Beautiful Akaroa

On Wednesday we did something out of character for us - we took a bus tour to Akaroa, which is on the east coast, about an hour from Christchurch. Lee had been to Akaroa before, and I had read about it, and wanted to see it. Akaroa is the only French settlement in New Zealand, and the street names and buildings remain French.

Akaroa is Maori for "long harbor". Apparently a French explorer sailed into the harbor and into Akaroa bay, where he negotiated to buy it from the Maoris. Papers were drawn up, money changed hands, and the French ship sailed back to France to find people willing to colonize this new world. By the time the ship returned with French settlers and 8 Dutch passengers, the treaty of Waitangi had been signed, giving the rights to all land in New Zealand to England. So, when they sailed into the harbor, they saw the English flag flying. The captain met with the English officials and explained that he had purchased the land, and provided documentation. It seems that the Maori had sold the land many times over, and that the Waitangi treaty superseded their transaction. But, the English gifted land to the French and also to the dutch passengers, so Akaroa became French, as well as English.



The bus trip was great - they picked us up at our hotel, and made several stops along the way - things that we would have never seen on our own. The trip to Akaroa took about 90 minutes, plus stops. It was overcast when we left Christchurch, but as we climbed into the mountains, the sky turned blue and the sun was shining - a gorgeous day! One of our stops was at Hilltop, which gave an amazing view of Akaroa and the many bays around there.

If you "google earth" Banks Peninsula, NZ, you will see that Akaroa and Lyttleton Harbor were formed by the eruption of two major volcanoes, resulting in two big harbors and many, many bays. It's quite amazing from the air.



We decided that our time in Akaroa would best be spent on a catamaran, doing a harbor cruise. This area of New Zealand is home to the rare Hector Dolphin, and the little Blue Penguin. We hoped to see both of these. First we had a wonderful lunch of fish and chips at a little local streetside establishment. The fish was delicious, and the batter was very light and not oily.



Now for the cruise! The seas were very calm, and I had my magic wrist bands, so off we went! We weren't far out when the Hector dolphins joined us, frolicking around the boat! And, we saw several little blue penguins in the water, too. We cruised close to the shore, where you could see amazing rock and lava formations. We were on the water for two hours, and got back into Akaroa at 3:30, in time to have an ice cream cone before the bus left at 4.



On the bus ride back we stopped at a cheese making shop, where we got some wine and cheese and crackers. Then we stopped at an amazing beach that was covered in flat rocks! Perfect for skipping! The next stop was at a fruit stand, where we got apricots and cherries, so we were all set for dinner back at our motel!



We loved Akaroa, and have a list of "next times". For instance, there are holiday rentals there, so we'd like to spend a couple of days in the area, just relaxing and enjoying the sea. Akaroa was definitely a highlight of this trip!

View of the Canterbury plains on the way to the east coast (Pacific Ocean)

Train at one of our stops along the way

Little River Craft shop. Little River was a "comfort" rest stop.

Phone box at Little River

First view of Akaroa and other bays, from the Hilltop Cafe and lookout.

You can see that there is still a bit of mist over the mountains. It was a bit windy, too - hence my "mohawk".

Getting closer to Akaroa!

Waiting for fish & chips! Yum!

The harbor, looking west.

We walked out to the Akaroa Head Lighthouse

Beautiful in the sunshine!

This is our catamaran - it was called the Canterbury Cat.

Heading out into the harbor

Hector dolphins!

The Hectors are among the smallest dolphins. The babies when born are the size of a rugby ball!

They reminded us a bit of the small spinner dolphins in Hawaii.

The coastline along the harbor.

More coastline, beautiful blue sea and blue sky.

One of the caves that were the result of gases trapped in the lava flow.

This was one of the larger cave areas. There were lots of birds nesting in the rock, and they were not impressed with our invasion. The walls of this cave were so steep that when we got inside, you couldn't see the sun.

More coastline.

Great rock and lava formations.

If you make this picture bigger, you will see the fur seal sunning on the rock.

More caves

Another big one - the kayakers were having a great time going in and out of them.

These flowers were on the beach at Birdling Point.

Miles and miles of flat rocks - each of them perfect for skipping! They also use them for door mats here - they glue them onto rubber mats - they look great!

Christchurch - Monday and Tuesday

Monday morning we had a 9:00 am flight from Auckland to Christchurch. Stephen and Craig very graciously drove us to the airport, so it was an early morning for all. We were flying domestically, and had the most amazing flying experience that we've had in years!

First of all, we took our printed tickets and scanned them. The machine printed out boarding passes and baggage tags! We had a slight hiccup when the machine we were using ran out of tags, but there was an agent right there that took care of us. After you tag your luggage, you weigh it, then put it on the conveyor belt. After that we went through security - they weren't interested in our airline-approved plastic bag of liquids/gels. We didn't have to take off our shoes. They did want the computer out. So we were through security very quickly! Then out to the gate and on the airplane. At no time did anyone ask for any ID!! It was like flying ten years ago! And, if all of that wasn't shocking enough, we got breakfast on the plane! Complimentary! And we had a choice! I like flying domestic down here!

We arrived in Christchurch right on time, and caught the bus into town. When we got into the city center we caught a taxi to our motel. Our motel was located about 5 blocks from the city center. It's easy walking distance to all the action, but quiet at night for sleeping, which is just what we like.

After we got settled in, we headed to town to see what was going on. The Busker's Festival is going on - an international gathering of street performers, so there was lots to see! The architecture of Christchurch is amazing! The original architecture is very English. In fact, Christchurch professes to be more English than England! Of course, now there is very modern architecture mixed in, which makes it all very interesting!

The weather was good - clear and sunny, though cool, and a bit windy. We saw lots of things, including the cathedral, historic buildings, the botanical gardens and statues. We also went to the visitor center and booked some things that we knew that we wanted to do - take the tram tour, take the Gondola ride and visit Akaroa.

After that, we went back to the room and got ready to meet Kathy and Ian for dinner. Kathy is Gerald's sister (Andy's cousin) and lives here in Christchurch with her family. We let her know that we were going to be here, and hoped to catch up with them, which we did. It was great to meet them and their daughters. Their son, Alex, was visiting friends in Australia, but we got to meet Annalise and Ashlinn, ages 19 and 17.
We had a wonderful dinner at a little out of the way place that we would have never stumbled on ourselves. Kathy and Ian were great, and lots of fun and it was great to spend time with them.

On Tuesday we spent the day touring around the city, and took the tram tour. We visited the museum, as well. We finished up the day with a fabulous dinner at an Italian restaurant. We both agreed that the pasta dish was one of the best we had ever eaten!

Then, "home" and to bed - Akaroa tomorrow!

One of the performers at the Busker's Festival - she was great!

The Chalice - one of the sculptures in the city square.

The cathedral - just beautiful!

This is a beautiful building.

This is a statue of Scott - one of the explorers who lost his life in Antarctica.

The water wheel at what used to be the granary. It's still running!

The new, modern Art Gallery.

This was a government building at one time.

This was originally part of Cambridge College. They outgrew it and built a new one, so now the building houses cafes and retail.

The fountain in the Botanic gardens. There are Buskers entertaining the crowd at the front of the picture.

Amazing hydrangeas in the Botanic gardens.

The Dahlias were in full, glorious bloom - we took about a million pictures of them! Note the bee on this one.

The entrance to the rose garden.

The conservatory housed an amazing array of plants - this anthurium was unlike any we'd seen before.

The name above seems appropriate for this very strange flower!

Bananas! And note the bloom at the bottom of the picture - I'd never seen that before, either!

This was an absolutely gorgeous display of tuberous begonias. Between the two of us we have tons of pictures. Consider yourselves fortunate that we've only posted this one!

This is what New Zealanders do with their artichokes - they let them go to bloom! They don't really see the point in eating them.....

The main fountain. The Buskers have gone and the fountain was on.

Ian and Kathy at dinner.

This was a small grocery store that we walked by. We could not believe the amount of stuff that was in there - floor to ceiling, wall to wall!

Punting on the Avon. This was on our list of things to do, but, alas, we just ran out of time. Next time!

Lee in front of a fountain that looks like dandelions gone to seed.

A Maori totem pole
Captain James Cook. He "discovered" New Zealand, as well as many other Pacific islands.

Now it's Tuesday, and we visited the Cathedral - incredibly beautiful!

We would have loved to hear the organ played.

We visited the Christchurch museum, which chronicled the development of New Zealand, from Maori time to present day. This stage coach was used to transport passengers over dirt, rutted roads - couldn't have been very comfortable!

Lee on the "Ordinary" bicycle!

Canterbury Boys College - the buildings were just amazing!

Ok, remember when we were playing "patonk" at Richards? Well, above is how it's really spelled!

This is the Bridge of Rememberance. Everywhere we go in New Zealand, there are monuments to those lost in wars.