Farewell New Zealand

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I will leave New Zealand tomorrow morning, so today is my last full day here. I stayed in a quiet camp site at Kairakiri last night, spending my last night in the van. This site was just a short walk through a pine forest to the Waimakariri river estuary and 95% of the plots were used by permenent caravans and convertables. This is the kind of peace and simple life I appreciate in this country - no complications, no tension, no competition to be seen as anything other than human. It's hard not to feel sad in the knowledge I'll soon be leaving.

I decided to look at Akaroa, a town south of Christchurch that was initially settled by the French in 1840. Today, the French influence is still very obvious with place names, street names and even the french flag showing where the town's roots lay. This is also a town known for it's penguin colony, but I was out of luck as a 4WD vehicle was needed to get across the rough terain to visit these wild birds.

Then it was back to the mobile home depot to give back the van. Ian gave me a lift into Christchurch where I have booked into a hotel for the last night.

I had a couple of hours to explore Christchurch. In contrast with Akaroa, there is a strong British influence here, and in the cathedral, they were even trying to ring some call changes on their 12 bells. The war memorial here is a large and ornate bridge with a tall stone arch on top. New Zealand lost a very high proportion of it's young men in both world wars, and clearly this is something that the country does not want to forget. Elsewhere, the city has a lot of open space, partly parkland around the rover, but also public squares where you can see a lot of modern artwork. In the suburbs, Christchurch also looks quite different to Wellington or Auckland and has a clear British flavour especially in it's greater use of two storey houses and clearly defined domestic gardens.

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Photos

Last night in my van
Time for a cup of coffee before retiring to bed in my palace on wheels

Art in Akaroa
Very Parisien - you can pose for a portrait here in Akaroa - but for free

Ou se trouve Akaroa?
Street names in Akaroa are still in French - reflecting the 1840 settlers

Flying the flag
The French flag flies at the point where the first settlers landed in Akaroa in 1840

Duvauchelle post office
Clear French influence on the Akaroa peninsular

Christchurch Art
One of many public works of modern art - this one in Christchurch cathedral square

May they never be forgotten
Christchurch's memorial to those NZ soldiers who fell in the two world wars

Chrsitchurch Cathedral
Clear British influence