We left Christchurch in the afternoon and drove across to Akaroa on the Banks peninsula. It was dark when we arrived and after searching for places to stay for free but failing, we stayed at another holiday park. It was still relatively early so after dinner we went for a walk around the town. It was a bit like a ghost town, it was really dark and we started to question if anyone actually lived there. At 9pm the first pub that we walked past looked to be closed but the second one had a bit more life in it and we went in to join the four others sitting in there. After a couple of drinks they shut so we made our way back to the van via a rather challenging hill.
In the morning we had a look around the town, discovering that people did live there, although a fair few shops were 'closed for winter', including a butchers because people only want meat in the summer... Akaroa is a perfect postcard town. It truly is one of the most picturesque places I've ever been to. We took a lot of pictures and then had a look in a few of the shops. We splashed out on some fudge and went to shops where Charlie could easily have bought the entire place but settled for just a pair of gloves. We left in the afternoon and started the drive south to Dunedin.