Akaroa Bay & no swimming

Trip Start Dec 31, 2006

113

Trip End Nov 2007

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Flag of New Zealand Akaroa, New Zealand
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

On the way to Akaroa we stopped at the church of the good shepard which had spectacular views over the lake. There was also a statue of a sheep dog which had belonged to the first European to settle in the area. We had our first fast drive across flat land, a nice change from endless winding roads. Alas it didn't last long as we had to drive over a long winding hill to get to Akaroa. We managed to get a great pitch at the campsite infact it was so good and there were so few of them that we decided to save our pitch by putting a bucket of cold water in the middle of it and luckily it did the trick. There was also a family of ducks who took great interest in our campervan and we were sure they would try and jump in however crys of hmmm duck l'orange seemed to scare them off. We decided to check out the place and went for a walk down the long, steep and muddy path to the village. We had a wander through the shops to the bay which was yet another stunning view, as it was a bit windy though we soon headed back to the campsite via the supermarket

Icy Road from Mount Cook to Akaroa

. Later on bucket in place (now containing ice) we went to town for tea as most places were shut there was limited choice but we found a nice place and had some smashing New Zealand lamb.

The following day after a lazy morning (involving washing and Sarah chasing rabbits & sheep with her camera) we went down to the pier to watch people set off to swim with dolphins as were were to be in the same boat (sorry about the pun) the next day. After this we went for a drive around the bay and up in the surrounding hils the views were as beautiful as ever and sheep were a plenty. We spotted a sign for Devonshire teas and went to investigate alas we failed to locate said place but did get out of the van to skim some stones and I am proud to say I broke my record and got 2 bounces whoo hoo. We drove back to the village and went for fish and chips which we ate in the van mmmm. The next day we got up and ready for our swim with dolphins, we drove to town and killed some time looking at the shops before going to check it was still on as it was a bit windy alas our bad luck continued and it was cancelled as in winter the dolphins are in the sea (as against harbour) so the swells would have caused the boat to crash on our heads. We found out that the day before had not even seen any dolphins, which made us feel better. So we made the decision to drive to Christchurch early.

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