area of the suburb Bottle Lake. The visitor centre at the Forest's entry from Waitikiri Drive provides visitors with information about the different roles of Bottle Lake Forest. It also provides fresh water access, toilet facilities and parking.

Kainga is a settlement on the southern bank of the Waimakariri River, just north of Christchurch, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It lies immediately to the south of Kaiapoi, on a small road leading northeast from State Highway 1.Originally established as a small group of fishing huts on the south side of the Waimakariri, it later developed into a small residential area. A small forestry plantation lies to the southeast of the settlement.

Norman Kirk Park is a recreational space on the east side of Kaiapoi which is a town in the Waimakariri District of Canterbury, New Zealand. Norman Kirk Park was built on former red zone land that was a residential neighbourhood prior to the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Norman Kirk Park consists of a dog park, a nature reserve, sports fields, and a BMX track.

Bottle Lake is a suburb in the north-east of Christchurch with a low number of residents. Most of the suburb is covered by Bottle Lake Forest, which has since the mid-1970s become a popular recreation area. The area was known as Waitikiri to Māori and the swamplands around a lake was a traditional mahinga kai (food gathering place). Bottle Lake was first granted for grazing in 1853. The area was bought as a sheep run by John McLean in 1860. He sold the land after only two years to Edward Reece, who named his homestead Waitikiri after the Māori name for the area. Reece commissioned John Gibb to paint Bottle Lake about 20 years after he purchased the land. Reece died in 1885, and the painting was gifted to the Canterbury Society of Arts in 1902 by his son, William Reece. The oil painting is today owned by the Christchurch Art Gallery.Most of the area was purchased in 1878 by Christchurch City Council for waste disposal, but grazing continued into the next century. The pine plantation was begun in 1912, and the land was drained. By the late 1930s, the lake had dried up. The name of the lake was used for other purposes. The hospital board looked for a remote area where an infectious diseases hospital could be set up, and they established the Bottle Lake Hospital. This has since been renamed Burwood Hospital. The road leading to the hospital was originally called Bottle Lake Road and has since been changed to Burwood Road. The suburb that formed around the hospital took its later name—Burwood.The production forest was out of bounds, and the area was virtually unknown to Christchurch people. This changed in 1975, when the forest was given park status. It has since developed into a recreation area, with mountain biking, horse riding, and walking all very popular. There is some housing on the fringes of Bottle Lake Forest, and Waitikiri Drive is a reminder of the area's original name. The former landfill site within Bottle Lake was reopened after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake to take an estimated 4.5 million tonnes of demolition material.

Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River. It is considered a satellite town of Christchurch and is part of the Christchurch functional urban area.Kaiapoi is known for its substantial precolonial pā, Te Kōhaka-a-kaikai-a-waro, established by powerful Kāi Tahu nobleman Tūrākautahi. One of the sons of the powerful rangatira Tūāhuriri, Tūrākautahi exerted vast influence over historical Ōtautahi (the site of modern-day Christchurch). His family controlled the pā he established in the area until it was sacked in 1831 by Te Rauparaha and his followers. The pā was one of the greatest centre of knowledge, economics and natural resources, with a highly complex social structure. All decisions were undertaken by the nobility, who consulted with highly skilled tohunga. In selecting the pā site, Tūrākautahi determined that food (kai) would need to be poi ("swung in"- swung over the pā's protective walls via rope, and also because it lay in the middle of a swamp) from other places. This is how Kaiapoi got its name, and can translated as a metaphor for "economics"Kaiapoi suffered extensive damage in the 2010 Canterbury and also the February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, which rendered many homes uninhabitable and businesses inoperable. Large areas were condemned as part of a residential red zone covering uninhabitable areas.