Nov 19th – Akaroa is a seaside town at the tip of a peninsula southeast of Christchurch. Since the French were first to land here, all the street names and many of the towns along the way have very French names.

The road to Akaroa is typical here on the South Island – lots of twists and turns, ups and downs. We arrived in time for lunch and enjoyed a platter of “fruits de mer” including just about everything but oysters – phew! It wasn’t a very sunny day, but we’d been told to try the Kapiti ice cream so we licked our cones on a bench seaside and watched two guys bring back the results of a fishing adventure.

The town has become a mecca for crafters and we enjoyed strolling along the main street checking out the shops. Barry’s Bay Cheese is a well-known cheese producer in this area. We stopped to purchase some samples for dinner and had a chuckle at the sign on the big cheese wheel in the refrigerator –  “don’t play with the cheese”. The sales rep told us that it’s more for the parents’ benefit. She is sometimes exasperated by how they can ignore what their kids are doing.  Unfortunately even wine and cheese didn’t help me beat George at Scrabble. He’s now 4 and 0!