Ancient eruptions have endowed New Zealand’s South Island with an outstanding landform – Banks Peninsula.  Just an hour from Christchurch, make sure you include Banks Peninsula in your New Zealand holiday. Take all the time in the world to discover the legacies of this land, of the Maori who were its first settlers, of the sealers and whalers who followed them and of the European colonists who founded Akaroa, Little River and Lyttelton and settled the Peninsula’s many bays. Marvel at the wildlife – view or swim with dolphins, watch seals, penguins and sea birds.