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Blogs from Saint Arnaud, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania
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May 31st 2012
AKAROA This is a town on a peninsula to the south east of Christchurch, so we had to bypass our final destination (Christchurch) to get to it, but It was worth the drive. The village of Akarua at the end of the road was the only French settlement on New Zealand in the 1800s, but the Brits negotiated a treaty with the Maori people and in the future Brits dominated the settlements. Akaroa still has French named streets and one hotelier who flew a French flag to give authenticity, but otherwise it did not seem particularly French (not that I am an expert) It was very very nice though. The Akaro peninsula was formed by three volcanoes, and two of the towns, Akaroa included, are located in the respective craters. Scenery was as close to ... read more
CYCLE TOUR - RIDING THE RAINBOW
Published: February 18th 2010Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Saint Arnaud
February 18th 2010
It was a purple kind of dawn. The peaks stood out so sharply in the early light they looked as though they had been chiseled from the skyline. The valley was still in darkness, but as my first brew of the morning came to the boil, a hawk (or more properly an Australasian harrier) was trying to make breakfast out of a skylark and then a magpie. But the hawk’s usual aerial grace was missing. It was flying just over the trees outside the hut, but it was clumsy and struggling to stay airborne as it’s prey ducked and dived through the uppermost branches. It soon gave up and moved on, and I took my cup of tea back to my bunk. No Bull, Thanks I was in the DOC hut at Lake Sedgemere, roughly half ... read more
