akaroa day trip

Today really tested my knowledge of driving on the left hand side of the road, on small two-lane highways, up and down narrow windy and sometimes unpaved roads. Wow! Rebecca (from Auburn), Katie (my flatmate) and I took a day trip and headed south of Christchurch to the sleepy French settlement of Akaroa. It was settled by the French in the mid 1800s before the British took control and by the time the French explorer came back to claim New Zealand, the British were already there! Nevertheless, the street names are still in French and there are several little French cafes and restaurants. The drive from Christchurch is about an hour and a half, part of which is across the dry, flat Canterbury plains and then the rest is up the remains of three different volcanoes that erupted to create what is now known as Banks Peninsula.

We arrived in Akaroa, parked and walked around town, checking out all of the restaurants and finding the best place for lunch. We ate at a little café called “by the green” (the green was not a golf course, just a field across the street by the water)- the food was delicious! After lunch we did some window shopping (mostly out of our students price-range), got ice cream, walked down to the water and along the wharf where the boats leave for tours, dolphin watching, and swimming with the dolphins. Akaroa is home to the Hector Dolphin, the smallest dolphins in the world and the only place they are found! We didn’t actually see any- I think it requires taking a (rather expensive) tour around the harbour.

After leaving town we decided to try and take another route back to Christchurch. Our first attempt at this was quite unsuccessful- we ended up at the top of a gravel road amongst sheep. The view was well worth the mistake though! We headed back through town and found out that there is a scenic drive around the summit of the volcanoes (the main road goes along the water). What a cool drive!! At one point we turned off the main (paved) road and ended up on an even smaller (unpaved) track. At first we thought it was a short little road but it ended up going all the way to the other side of the peninsula by the cliffs overlooking the ocean! It was stunning. There were a few houses visible in the distance but apart from those and several sheep, we didn’t see a single person. Despite being quite isolated it would be a magnificent place to have a home.

After our little off-roading adventure we made it back to the main road, and back to Christchurch in time for dinner. All in all, a beautiful day!

s.