Thurs. 9th Feb.... Timaru and Akaroa
We left Olive Grove Lodge, which I would recommend, and headed north through, Oamaru and Timaru on our way to Akaroa. Oamaru has lots of elegant sandstone buildings as does Timaru - this is sheep farming country - Timaru has lovely gardens and a carnival each year on sandy Caroline Bay - it is a very historical 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 spent a whole week here. There are some very nice cafes and restaurants as well as some beautiful houses, especially up high above the town. You can go on a harbour cruise or to see the dolphins - we chose to drive around the area and got some great views. We had lunch in Bully Hayes - it was OK - not great. We stayed in La Duvachelle hotel on the bay - we had a little apartment which suited us fine.
As we had a long drive the next day we took it easy and had a quiet evening. More thumbnails ...
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