Akaroa, 82km east of Christchurch, is a popular resort town and charming French Settlement situated on Banks Peninsular. It is set in a beautiful sheltered harbour, overlooked by volcanic craggy hills. The name 'Akaroa' translates from Maori - 'Long Harbour'. It still has a French influence, reflected by many of the street names and architecture. The scenic drive to Akaroa was gorgeous; we knew instantly that NZ was going to be a place that we were going to love, after we saw the snow capped mountains just outside of Christchurch. Huge mountains all in a row along the horizon, it was a brilliant sight. Further east we cruised through the winding roads and hilly pastures, eventually overlooking the harbour of Akaroa. It was amazing; we had such a clear day. The bay was formed by violent eruptions of 3 volcanoes. One of the reasons this place is so special, is for the Hector Dolphins, which are very rare - however we were here just to soak up the countryside atmosphere, and completely relax, as we have been recommended Kiakoura for dolphin and whale watching.

We parked up alongside French Bay; the main harbour... got the chairs out of the back of the camper, had warm winter veg soup and completely relaxed as it was a really warm day. We later explored the town, which was really old and beautiful - full of the locals who seemed to know each other as it is such a small town. We did intend on doing some tramping into the hills, however since it was such a nice day, and we were all chilled out and happy to soak up NZ - we decided against it (a little lazy but we were glad we just took time to realise where we were). That night we drove up into the hills overlooking the harbour and parked up for the night. The moon was especially bright this night, and reflected beautifully off the water in the harbour ... gorgeous to watch as we were snuggled up in our camper.

We woke up early Easter Sunday and headed down to the village as we heard that there was to be a big annual auction and flea market. It was a gorgeous day again and seemed like a reunion for the whole community. There was so much energy, the ladies were selling their homemade jams, chutneys and cakes, whilst the men were auctioning off all the locals unused furniture etc. It was so fun to watch the guys auctioning of all the goods, from the back of the truck. The auctioneer was a professional and had the entire professional lingo! If the auction was back home we would have bought half of it. Four chairs sold for 2 dollars (80p), they looked in perfect condition, unbelievable. We did however buy two home baked caramel slices from a lady selling them for 1.50 dollar. In the shops they would be half the size and twice as much, so needless to say Chris was happy, they were delicious.
After a walk along the village and wharf, it was time to say goodbye - Arthurs Pass our next stop, mountains here we come xx