he Christchurch to Little River Rail Trail is a cycleway and walkway that mostly follows the route of an old 19th century railway line between Hornby Junction and Little River via Prebbleton, Lincoln, Motukarara and Birdlings Flat. The Rail Trail takes you through a changing landscape that has seen a thousand years of human history. It passes through rural areas and settlements on the Canterbury Plains, skirts past the massive flanks of the ancient volcanoes which make up the Banks Peninsula, and hugs the shoreline of a vast lagoon, Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, and its smaller twin, Te Roto o Wairewa/Lake Forsyth. The lakes and associated rivers and wetlands are rich in wildlife and natural vegetation.