Weekend Rendezvous

Shifting house, as they call moving down here, is exhausting. Loading a truck full of things I’ve collected over the last 18 months (embarrassingly a lot more then I thought), hauling it four hours north and then unloading it and spending three days unpacking is tough work. Okay, really, I’m just complaining here. They reality is that I’ve had a lovely time not working and setting up a new home. Letting all my creative talents loose, I’ve made a new set of curtains, recovered some dining room chairs, and rearranged everything possible in the townhouse much to Jason’s surprise every night when he comes home from work. So to decompress from all this hard work, Jason and I decided to take a short weekend excursion to Akaroa. A small wharf town located about 90 minutes outside Christchurch on the Banks Peninsula of the South Island, it is well known for its French heritage. Originally discovered by, surprisingly, the French in the early 19th century, it was actually founded by the British in 1840 when they beat the French in a sail-off from Russell in the North Island to stake their claim to the area. Being the good sports that they are, the British allowed the French to put their stamp on the area, thus giving Akaroa its distinctive French flavor. Unfortunately with time, and the ever expanding desire for prime recreation real estate, the town has lost a lot of its original charm and been overrun by vacation homes. One actually owned by a US congressman. However, we did manage to brave the cold (with the help of some newly purchased merino/possum gloves and hat) taking a two hour Dolphin cruise (which unfortunately didn’t materialize in any dolphin sightings due to rough waters and brisk southerlies) and walking the self-guided tour of the town’s historic sites. On the flip side, the benefit of the cold materialized in some snow-kissed mountains to greet us Sunday morning as we looked across the harbor from our room. Although the businesses didn’t find the cold appealing, many closing down for the winter season, we still managed to find some fine eating establishments that were open, even if the one renowned French restaurant in town said “au revoir” for the season. Despite these few hitches, the town was beautiful and the weekend very relaxing. Now, back to work…