-	All photographs of Geraldine

Geraldine is a town in the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand. It is on highway 79, situated 136 km south of Christchurch, which is the main tourist route to Mt Cook and Queenstown, Timaru is 35 km to the south. Geraldine has a country village atmosphere, with majestic old podocarp forests surrounding the town and views to the alps.

Geraldine was first settled by Europeans in the early 1800's, as a logging town to clear the area of the massive Podocarp forests, the next faze was the sheep and crop farmers. Today the Geraldine district has many sheep, beef, deer and dairy farms, it also has an abundance of orchards and crop farms.

Geraldine is a small, friendly rural town with lots of charm, it is a service town to the local agricultural community and it is also home to the headquarters of the nearby Peal State Forest Park. There are many arts and crafts shops and local artists regularly exhibit their wares in galleries throughout the town.

Geraldine has some beautiful parks, with an abundance of bellbirds, fantails and spectacular exotic trees, in and around the town. The town is bisected by the Waihi River, and a five minute walk from town brings you to the magnificent Talbot Forest, this forest is a rare remnant of a lowland podocarp native forest, it has beautiful river and bush walks to offer with breathtaking views over plains and mountains, there are also many prefect picnic sites throughout the forest.

The domain on Cox Street is especially nice, it has lovely rose gardens and a swimming pool, bowling greens, tennis and netball courts and sports fields, it also has a children's playground, picnic areas, and the recently added outdoor heated swimming pool. Situated within the domain is the perfectly placed local camping ground, The Geraldine Holiday Park, this tranquil park is set among huge trees in the centre of town just 200m walk to shops, cafés, museum and the historic cinema.

Not far out of Geraldine is the Peel State Forest, with its abundant bird life and extensive podocarp forest, this is how this area used to look, there are many activities to have a go at here, there are dozens of tracks to explore, climb to the top of Mount Peel or Little Mount Peel, at the top you will be rewarded with the awesome views over the Canterbury plains. The Rangitata River is renowned for its first rate salmon fishing, you can also enjoy the experience of a white water rafting trip here, but not for the faint hearted.

Take a stroll around the town and visit private gardens and local arts people in their home studios. Geraldine has a number of choices for a coffee or meal break. There is also an abundance of accommodation, ranging from camping grounds, hotels, motels, farmstays, bed and breakfasts and more.