Avon River (Canterbury)

Avon River / Ōtākaro
Boat sheds on the Avon, Christchurch
Course of the Avon River
Country	New Zealand
Basin features
Main source	Avonhead
River mouth	Pegasus Bay via the Avon Heathcote Estuary 0 m (0 ft)
Physical characteristics
Length	14 km (8.7 mi)

The Avon River / Ōtākaro /ˈeɪvən/ flows through the centre of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, and out to an estuary, which it shares with the Heathcote River, the Avon Heathcote Estuary.

The Avon follows a meandering course through Christchurch from its source in the outer western suburb of Avonhead through Ilam, Riccarton and Fendalton, then through Hagley Park and the Central Business District (CBD).

East of the CBD, it passes through Avonside, Dallington, Avondale and Aranui, finally flowing into the Pacific Ocean via the Avon Heathcote Estuary (Māori: Te Wahapū) near Sumner.

The Avon River was known by the Māori as Ōtākaro or Putare Kamutu. The Canterbury Association had planned to call it the Shakespere [sic]. The river was given its current name by John Deans in 1848 to commemorate the Scottish Avon, which rises in the Ayrshire hills near what was his grandfathers' farm, Over Auchentiber. The Deans built their homestead adjacent to the Avon River where the suburb of Riccarton now lies.