Punting on the River Avon

These are some of the historic buildings you can see on the River Avon, Christchurch, New Zealand as you enjoy a punt on one of the wonderful punts that you can hire. A punt is a flat bottomed boat that does not have a keel. The Avon runs right through the centre of Christchurch and eventually out to an estuary, which it shares with the Heathcote River. The Avon River was known by the Māori as Ōtākaro or Putare Kamutu. The Canterbury Association had planned to call it the Shakespere. The river was given its current name by John Deans in 1848 after the River Avon in Scotland.