The Sleepy Banks Peninsula

After a road trip across the South Island back to the East coast, we passed by Christchurch and headed for Banks Peninsula on a tip from some nice local folks we met along the way. The Banks Peninsula was formed by two big volcanic eruptions, and it’s home to a bunch of small bays and harbors that make for low-key summer and weekend retreats. The main town is called Akaroa, 83 kilometers from Christchurch. It’s a historic place with a heavy French village influence, since it was the first and only French settlement in New Zealand. Like many places here in NZ, it’s postcard worthy scenery everywhere, with rolling hills sloping into greenish ocean. The big thing to do here is swim with the world’s smallest and rarest dolphins, Hector’s Dolphins, but we decided to leave that - and the cold ocean water - to the experts.

We read about a nice place to stay in the remote area of Okains Bay, not too far from Akaroa. In the middle of nowhere but walking distance to the beach, we spent two very quiet and peaceful days here. And by nowhere, we mean dial-up Internet and a single general store that sells jelly and ice cream and not much more. We did a lot of walking around the beach and caught up on some reading. It was completely relaxing and a nice recharge before heading off to Australia.