Akaroa!

We spent the day in Akaroa with LOML's brother and his wife. It was a great day although it did involve a countryside 'ramble' that left my legs feeling like jelly. For those of you who don't live locally, Akaroa is a small town on a beautiful harbour. The French almost settled there, and the town took this one bit of French connection and really ran with it. All the roads are Rue this and Rue that, the signs are all in French, and there are lots of French bakeries, lavender farms, cheese factories, that kind of thing.


On our 'ramble' we stopped at Tree Crop Farm. It's a gorgeous place ... a historic farmstead that operates as a romantic retreat and cafe. I'm too sleepy to attempt any sort of description tonight, but here it is. Sorry for the blurriness of the photos, I had the camera on the wrong setting and only realised when I got home. As you do.

I heart Lyttelton

We headed over to Lyttelton today to take some photos. For those of you who don't live in Christchurch, Lyttelton is Christchurch's harbour. It's an odd place in that it's part of the city, but also kind of a town in its own right. It's separated from Christchurch by the Port Hills, and it has a thriving artistic community, which means it's pleasantly weird. The town itself is a mix of industrial and harbour equipment and character-rich old buildings.

Here's the harbour:






And the town:











And this 100-year-old cottage, which was for sale. If I had the money, I'd love to buy it and do it up ... maybe one day. When I'm a rich author (cough).