Tuesday 10th - Akaroa

Our drive to Oamaru on Saturday 7th was straightforward with a mandatory stop at the Wrinkly Rams for coffee and cakes. However, on this occasion we bought a takeaway as timing was tight and the LLW would be livid if we missed our booking at Riverstone.

We arrived at Riverstone at 1 minute to 1pm which was the time of our booking so Ray was awarded 1 more brownie point.

As always lunch was delightful, the LLW had stuffed courgette flowers followed by rump of lamb and summer berry pudding. Ray had grilled squid, the lamb and a very rich chocolate torte.  All portions were very large and the LLW decided she should have missed out the courgette flowers. 

After a wander around the gardens and quirky shops we set off the few miles south to our camp site in Oamaru. Ray was sent off for a cycle ride around the town and the sea front whilst the LLW organised her men again.

The next day we had a longish drive to meet Miles and Emma at Fable Terrace Downs which is a very up market golf and country club in the vicinity of Mount Hutt which is the main ski area for Christchurch residents. We also met Stuart and Cherie friends of their's who have a weekend residence at Terrace Downs. Miles and Emma moved from Thakeham in West Sussex to NZ about 12 years ago and have now bought a plot (a section in NZ speak) at Terrace Downs on which they will build a house. It is absolutely a stunning location. 

After lunch we drove the final 80/90 miles to Akaroa, the final section of which is very steep with numerous u-bends and much more so than I had remembered. Nevertheless we arrived in good time and very quickly parked the Motor home and had the BBQ going.

As you can see Akaroa is a beautiful location in a sheltered spot in the middle of a large natural harbour on the Banks Peninsular which itself is a huge caldera of an extinct volcano. It has an interesting history in being initially a French Settlement before the Brits did a deal with the Maori to buy the whole of NZ. It retains that french feel about the town.

The weather is cooler here and that is forecast for the next few days but mainly sunny and the sun is still fierce.  We have enjoyed eating al fresco outside the Motor Home with one of the best views you can imagine. As you can see the LLW is looking very well.

Apologies for cutting off the top of our heads in this photo but using the time delay on my camera was not easy on the rather wobbly table

We had planned to sail again with the Fox ketch which regularly sails down the harbour and out into the Pacific. However, it his very windy and we both felt it would be rather uncomfortable out in the open ocean.

Tomorrow we have booked to have dinner at Ma Maison, one of the more up market restaurants in Akaroa, to celebrate the first anniversary of Rosemary's new kidney. The last 15 months have been quite something with first dialysis and then the transplant but we both look back very positively on the period, in the knowledge that receiving the transplant was the best possible gift Rosemary could received. We shall be forever grateful to Belinda Bartle for making this possible.