This morning we drove out to the beautiful Banks Peninsula. It was our first real road trip with the 3 of us in the front seat, and a bit of a squeeze, but all good fun!
The Peninsula, a land form that is the result of violent eruptions of 3 volcanoes millions of years ago is rugged and hilly, so lots of bends and climbs. As we dropped down towards the Akaroa Harbour and township the views were spectacular.
Akaroa, which means ‘long harbour’ in Maori is the site of the country’s first French settlement, a charming town that maintains it’s French provincial village feel. We noticed that even the street signs were in French. It wasn’t too French however…as we managed to find a ‘Smith Street’!
We walked around the small village, with it’s original settlement buildings - it was very quaint.
After lunch overlooking the harbour we drove back towards Christchurch, taking the Gebbies Pass Road to Lyttelton and the Christchurch Gondola.
Before Tracy had time to think it through we whisked her on to the 945 metre long Gondola, travelling to the summit of the 500 metre Mt Cavendish.
The views from the top were stunning, we had amazing 360 degree views across the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps, Christchurch, and Lyttelton Harbour.
Once back down on the ground we drove back to the YMCA and after dinner wandered down to the local brew pub for a Friday night drink.
No comments:
Post a Comment