Akaroa, New Zealand Travel Blogs

Akaroa, South Island
Dec 22, 2004 (2 photos)

... soaked and nearly blown overboard just to avoid the spewy people. It wisnae nice like! Sorry there aren't really any photos of Akaroa, I forgot to get them put on to CD when having them developed, oops! After Akaraoa it was on to Sumner Beach to ...

The french get everywhere
Jul 19, 2005 (1 photos)

... The landed in 1840, however only days before the french arrived, the brits got wind of it and raised the flag at Akaroa claiming british sovereignty. This could have meant that the south island of NZ could have been french speaking if the french had been ...

From Scotland to France, by way of England
Mar 24, 2004 (5 photos)

... Gloucester St and Madras St, with the Avon River gently snaking through town. It seems that after the wettest February for years New Zealand is experiencing an Indian summer. Today was beautiful but I couldn't really be arsed to do anything. I think that ...

Last few days on the South Island
Dec 18, 2005 (12 photos)

... and pinching people's chips at will! Afterwards, I just relaxed and read the gossip magazines that seem to be obligatory in New Zealand's hostels, before calling it a night just after midnight... My final day in Akaroa was a much more relaxing affair, ...

Being a tourist
Dec 12, 2006 (50 photos)

... along with the waves lapping at our feet. Lizzy runs riot on the beach while Ben and Jazz take pictures. After here we head to Akaroa which is beautiful. There is a lovely pier, lots of boats and plenty of coffee shops so we stop off for lunch, take lots ...

New Zealand - Canterbury region
Dec 18, 2006 (20 photos)

... to before we left the Region. The first of these attractions that we visited was the town of Akaroa (touted as the French Riviera of New Zealand), 1.5 hours from Christchurch. The main reason for visitors to make the journey out to this small coastal ...

Baptism by dolphin
Dec 21, 2003 (2 photos)

... or bus for the last 30-minute drive up the volcano's lip, before braking down to the postcard villages of Duvachelle and Akaroa. When we descend, it is as if God himself shows us the way to the dolphins, light stabbing through the clouds to ignite the ...

First NZ sheep experience
Jan 22, 2008 (19 photos)

Real small town Akaroa. What happened so far? I rented a car. I scratched the car parking 30 minutes later. I drove to Akaroa with no further accidents. Akaroa, a proud French stronghold in NZ is a lovely town(y) of few thousand. Great views over the ...

Round the Mountain
Jul 13, 2005 (11 photos)

... One, two, three-and-a she'll be coming, round the mountain...' This morning was quite the opposite - not a cloud or a breeze. Akaroa looked as breathtaking as it did in the summer. Splendid. In an attempt to make the most of the weather I decided ...

When the Wind Blows
Jul 13, 2005

... pictures in there too as the article's quite lengthy. Classic - I'm currently in a magazine sitting on shelves all over New Zealand! (This is the image from the Dive NZ website article!) Today I drove to Akaroa; I couldn't take it any ...

Cheeky
Jan 25, 2005 (12 photos)

... , we're in high spirits and in the perfect place to begin our road trip camping adventure; Akaroa - the site of the first French settlement in New Zealand, right in the heart of the Banks Peninsula. It was formed originally by two huge volcanic eruptions ...

French Connection II
Dec 20, 2003 (2 photos)

... my latest obsession), we daytrip to Akaroa in hopes of getting Emma in the water with a dolphin. Akaroa represents the last holdout of French culture in New Zealand. Jean-Francois Marie de Surville claimed the area in 1769. A month later, he and James ...

Doctors and Extensions
Feb 8, 2005 (3 photos)

Well we're back in Akaroa having checked in to 'Top 10' (pitch 24 of course) for Sinead's last night in New Zealand. Maybe! Shortly after dinner in Okains Bay last night her foot started to get a lot worse. More pain, more throbbing - not good. This ...

Akaroa - so nice I went twice
Sep 29, 2004

... could see Akaroa way down in the distance. It was a beautiful day, a bit windy, but lovely and sunny. We wandered around Akaroa for a while and then stopped for a bit of lunch before heading back to Christchurch. Once we arrived back in Christchurch I ...

In search of English and French history
Mar 7, 2004 (7 photos)

... to while away a bit of time anyway!!! For a couple of days, Isabelle and I went over to Akaroa, which was the french settlement in New Zealand - if they'd been just a couple of months earlier, they would all be speaking francais! But instead the ...

Our last days on South Island
Feb 26, 2009 (3 photos)

This was a great place to stay for our last couple of days - out on the Banks Peninsula, on a 1,000 acre sheep farm with 2,000 sheep.  We stayed in a stargazer, a hut with a glass roof so you could look at the stars, whilst lying in bed - Andy ...

Akaroa
Dec 4, 2006 (2 photos)

... Pops that were mentioned in our previous entry. So, to start off this entry, a photo speaks for itself. Now onto Akaroa - a settlement originally founded by the French in the early 1800s, but the Brits had already taken over the area when the French ...

Day 20 - Bonjour Akaroa
Jan 4, 2006 (3 photos)

... , we're on vacation). We are staying in the Akaroa Holiday Park which is located up high on one of the surrounding hills that overlooks Akaroa town and bay. Our powered site sits right on the bluff for the best view in the whole park (see photos). The ...

Akaroa - braving the cold to swim with dolphins!
Jun 3, 2007 (2 photos)

... over the harbour and was a lovely site.  We then walked down the hill to take a look at the town.  Akaroa has principally a French history and all the roads are named Rue..  You can see the French influence in the old buildings ...

First night in the motor home
Aug 7, 2008

tired boys. pub meal Chily morning Having picked up our motorhome, we eventualy left the McIntosh's at 4.30pm - Will they ever leave? they thought!!!  Looking forward to seeing them again in Hanmer Springs  on 15th Aug. Our first experience ...

Sacre Bleu! Les Dauphines!
Dec 8, 2007

... to read this little missive, because I'm in Akaroa on the Bank's Peninsula, a little corner of France transposed to New Zealand. Akaroa is a great place: very twee and quite Gallic but I haven't actually spent all that much time here, shopping in their ...

akoroa cold! internet shack warm!
Apr 8, 2009

... place on earth right now, thus explaining why i'm in an internet cafe rather than exploring the most french town in new zealand! while in 'blog land', we are currently in the ulura kata-jutu national park, which appeared to be the ...

New Zealand is awesome!
Oct 23, 2004 (4 photos)

... of 13 students. They were very excited to talk to us and had alot of questions. Now we're in the town of Akaroa at a beautiful little Backpackers with a really nice room--it's called the Bon Accord. Mostly we're just sleeping in, shopping, eating and ...

Akaroa
Feb 9, 2006 (5 photos)

... city with some very nice shops. We stopped there for coffee. Our final destination was the very pretty French seaside town of Akaroa. This is the only settlement in NZ to have been colonised by the French. We really like this place and could have ...

Swimming with Dolphins/Delphin schwimmen
Aug 21, 2006 (3 photos)

... place where these very rare and small dolphins like to live and it was these that we wanted to see. The Hector Dolphins or New Zealand Dolphins as they are know are the rarest and I think smallest dolphin in the world and they are only found on the ...

Road Trip Baby!
Jan 31, 2007 (2 photos)

We left Pauline's house this morning and headed for Akaroa, a little Town that has a beach and massive mountains around it.... very beautiful indeed. We arrived in town around 10.30am, so we had some brunch, walked around the harbour for a few ...

Pacific ocean to tasman sea in one day (oct ...
Oct 22, 2000

... top of the mountain, the fog got thicker then suddenly (and we mean suddenly) it was brilliantly bright and sunny. Looking back at Akaroa harbour, all that could be seen was a big cloud ball but the way we were going, it was perfectly clear. With the ...

Akaroa and Banks Peninsula
Apr 1, 2007 (24 photos)

... ; We had a well deserved lie in this morning before packing up the van and heading back on the road. Our destination is Akaroa which is reached by traveling through the Banks Peninsular. This is a very pretty area of land although the roads are very windy ...

Rain!
May 25, 2009 (14 photos)

... we were hopeful for our dolphin trip. We chased birds on the beach, saw eagles munching on dead animals, admired the pretty lakes, and then returned to Akaroa, where it was raining. Our dolphin trip was cancelled so we left for Oamaru, 4hours drive away.

Home for the Holidays
May 6, 2003 (2 photos)

In Akaroa, the food was gourmet and the owners were almost as sweet as their desserts. Le Bons Bay Backpackers is a small family run hostel in a restored 120 year old homestead. We arrived on a dark and cold windy night. We were a little concerned that we ...