Timaru is a port town on the Canterbury coast of New Zealand's South Island, roughly halfway between Christchurch and Dunedin. It is a working town rather than a tourist destination, but it has a pleasant centre and a good beach, and it makes a useful stop on a South Island road trip.
Caroline Bay, a sheltered artificial beach created by the harbour breakwater, is the town's centrepiece — popular for swimming in summer and home to a large carnival over the Christmas–New Year period. The Aigantighe Art Gallery (pronounced "egg-and-tie") has a surprisingly strong collection for a town this size, housed in a 1908 homestead with a modern extension.
The South Canterbury Museum covers local history, including the story of Richard Pearse, a local farmer who may have achieved powered flight before the Wright Brothers — a claim New Zealanders take more seriously than the rest of the world. The surrounding countryside is rolling farmland, and the Geraldine area inland has craft shops and berry farms that draw weekend visitors.