Akaroa and the Banks peninsula

My first two nights on the south island of New Zealand, I stayed at Akaroa, a little resort I hadn't even known existed until I started researching my trip.  It has a lot of nice waterfront restaurants and some Victorian architecture.  Oddly enough, there's a French influence;  French settlers arrived in 1840 before discovering that the British had secured the area with the treaty of Waitangi, which marked the birth of modern New Zealand.  The cruise ship is the Dawn Princess.  It's odd that such a small town hosts such a huge ship...the princess holds 1800 passengers, more than the entire population of Akaroa!  The cruise ships used to call at Lyttleton, much closer to Christchurch...a 15 minute drive, vs. 1 1/2 hours.  But Lyttleton was damaged in the 2011 earthquakes, so the ships are using Akaroa as a Christchurch stop until the quake damage is repaired.   

This is a Maori church in the village of Onoku, just a few kilometers south of Akaroa.  It's very quiet here.  The church was built in 1878 and apparently, Christianity hadn't won out over the traditional customs of the Maori completely...notice the carved head with the tongue sticking out, a sign of Maori whup-ass agression.  Even now, the New Zealand national rugby team, the All Blacks, does the Maori Haka before each match, and the players all stick their tongues out at their opponents.

A rata tree in full bloom in Akaroa. 

The Banks peninsula, which extends from just east of Christchurch to Akaroa, has many inlets seemingly forgotten by time.  Here, quiet hamlets doze as they did 50 years ago.  On a sunny Sunday, a few locals and folks on holiday from Christchurch show up and kick back.  Otherwise it's very quiet, and very beautiful.  This gem is Little Akaloa Bay, on the other side of the peninsula from Akaroa.

Yes, the Lizards made the trip!  They didn't like spending 24 hours stashed inside my sneakers, but whatever.  At Little Akaloa there are three picnic tables finely placed above the bay...perfect spots to pass an afternoon.  This pic was made at the lowest one. 

This is Pigeon Bay, another secluded inlet on the peninsula.  I hiked along the shoreline for awhile here, through sheep pastures.

New Zealand has many fine native trees, but also many imports.  This was a particularly excellent gum tree at Pigeon Bay.

Every town...even very small ones...in Australia and New Zealand has their World War I memorial.  From halfway across the planet the Anzacs came to Gallipoli to fight the Turks in the name of King George V of England.  They lost, and suffered horribly.  But, the Allies and bully beef won the war!  The Anzacs were heroic, to be sure...but to fight and die in a war that had virtually no impact on their homelands seems overly generous to me.

In New Zealand you're never far from livestock.  Sheep and cows are everywhere, even in the midst of rather substantial towns.  Occasionally they get on the roads.  You just go slow, figure out where they want to go, and prod them along a bit.  With courtesy.

After a long day of touring, there's nothing better than to live the antipodean lifestyle.  Fish and chips, an ice cold VB, and cricket on the telly!  I'm indoctrinating the Lizards to the gig.