What is it about us Cantabrians? Some people refer to us as being 'one eyed', supposedly in an insulting way.

What they don't realise is calling us one eyed is probably the greatest compliment you can pay us. We thrive on it. If we weren't one eyed, we wouldn't be Cantabs! : - ). Its as simple as that.

You can point to many factors as to why we are so proud of our province;

1) Our climate. The extremes of drought in summer with blistering hot nor-westers to frosts & snow in winter. Four definite seasons. The beaches of Sumner, New Brighton & within Banks Peninsula to the snow capped Mt Hutt, Mt Cheeseman etc only an hour away. An outdoor extravaganza!!

Our detractors point too our smog. All I can say is...LEAVE OUR SMOG ALONE!. IT'S OURS!. Thirty days a year of crap air is a small price to pay to live in paradise!.....: - )

2) Our City. Christchurch. Offering an unequalled lifestyle within NZ. All the features of a large city without all the hassles. Nightlife within NZ second only to Wellington. Dunedin not too far behind. The recently finished WestpacTrust Sports & Entertainment Centre offers concert & indoor sports entertainment facilities unequalled in NZ & among the best in Australasia. Chuck in the Casino (loads better than Aucklands'), Convention Centre, Antartic Centre, Gondola etc etc you can see why Christchurch was rated the 3rd best value city to visit in the WORLD by an American travel magazine AND 7th best city FULL STOP!

The same magazine rated Wellington & Auckland in the 40's & 50's. HA! : - ). No wonder our population is supposed to rise to 500,000 by 2018. A beautifully sized population in the most beautiful big city in the country. Known of course as the 'Garden City' or the 'City that Shines'. Both slogans need no further explanation.

3) The People. Salt of the earth. Back bone of the country. Hard as nails, tough as teak.Bloody smart as well!

So smart in fact we need 2 universities to cater to our superior IQ's.

As friendly as (as all Southeners are)..... unless your a Dorklander!!. Ha ha : - ). Only kidding.

4) The Culture. Thriving arty farty scene, strong community spirit.The province's culture tends to give the big proverbial brown eye to OTHER cities within NZ who have fully embraced the business roundtable philosophies.....& are predictably heading down the gurgler as essential services such as POWER & WATER turn to sh*t. Not thinking of any OTHER city in particular of course....

5) Our Sporting Excellence. Need I say more. Carrying the fortunes of the New Zealand cricket team with the majority of the players Cantabs. Now if only some other provinces could sort their sh*t out JUST maybe we could have a competitive side. With a province with around 13% of the nations population making up 60% of the team with no-one else good enough to make the grade.....makes ya think really.... THEN of course theres our all conquering footie teams. NPC, Super 12 titles under our belts. Possibly Ranfurly shield success to follow, along with of course retaining our NPC title.

Can just imagine Toddy & the boys before a big game, munching through a bowl of gravel for sustainance. Dislodging the odd rock from the teeth using a 2-by-4 as a toothpick! None of this poncing off down to Les Mills (probably wearing leotards!) for a workout like some OTHER teams!
Not our boys! I hear that Toddy bench presses Mack trucks to keep fit. Now thats CLASS!.....

AND despite all this ability,they remain humble in (certain) victory! Now that really is CLASS! And people wonder why us Cantabs turn out in our thousands to support OUR TEAM!. The team that represents everything we hold close to our hearts. They deserve all the one eyed fanatical support they can get as far as I'm concerned.

SH*T!.....why wouldn't we be proud!.... .....UNLESS of course they start losing, in which case they're a load of sh*t and an embarassment to the province and not worth paying good money to go see.... SUCH IS THE WAY OF THE CANTABRIAN!. The Canterbury spirit...never underestimate it!

DH

Bring's a tear to my eye DH, are you sure you're not running for Mayor?
Let us know what you think!