We stayed in Christchurch [location] two nights, mainly so that we could spend a day driving to Akaroa, on the beautiful Banks Peninsula on the east coast of the south island. It is tempting to call Akaroa an “island”, and indeed Captain Cook once thought it was an island. It is actually a peninsula, rugged and hilly and gorgeous, with neat villages snuggled in the many bays and inlets. Read on!
Sadly, it was a cloudy day and the low clouds obscured most of the views. Indeed, the “summit road” that tours around the highest regions was so narrow and twisty and foggy we decided to take the coastal roads.
The town of Akaroa itself is a pretty village on a sheltered bay, with good restaurants lining the waterfront. Originally settled by the French, many of the street names and family names are still French.
We stopped by a cheese factory and bought some nice local cheeses, to go with some of the many good NZ wines that we had found. Unfortunately, upon returning to the hotel, I dropped one of the wine bottles in the driveway and it shattered. 😦
A few more [photos], and a link to [map].
This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2021, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.
David Kotz 