We spent most of yesterday at the Canterbury Museum and Botanic Gardens on the banks of the Avon River which zigs and zags itself through the city. The huge Canterbury Museum (free!) gave a great representation of New Zealand's history with a focus on the South island or the "Mainland" as everybody here calls it. Most of the displays are dedicated to the original Maori people but there was a lot of information on the colonists' early life after their long 3 month passage from England. Sean's favorite floor was the one about Antarctica which included actual artifacts from famously successful and unsuccessful expeditions to the South Pole (including Ernest Shackelton's Discovery, Nimrod and Endurance voyages).
The Botanic Garden (also free!) was basically a huge park with over 10,000 species of plants as well as fountains, cafes and loads of open green space where people were picnicking, napping and just hanging out. There were many paved and non-paved paths and trails through the park and we were constantly dodging joggers and cyclists during our exploration. One of the most interesting activities available at the Botanic Garden was "punting" on the Avon.
I loved visiting the botanic garden! I hope that you get a chance to do the "punting" - it looked like fun!