Southshore (Te Kōrero Karoro) is a coastal suburb and reserve in Christchurch, south of New Brighton and within Pegasus Bay. It lies on a sandspit between the Pacific Ocean and the Estuary of the Avon and Heathcote Rivers / Ihutai, formed from sand carried southward from the Waimakariri River. The tip of the spit marks the tidal boundary between the estuary and the Pacific Ocean, with the suburb of Sumner on the south side.
The first part of the spit is an extension of New Brighton Beach, which can be accessed from several short side streets off Rocking Horse Road. The Southshore Spit Reserve is at the end of the spit, and there is a 1.5 km easy loop track around the mostly grass and scrub-covered dunes and beach around the tip. Perfect if you want to escape the crowds at New Brighton! Note that the estuary mouth is dangerous due to tidal flows.
On the west side of the spit is a shared track, and you can walk along the estuary to South New Brighton. In addition, 198 houses were red-zoned on the edge of the estuary after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. The houses were removed, and the land has been transformed into an urban green space. The estuary is particularly scenic at high tide in still weather.
Before Europeans arrived, the area was mostly swampland and coastal dunes. With abundant resources in the estuary, it was a food-gathering place for the local Māori. The area had many wharenui (communal houses) built from raupō and native trees. A walking track from Kaiapoi Pā north of the Waimakiriri River connected with the broader area and Banks Penisula. By the 1700s, Māori cultivated aruhe (bracken ferns for the edible roots) and kūmara in the sandy soil around the Avon River / Ōtākaro.
Europeans initially knew the area as "Sandhills Run", and tiny bach holiday homes appeared. It was used as a gun range during World War I and only began to develop as a suburb after WWII. Rocking Horse Road, the main road connecting to New Brighton, got its name because local Peter Skellerup (who was to be deputy mayor of Christchurch in the 1970s) told his small son that travelling on the rough road of the 1940s was like being on a rocking horse.
Southshore is 8 km east of Central Christchurch and 5 km south of New Brighton's main retail area. You can access the reserve by driving down Marine Parade and connecting to Rocking Horse Road via Caspian Road.
