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Fairlie is a town nestled in the Fairlie Basin at the southern end of the Mackenzie district, in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is an agricultural service town, 48 kilometres east of Lake Tekapo at the crossroads of state highways 79 and 8, half way between Christchurch and Queenstown on the main tourist route. Fairlie is commonly known as the gateway to the Mackenzie Basin. It was first known as Fairlie's Creek and supposedly named because it reminded early settlers of Fairlie in Scotland. The area has stunning scenery year round.
There are loads of activities in and around Fairlie for all to enjoy, there are many walking tracks, some excellent mountain biking options, water sports on Lake Opuha and world class fishing in the Tekapo River. There is skiing and snowboarding at Mt Dobson Ski Area, 26km from Fairlie and Fairlie Golf Club has an 18 hole course on Talbot St, inside the town boundary. The Fairlie Heritage Museum is home to a vast array of vintage tractors, machinery, horse drawn vehicles and equipment from a bygone era. Fairlie hosts the annual Mackenzie District Agricultural and Pastoral show every Easter Monday.
Fairlie has a wide range of accommodation to suit all of the visitors to this amazing area, including hotels with accommodation and restaurants, motels, a wide range of home stays, farm stays and cottage accommodation options and a Holiday Park on the banks of the Opihi River in the centre of town offering a full range of motel units, cabins, caravan, motorhome and camping facilities. |