Jo, Mary and I headed north to tour the south island. Akaroa was our first stop. Holyfreakamoly - that place was AMAZING! Just. so. pretty.
We drove along the scenic route and it was quite the drive! The switchbacks kept my passengers on the edge of their seats - they're not used to such narrow roads and driving on the "wrong" side of the road. The battery on my camera was dead, so I don't have pictures of the route (which follows the edge of a crater). Unfortunately, by the time we got to our accommodation (a Top 10 Holiday Park) the clouds had settled in, so we couldn't see the pretty blue water. BUT, the sun coming through the clouds looked really neat!
We strolled around town to find something to eat and search the town for French influences. There was a little walk along the water and it brought us to this lighthouse:
Now, there is a highly recommended 2- or 4-day walk on the Banks Peninsula track (4 days starts at $230), but we opted to choose our own adventure. (It would be really awesome if I could find someone to go back and do the track with me!)
Our first walk was down Pigeon Bay. This was a 5 hour walk in great weather. We crossed mostly agriculture land and so the track wasn't too challenging.
We tried doing an hour of the Skyline Circuit that evening, but the weather blew clouds in (again).
After our time was up in Akaroa, we moved on to Christchurch for a night at the Chester Street Backpackers. It was really important to me that I share this part of New Zealand with my friends, so that they could see a city that they were helping rebound from the earthquakes by being there and spending money in town. During the day we walked around the city (the container mall in particular) and checked out the cardboard cathedral.
After our brief stay in The Garden City, we headed west to Mt. Cook National Park - my visitors' favorite place out of all the places we visited! I'll post those pictures soon. :)
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