I’m afraid neither of us slept well last night, these colds are nasty! We slept in a bit this morning to compensate and went down to breakfast feeling a bit bleary. Breakfast helped and we set off shortly afterwards to drive to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula.
Akaroa is an unusual little town, famous for its French cuisine, spectacular harbour, sightseeing, and rare dolphins. For a small town, Akaroa has had an interesting history. For starters, it was a potential candidate for a capital city; the birthplace of sailor Frank Worsley, captain of the Endurance during Earnest Shackleton’s ill-fated voyage to Antarctica; and a favourite stop-off for William ‘Bully’ Hayes, a notorious mid 19th-Century pirate!
I was really looking forward to the drive to the Banks Peninsula, as I’d seen pictures and read descriptions about its striking scenery. The peninsula’s dramatic landscape was shaped by the remnants of two ancient, extinct volcanoes, the Lyttelton and Akaroa volcanoes. Over time, erosion from the sea and streams carved out the distinctive valleys and harbors, including the two main harbors, Lyttelton and Akaroa.
The first part of our drive took us up into the Porter Hills above Christchurch and along the summit road with it’s view down to the city and to Lyttleton harbour. The weather for the morning was a bit grey but the views were still wonderful.
We stopped at a grand building called the Sign of the Taheke. The Sign of the Takahe is a historic rest house on the Summit Road in Canterbury, New Zealand. It was part of a vision by politician and conservationist Harry Ell to create rest houses along the crest of the Port Hills on his Summit Road. The building is now a cafe and function center.
We carried on with our drive and started to get views down to Akaroa’s harbour.
There were some pretty boat houses down on the bay which caught my eye.
Once we arrived in the town we stopped in t the little museum whcih told the interesting history of the town and then we wandered up the waterfront admirning the lovely bay.
We didnt stay long as we were both feeling pretty seedy, the dive back in the bright sunshine was lovely but I kept nodding off!
Back at the hotel we took some meds and rested for a while before we walked out for our last dinner in New Zealand. Down near the river we ate at the Craft Embassy, where Neil enjoyed a Christchurch made IPA and a burger and I had a tasty lamb salad. We’ve now done the final pack and are ready to spend a few more hours in Christchurch tomorrow before we fly home in the afternoon. Hopefully we will both sleep better tonight!
