Surfing, biking and homemade crepes: Louis Sharp’s Hometown Tour

Louis Sharp gives us the lowdown on his hometown in New Zealand, with the Rodin Motorsport driver plotting the ideal day out if you’re visiting the city for the first time.

From biking in the hills to surfing by the beach, Sharp has your trip laid out for you with some local insight into what to do and where to go.

“I grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand. Weather is probably a bit better than the UK… We get decent summers but it still get’s pretty cold in the winter. It can get quite windy there, but I love it, I loved growing up there and it was great as a young kid.

“We could start off with breakfast… I’m trying to think of a place. To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve lived there so it’s tough to remember. I don’t really go out for breakfast, and my mum makes the best crepes, so we’d have breakfast at home and the best crepes in all of Christchurch.

“I think we’ve got to go into the city centre, do some shopping, could be quite fun. I want to go mountain biking, that’s what I want to do. Christchurch Adventure Park – when I was living there, I used to go all the time to the bike park there. So, we could go mountain biking up there and ziplining.

“We’re gonna go to Sumner and go get some fish and chips down by the beach. Then we’re gonna go for a surf after lunch.

“We’re gonna go the supermarket, go buy some picnic type food and drive up the top of Port Hills and have a picnic out the back of the car. The views are splendid. So it sounds like the perfect day to me.

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“I’d say if you’re visiting, something that’s underrated is just going for walks. It’s a nice place to go out for a walk into the mountains and stuff. So I’ll say that.

“Overrated…nothing’s overrated in Christchurch! My favourite thing to do and this will sound boring is to just catch up with family and friends when I’m there. I only go back for two weeks over Christmas in December. That’s about it to be honest.

“It’s summer there when I go back so it’s usually nice weather, but Christchurch can be a bit unpredictable. But usually it’s nice.”