BTDU

At the risk of sounding like a line from Groundhog Day, this is how our campsite greeted us at 8.30 am😎

Clearly a morning to take breakfast outside…

Continuing our Plan B East Coast tour, we headed for Akaroa

Many of NZ’s State Highways (their main routes – there are less than 500 km of Motorways and few dual carriageways on the two islands) are single lane, c. 12-15 m wide overall, with occasional short lengths of passing lanes.

But their planners definitely knew that a straight line was the shortest distance between 2 points, and that was very much in evidence today as we headed north..

…and then you come across settlements on these highways where an eclectic mix of building designs very much reflect the nation’s history..

Our lunch stop was at Rakaia, named after it’s huge river, that is renowned for it’s world class salmon fishery; this is the bridge that spans it…

As cited earlier, the Kiwis love their street art, which we have much admired too, and Rakaia had no shortage of these – graffiti free ! – works…

But you still do see, dotted around, some run down buildings desperate for some tlc..

However, this is how they celebrate their famous gastronomic delight😉

The Café was up to their usual very high standards..as was the weather!

Akaroa, our destination, has a very interesting back story…

But getting there took us over a hair-raising Alpe d’Huez type mountain pass, before dropping down and getting our first sight of this remarkable wee town..

…and our campsite had some “interesting” accomodation…

Nestled up the mountain, we took the steep path – including 121 steps – down to the harbour…

…and it was soon obvious where we were…

..and a more colourful array of restaurants, boulangeries etc would be hard to imagine…n’est-ce pas?

…then the harbour called…

Finally, yet another splendid meal before we prepared ourselves for the 121 steps back to tonight’s home..

Mon Dieu, quelle journée fabuleuse…😍