Days 13-14 - Akaroa

The last stop of our trip was Akaroa, a French colony on the end of the peninsula 75 km to the west of Christchurch.  

We stopped for breakfast in Christchurch, not thinking about the fact that it was New Years Eve and everything would be closed.  Everything except good ol' trusted Denny's.  I can't remember the last time I ate at a Denny's, but by golly I ate at a Denny's in New Zealand.

We took the scenic drive into Akaroa, an exceptionally windy road high above the bay that provided some fantastic views all the way into town.

We walked around downtown in the rain and just enjoyed doing a lot of nothing on our last day.  We were pretty tired of traveling at this point.  Being a French colony in the middle of a British-dominated country, Akaroa developed some pretty fierce French pride.  French flags, 'rues' instead of 'streets', French names for their stores, and even a Le Mini Golf.  There were quite a few cruise ships in the harbor when we arrived so it seems like the main stop in that region, with a lot of day excursions into Christchurch for passengers.  We walked the dock to look at the ships and were 'welcomed back' by cruise employees offering us punch.  Don't mind if I do.

We ran into the same problem here as we did in Queenstown- no room at the inn.  Not even in the stable.  There was only one holiday park in Akaroa and it was jam packed.  I made sure to bring James in when I went in to see if there was room.  There were other people waiting but I was the one with a cute baby on the hip.  Always a good idea to bring James with me when I want something.  The owner was exceptionally kind and offered us a parking spot in their personal driveway since they weren't driving anywhere this evening.  We were very grateful.  After a wholesome dinner of dehydrated meals and PB&Js, we hit up the holiday park pool and settled in for bed.

James's toys- grass and an empty medicine bottle.  We are great parents.

I can't say we had the most restful sleep of our lives.  We were in bed by 8:30 pm on NYE in a Holiday Park, surrounded by hundred of people living out of their vans.  There was music blaring and voices yelling and, mercifully, somehow James slept through it.  Lance and I watched Forest Gump.  I feel so Grumpy Gus saying this, but we were pretty happy when a storm rolled in and blew all the revelers indoors around 11:00.  Boy, are we fun times or what?

Next morning we did the Purple Peak Track up to the saddle in Hinewai Reserve.  It kind of reminded me of Weathertop in LOTR, so used that to motivate me when the path got rough.  It was a very tough hike.  The path was severely overgrown and steep, so we were having to concentrate on our foot placement so we didn't trip on the tall grasses and go tumbling down the hillside.  I'm allergic to grass so my exposed legs were covered in red itchy rashes by the end.  Between that and the sandfly bites, my legs have seen better days.  The view from the top was worth the effort.

Next 4 pics make up 360 view from the top.

Pacific Ocean in the background

Akaroa in the foreground to the right

Back to Christchurch for dinner and frozen yogurt, and early to bed for our 5:45 am flight home.  More on our unique sleeping location in the final post.