Akaroa is a small town located on the east coast of the South Island, about 1.5 hours from Christchurch on a peninsula. The land has steep rolling hills and was formed by two extinct volcanoes.

Long ago, Akaroa was an island. During the glacial period two million years ago, fine silt formed by the glaciers grinding ice on the Southern Alps was carried by the wind and deposited across the Canterbury Plains. This eventually closed the gap between the volcanoes and the sea.

Another beautiful view found on the Banks Track, Akaroa is down there somewhere.

Some French guy landed in Akaroa back in the day and liked the place so much he wanted to create a little settlement there. He went back to his homeland to have an agreement drawn up but by the time he arrived back to town the British flag was flying. The Mantell agreement to take nearly all the land from the Maori for nothing had already been signed. (They did promise to build schools and hospitals as part of the agreement but that never happened. Weird.)

He was able to keep his little piece of French town in Akaroa anyway. The French flag flies here and some cafes on the one street in town sell croissants. Having been to Paris and other metropolitan areas that have cafes with wonderful pastries, I think the French stuff in Akaroa wasn't that great. It also didn't seem very French.

The Ride to Little French Town

On the shuttle from Christchurch to Akaroa one of the passengers was trying to get to the cruise ship he works on. Only he couldn't because when we arrived the ship was gone.

Apparently that happens in Akaroa.

Someone told us a story about one time the weather changed for the worse pretty quickly so the cruise ship that was docked there just up and left...without the passengers. The people of Akaroa arranged to take in some 3,000 stranded people for the night. Keep in mind that the population of Akaroa is only about 600 or so.

Walking around an old volcano

The Banks Peninsula Track is the oldest private walk in New Zealand. It crosses over private farm land to the ocean and we spent two days walking amongst sheep while looking for penguins and seals. Also in the ocean you can watch hector dolphins swim by. Part of the ocean you walk by is a protected marina so there's no fishing, poison or garbage there.

Note: We walked the Banks Peninsula in two nights although it can be done in four. The longer walk allows for a slower pace and more time for side trips like sea kayaking and stuff.

As has been the trend so far, the majority of folks we met going on treks were women. Ryan was one of three guys, out of fourteen total passengers, on the bus to the start of the Banks Track. The rest of the passengers were ladies having a nice long weekend together walking the peninsula and drinking bottles of wine.

We walked up an old volcano hill with packs on.

Private walks cost more than camping in the backcountry. It also means you get to sleep in a bed and use an indoor kitchen and you can pay to have your bags carried to your evening stopping point and just walk with a daypack. We carried our packs for two days (and survived).

Our first night we stayed at the Ōnuku hut where two-day walkers are separated from the four-day walkers. It was nice because we had to wake up and walk 19 km while the rest of the group had to walk 11. We heard them slamming the front door to the house and the outside gate late into the evening. It sounded like a sleepover party but with 50 year-olds and lots of wine. I was sort of envious of them.

We met a wonderful French couple also walking the track in two days. We enjoyed sharing the walk and conversations during meals. Given the recent events in Paris and the immigrant crisis happening in Europe, it was nice to hear their perspectives on the issues.

They also asked us what was up with the Republican Party in the U.S.?

Our second night we stayed at Stoney Bay. Again we were in a house separated from the four-day walkers. Stoney Bay looks like an enchanted forest settlement that tends to be more forest than settled. For example, there is one outdoor shower that was built around a tree and birds live in it. Also, we walked into another 50 year-old slumber party walking group who, for whatever reason, decided it was time for them to line up for using the one shower after the four of us rolled into camp. We had just completed walking 19 km and climbed 500 meters, where as they walked 8 km along the coast and then waited for us to arrive before cleaning up.

The front of our hut at Stoney Bay. The little blue penguins were in the box below the window.

It was fine.

I practiced patience and made some kick-ass mac and cheese that our French friends said was "trés bien," while the newly formed shower queue worked itself out.

Also, little blue penguins lived under our hut. Little blue penguins are cute but they smell sort of nasty and like to wake up and scream, as penguins do, for about five minutes around 3:00 AM. I remember waking up at some point to put ear plugs back in and heard Ryan laughing in the bunk above me.

Little Blue Penguins! Stinky, sometimes loud and always cute!

Yeah.

The second day of the walk was a much simpler 16 kms and we saw seal pups, sheep butts and more sea birds. The dumbest part of the walk is after you've completed the track and you're dumped on a paved road with no shoulder or sidewalk that was a steep-ass descent for 20 minutes. It made me really mad to have my knees feel so old and tired and there was no other way for us to get into town other than to walk on the road.

Dumb.

But we survived. And then loaded up our packs with food and beer and walked UP a steep hill to pitch our tent at the Top 10 Holiday Park.

The beer was delicious!

Sunset from our tent site. We walked around the hills!