The Ashburton, Rakaia, and Rangitata Rivers offer good fishing, the Rakaia in particular is renowned worldwide for its salmon fishing.
Beyond Windwhistle, the name changes to Rakaia Gorge Road and begins a spectacular descent into the Rakaia Gorge.
Well away from the site of the base, but equally important was the construction of the airbase's aviation fuel bunker, the largest in the country which was located at Bankside, beside the north bank of the Rakaia River next the Main South Line Railway.
A stretch of fairly straight track across the Canterbury Plains near Rakaia acquired the nickname of "the racetrack" in New Zealand railway jargon due to the high speeds late-running South Island Limiteds would achieve.