29th December 2009 Our last full day in New Zealand today, and the weather has improved again. After breakfast we made our over to Akaroa for a final mooch around, and it was a bit quieter than it had been yesterday afternoon, although the beach was still quite busy - hardly surprising given how nice the weather was. We also found an interesting sculpture of a painter with an invisible canvas. ...
28th December 2009 Another cloudy day today, but not to be defeated we borrowed a couple of bikes from the hostel and cycled round to the two nearest bays to the hostel, French Farm Bay and Duvauchelle Bay. After some lunch back at the hostel we headed out in the car to explore some of the more remote areas of Banks Peninsula, including Little Akaloa, where we stopped for a picnic lunch, and Okains Bay. There’s a lovely beach at Okains Bay with a camping ground. Unfortunately it was rather cold when we got out here, so we didn’t linger for too long. ...
26th December 2009 After last night’s feast it was a late breakfast this morning. Then we headed out to Akaroa where with it being Saturday all the shops were open for business. We took a drive down to north head, where the entrance to Akaroa is flanked by sheer cliffs, including a rock with a hole into it. We sat for a while at the top of the hill watching the dolphin cruise boats down below. ...
25th December 2009 Hope you all have a wonderful time, wherever you are. We’ve spent a lazy day in the sunshine today, not doing very much. We did take a ride out along the Summit Road which takes you right round the top of the mountains surrounding Akaroa, offering some wonderful views back down the Bay, the peninusla we walked out to yesterday, and the hostel where we are staying. ...
24th December 2009 A lazy breakfast was followed by a pleasant morning wandering around the small township of Akaroa. Set on the Banks Peninsula, which is the result of violent erruptions by three volcanoes millions of years ago, it was originally the caldera of an ancient volcano which filled with sea water as the oceans rose to make it the pretty little harbour it is today. ...
23rd December 2009 On to the very last leg of our New Zealand adventure today, a week-long stay at a small place about an hour and a half from Christchurch called Akaroa. This is where we’ll be enjoying the festive period doing not much apart from reading, a bit of walking and generally relaxing before the madness of Sydney over New Year. We stopped off to do our ‘Christmas shop’ in Christchurch, which although busier than normal was in no way as bad as the insanity of Tescos a few days before Christmas. ...