Ashburton, New Zealand - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ashburton is a town and district in the Canterbury Region on the east coast of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is the third-largest centre in Canterbury, after Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

and Timaru

Timaru

TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...

. The area around Ashburton is frequently referred to as Mid Canterbury, which is also the name of the district's representative sports teams. Ashburton is regarded as a satellite town of Christchurch .

Naming

Ashburton was named by the surveyor Captain Joseph Thomas of the New Zealand Land Association, after Francis Baring

Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton

Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton was a British peer Whig and later Tory politician.He was elected at the 1830 general election as a Whig Member of Parliament for the borough of Thetford in Norfolk,...

, 3rd Baron Ashburton

Baron Ashburton

Baron Ashburton, of Ashburton in the County of Devon, is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.-History:...

, who was a member of the Canterbury Association

Canterbury Association

The Canterbury Association was formed in order to establish a colony in what is now the Canterbury Region in the South Island of New Zealand.- Formation of the Association :...

. The town is laid out around two central squares either side of the railway line and main highway, Baring Square East and Baring Square West.

A common nickname for Ashburton is 'Ashvegas', an ironic allusion to Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

Location

Ashburton is on State Highway 1 86 km south of Christchurch. The Main South Line

Main South Line

The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...

railway line runs through the centre of town, but passenger trains ceased on 10 February 2002. The town is the centre of a rich agricultural and pastoral farming district, part of the Canterbury Plains

Canterbury Plains

The Canterbury Plains are an area in New Zealand centred to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury Region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in the south they merge into the plains of North Otago beyond the Waitaki...

. It has one large suburb, Tinwald

Tinwald, New Zealand

Tinwald is a town in Canterbury, New Zealand, now little more than a suburb of Ashburton. It lies to the south of the larger town, separated from it by the Ashburton River...

, south of the town and the Ashburton River. Tinwald was the junction for the now-closed Mount Somers Branch

Mount Somers Branch

The Mount Somers Branch, sometimes known as the Springburn Branch, was a branch line railway in the region of Canterbury, New Zealand. The line was built in stages from 1878, reaching Mount Somers in 1885. A further section to Springburn was added in 1889; this closed in 1957, followed by the...

railway line.

The Ashburton District extends from the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

to the Southern Alps

Southern Alps

The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...

, and from the Rangitata River

Rangitata River

The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for 120 kilometres from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean 30 kilometres northeast of Timaru...

to the Rakaia River

Rakaia River

The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand...

, including the towns of Methven

Methven, New Zealand

Methven is a small town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located near the western edge of the Canterbury Plains, 35 kilometres north of Ashburton. It was originally the railhead of a short branch railway off the Main South Line...

, Mount Somers

Mount Somers

Mount Somers is a small town in Canterbury, New Zealand, nestled in the foothills of the Southern Alps. The population in the 2001 census was 2,307. Due to its scenic location, it has seen growth in the number of holiday homes....

, and Rakaia

Rakaia

The town of Rakaia is seated close to the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the township are the country's longest road bridge and longest rail bridge, both of which cross the...

Climate

On the whole, Ashburton shares a similar climate to Christchurch

Christchurch

i.e a dry temperate climate (Cfb
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

). However, since it lies further inland at a higher altitude to Christchurch, Ashburton experiences a greater range of temperatures. During summer Ashburton can exceed 30°C, whilst winter can see regular frosts and annual snowfall. Ashburton's heaviest snowfall was 60 cm on 12 June 2006.

Economy

Ashburton lies in the middle of the fertile alluvial Canterbury Plains

Canterbury Plains

which permits agricultural activity such as dairying provided irrigation is used.

Much of Ashburton's industry is oriented towards servicing the surrounding farmland, but it is also home to several unusual businesses: Designline

Designline

DesignLine Corporation is a bus, coach, and trolleybus manufacturer founded in Ashburton, New Zealand in 1985. Initially it was a manufacturer of tour coaches, later it diversified into city buses in the early 1990s, and then to hybrid city buses in the late 1990s...

http://www.designline.co.nz, New Zealand's only bus manufacturer; Ashford Handicrafts

Ashford Handicrafts

Ashford Handicrafts, a small company in Ashburton, New Zealand are the largest manufacturer of hand spinning wheels in the world, exporting worldwide.-Early history:...

http://www.ashford.co.nz/, the world's largest producer of spinning wheel

Spinning wheel

A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century, and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff...

s; Bruce McIlroy's http://www.bentleyservice.co.nz/ Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor car restoration business and Peter Lynn

Peter Lynn

Peter Lynn is a New Zealand kitemaker, engineer and inventor. He is notable for his construction of the world's largest kites , giant inflatable display kites , the popularisation of kite buggying and contributions to the development of power kiting and kitesurfing...

Kites http://www.peterlynnkites.co.nz/ who produce and design and export giant inflatable display kites and power kites for kite surfing.

Ashburton has a daily newspaper, the Ashburton Guardian
Ashburton Guardian
The Ashburton Guardian is a daily newspaper published in Ashburton, New Zealand according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation in New Zealand it has a readership of approximately 11,000 and a circulation of 5,554....

; AshburtonOnline, a Mid Canterbury district website; a weekly free community newspaper, The Courier and a radio station, Port FM

Port FM

Port FM is a local radio station based in Timaru, New Zealand broadcasting throughout South Canterbury and the MacKenzie Country. It also operates as a network with sister-stations in Ashburton and Oamaru known as 'Port FM Local'....

-local. The town also has local versions of Newstalk ZB

Newstalk ZB

Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio network operated by The Radio Network of New Zealand . It is available in almost every radio market in the country, and has news reporters based in many of them...

and Classic Hits

Classic hits

Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...

ZEFM that broadcast on the frequencies previously used by local station 3ZE

3ZE

3ZE or as it became known 92.5 3ZE FM was a local radio station that operated in Ashburton, New Zealand. The station was originally launched on 873AM frequency as an independently operated station then after being sold by Radio New Zealand's when the Government divested itself of its commercial...

.

There is a small airport, Ashburton Aerodrome

Ashburton Aerodrome

Ashburton Aerodrome is a small airport to the east of Ashburton township on the east coast of the South Island, New Zealand.Operational information:*Pilot Controlled Lighting Runway 16/34*Circuit: All runways left hand**Circuit Height: 1300ft AMSL...

, serving the town.

Schooling

There are many primary schools in and around Ashburton, such as Netherby, Allenton, Hampstead, St. Joseph's, Borough inc. Longbeach, Mayfield, Wakanui, Hinds, Lowcliff, Lagmhor and Tinwald schools. There are also Ashburton Intermediate School and Ashburton College

Ashburton College

The Ashburton Astronomy Group Observatory is situated in the grounds of Ashburton College. The building and equipment is owned by the college but administered and maintained by the AAG....

Recreation

Opportunities within the town itself are limited to the kind of activities that could be expected for a town of its size, such as a movie theatre and swimming pool. There are also two local golf courses. There is a walking track for some distance, coastwards along the northern side of the river from SH1. This was overgrown for many years, but has now been restored and is in excellent condition.

Slightly further afield, the number of leisure opportunities rises dramatically. The beaches adjacent to Ashburton are steep and shingly with a strong undertow, making them unsafe to swim, but suitable nonetheless for surf-casting. In part to rectify the limitations imposed by the lack of recreational waterways, Lake Hood

Lake Hood

Lake Hood is a man-made recreational lake, located 6 km south-east of Tinwald in the locality of Huntingdon, Canterbury, New Zealand. It was opened in 2001 by Right Honourable Jenny Shipley M.P. It is 2.3 km long by 1 km wide and is more than 80 hectares in area...

was constructed just south-east of Tinwald. It provides rowing, swimming, and water-skiing opportunities. The Ashburton, Rakaia

Rakaia River

The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand...

, and Rangitata River

Rangitata River

s offer good fishing, the Rakaia in particular is renowned worldwide for its salmon fishing. Upper reaches of the Rangitata are frequently kayaked and rafted, reaching Grades 3-4. The Rakaia is known for jet-boating. The Ashburton Lakes (Lake Heron, Lake Camp, Lake Clearwater, and a number of smaller lakes) are around an hour and a half inland, and offer water sport and fishing opportunities. On the road to these lake are Mount Somers

Mount Somers

and the Mount Somers walkway.

Mount Hutt is a prominent South Island ski field an hour inland, just past Methven

Methven, New Zealand

Prominent residents

Prominent residents have included the former Prime Minister of New Zealand

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

, Jenny Shipley

Jenny Shipley

Dame Jenny Shipley, DNZM , served as the 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand from December 1997 to December 1999, the first woman to hold this office and the first, and to date only, woman to serve as parliamentary leader of the National Party of New Zealand.-Early life:Shipley was born as Jennifer...

, international operatic tenor Simon O'Neill

Simon O'Neill

Simon O'Neill is a New Zealand-born operatic tenor.-Biography:O'Neill was born in Ashburton, New Zealand and received his musical training at the University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with an honours degree in music, before receiving scholarships to the Manhattan...

, Olympic silver medal cyclist Hayden Roulston

Hayden Roulston

Hayden Roulston, MNZM is a New Zealand professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . He won the silver medal in the men's 4000 m individual pursuit and a bronze medal in the men's 4000 m team pursuit at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.Roulston was a talented junior rider on both road and...

and New Zealand television and radio personality Simon Barnett

Simon Barnett

Simon Barnett is a radio and television host and presenter in New Zealand.Barnett currently co-hosts the morning show on Christchurch radio station 92 More FM with Gary McCormick, and previously with Phil Gifford...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.