A very relaxing day in Akaroa and a dinner of local salmon

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We were so pleased that we did manage to switch off from working one day to being on holiday the next.

There was no waking up at 5am or before thinking that we had to go to work with Gretchen on her way by 7.15am and me by 7.45am.

We get get to hear the 6am news before a Fulton Hogan street sweeper truck drove by sweeping the few leaves that had fallen from trees onto the road at the seaside and disturbed the otherwise peaceful environment adjacent to our upstairs accommodation.

We decided today that brunch, rather than breakfast was the way to go.This way we could lie in bed for longer and then having eaten 'breakfast' later in the morning we could bypass lunch and by the time dinner comes around we would be hungry again.This of course could be dependant upon the amount eaten at brunch.

We did have a coffee and a bowl of yogurt and fruit after we arose to prepare for the day and head off to Bully Hayes Restaurant down along the waterfront.

The planned activities weren't going to be too strenuous but I still went for the terribly named 'Bully's Fatty Boomba Breakfast' which had just about everything you could want for breakfast including a generous half black pudding(which was really the attraction for me!) while Gretchen went the safe way of bacon and eggs.

First objective for todays drive was to take Lighthouse Road to Akaroa Heads where we expected to have expansive views o.f the ocean and coastline and hopefully a lighthouse to climb or admire.

The road to take us to Lighthouse Road from the village was easy to follow from our accommodation and very soon started a steep climb up the side of the hill.

Banks Peninsula was formed from volcanic origins hence the steepness of hills that surround Akaroa Harbour and Lighthouse Road was certainly steep !!In fact we felt it very nearly took the prize for the steepest road we have ever traversed with only the odd one or two in the alps of Europe that might have bettered it.To add to the steepness of the road was that half way up the flimsy fence that might have stopped a car careering down the hillside if a driver missed one of the blind turns,was no longer there!

We were approaching what looked like 3/4 of the way to the summit when a large road sign informed us that from that point onwards the road was only suitable to 4 wheel drive vehicles,of which the Toyota was not.

We still wanted to get at least to the summit and see how far it might have been down to the lighthouse assuming it was located on the coast,so we decided to park the car and walk.

A short way on we met two travellers coming back and they indicated that there was till a good distance to go and they hadn't seen a lighthouse.

We carried on for a short distance and then decided it might all be in vain.So we turned around and walked back to the car and abandoned the idea.

Driving carefully down the very steep road we got to the Catholic cemetery which was the second place we intended to visit to pay respects to a great uncle of mine who died in Akaroa in 1927 while helping his widowed mother who was running the Metropole Hotel in the village.His wife had died during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918 and he was left to raise his daughter who was only a few months old when her mother died.

We have not usually had a great of luck finding ancestor graves when trying to locate them but on this occasion we struck gold !

We then thought that we might try the access road to Stony Beach which was a bay further up the coast from where we thought the lighthouse at the Heads might have been.

Things started out well but then the road seal ended and the steep climb began on a gravel road and we gave this idea away too.

So it was back to our unit and time out for a rest before heading along the waterfront for a stroll and to check out menus for this evenings dinner experience.

Picking up a bottle of Rose at the local Four Square store it was back to the unit for some more rest and to enjoy our terrace seating with the sun now streaming in from the west.

We needed to try Akaroa salmon during our stay and so we opted for the Little Bistro a quaint very small restaurant where somehow they managed to get 12 tables with 48 chairs into an area the size of our small lounge at home.While the restaurant wasn't full it would have been interesting to see how they coped had it been full.

The starter size salmon portion with a side of seasonal vegetables followed by a very rich chocolate desert which we shared was delicious and we left fully satisfied.

Tomorrow it will be back over the hill to the plains and then we head west to the Buller region and a stay at Westport for 2 nights with family from Auckland who are spending part of the coming week with us.The great weather we have experienced in Akaroa is predicted to go downhill quickly from tomorrow night as a 'weather bomb' hits the West Coast overnight.

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Comments

[KJ]

Lighthouse by sea is best
You didn’t miss much not seeing the real lighthouse. We saw it winking when we cruised in there over the summer. Will send you a photo! A visit to the old lighthouse in town which is manned by volunteers is a very interesting story and well worth the visit.