Akaroa

After three days in Christchurch, it was time to move on.  We didn’t want to go too far until we were used to Ermintrude and I particularly wanted to see how she’d would perform on steep, bendy roads.  So our next destination was Akaroa.

This is on the Banks Peninsula, just south of Christchurch, an area created by volcanic activity.  On the map it looks like chunks of mountain with water in between them.  Most of the route is quite flat, but there’s also a section of steep roads and hairpin bends.  Ermintrude wasn’t happy with this section!  She never seemed to be in the right gear so you’d get this sudden drop in speed approaching a steep bend as she decided to change down.  But, it was worth the worry for the spectacular views.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop to take any photos because every time we came to a suitable place there was a campervan parked in it!

Akaroa is on the shore of one of the largest bays and has its own harbour.  It’s the only French settlement in New Zealand, and still has quite a French flavour to it.

We quickly found our camp site and then took the track down to the town to get some lunch.  Unfortunately a cruise ship had just come in so the place was full of people.  In the end, we bought some provisions and took them back to the camp site.  But at least we had a great view from our dining room.

We’d planned to go back into town to see the Giant’s House, but walking back up the track to the camp site was a bit like taking the spiral staircase at Covent Garden tube – only in a straight line.

In the end we decided to stay and watch people failing to park their vans and to fall asleep in the sunshine.  We both now have bright red noses, mine with a white stripe across it!  After that, I worked out how to deploy our awning, much to the delight of one of the local ducks!

Next stop is Edoras.