Wednesday 22 January 2014

NZ - AKAROA

today we head for Akaroa which is the area that the French settled in New Zealand over 150 years ago in their endeavour to colonize the South Island…..it is at the tip of a peninsula which juts out into the Pacific about 60km east of Christchurch…the trip is great and the sun is shining…..we wander around the little town for a while then decide to have some Akaroa grilled salmon at one of the waterside restaurants…..the salmon does not disappoint nor does the Marlborough sauv blanc……..a little Kiwi ice cream for desert and we have blown a good part of the day but in the best way possible…..we head over to Sumner on the way back to Christchurch to check out the beach but are unable to make it past town centre on the esplanade…..Sumner was also hit hard by the quakes and has been unable to open many of the roads….houses on the hillsides are red tagged which means that they are potentially in danger of losing occupancy rights….not the best way to end our last full day in New Zealand before heading to Australia but sometimes a little taste of reality helps you appreciate things…..we head back to our little apartment for the last sleep in New Zealand….

the road into Akaroa from the pass....



our destination lies in the distant harbour.....


the town library......the French here aren't big readers.....



Jess in front of the local "Gaiety".....not quite sure what happens here? Sounds like a theatre....



some of the old homes in the harbour area have been well cared for .........



the local salmon is amazing.....the view from the patio is pretty sweet too!!



Kiwi beach art.....what is even more amazing is that nobody touched this part of the beach.....pretty cool!



Linda has her portrait painted by a statue of an artist in the square - - she's very patient!.....I think she might still be down there, we haven't seen her for days........"So how is my portrait coming Leonardo? No I can wait....surprise me!"



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