January 29 - February 27, 2025 New Zealand February 3

Today we continue our journey through Oxford, Windwhistle, to Mount Hutt, a ski area that also features a memorial stone commemorating the great earthquake of February 20, 2011, in Christchurch, heading to Fairlie. It is a small town in the Canterbury region with a population of 690.

Fairlie is known as a service center for the surrounding agriculture and as a gateway to the Mackenzie Basin. Initially, the place was called Fairlie's Creek, named after early settlers who wanted to evoke the area of Fairlie in Scotland.

From 1884 to 1968, the town was connected to the Fairlie Branch, a branch of the Main South Line. However, by 1934, this ended a kilometer before Fairlie in Eversley.

The town hosts the Mackenzie District Agricultural and Pastoral show every Easter Monday. This event celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2001.

As the town is located on the tourist-frequented route between Christchurch and Queenstown, tourism plays an increasingly important role.