Day 20 - Bonjour Akaroa

We slept great last night, finally. After a brief stop to get groceries and a cell phone car charger we headed out toward Akaroa. It was a 1:45 drive in partly rainy weather. We passed farms with grazing sheep, LOTS of sheep. There were rolling hills where stock grazed and patches of trees lined the hillsides. It reminded me of Marin County in Northern California. It's a winding road on the later journey to Akaroa where we climbed large hills. It was gorgeous! The peninsula itself is the result of violent eruptions of three volcanoes. At the top of the hill peak was a beautiful view of Akaroa then decended into the watery valley. Akaroa is a charming harbor village with a distinctive French accent. It was in 1840 that the township was founded as a French colony. The character and names of the narrow streets still bear their French heritage - like Rue Lavaud, the main street. Many of the original cottages still stand where they were built beside chattering streams, surrounded by the spreading Walnut trees the settlers planted to remind themselves of home. Akaroa is quaint, cute and full of upscale boutiques, art galleries and cafes. There is a pier and sea wall where we strolled while eating our double scoop ice cream (ok, so we broke our diet while here, hey, we're on vacation).

Akaroa 2

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 facilities aren't as nice as the one in Christchurch, but it fits our needs and the view is awesome.

Akaroa from the holiday park

The big draw here is of course the French charm of the town, plus you can swim with the endangered and rare Hector dolphins. They even have seals and penguins which we haven't seen yet, though we did see Canadian geese. Don't ask me how they got all the way down here. I'm guessing they flew :-/

Jim and I could definitely move here. We have decided we are coming back to live here for 3 or 4 months maybe next year- don't know yet. We will rent a place and see how it goes. Rent ranges from around NZ$200-$300 a week for a house so it's very inexpensive especially with the exchange rate.

We have also changed our plans. We have chosen to not go to the Cook Islands and F. Polynesia on this trip and stay in NZ for the whole trip. We want to see all of the country and feel that 2 months is not enough, especially if we want to stay a week in one place. We will go to the islands on a separate trip, possibly this summer, since it's relatively close to Hawaii. We think it is a 4 or 5 hour plane trip.

Our home

I sit here on the computer in our gypsy van, drinking Marlborough NZ Sauvignon Blanc wine and listening to French music on the radio. It has now ended and the Goon Show is being broadcast (mom will be the only one who knows what that is- brings back memories "He's fallen in the water...") We love this place :-)