Day 4. Banks Peninsula

 After exploring close to town yesterday we decided on an outing to the Banks Peninsula today. This is a small, mountainous, volcanic protrusion on the coast just south of Christchurch; because the coast here is very shallow, Lyttelton is the main deep water harbour for the town, reached by a tunnel through the hills.



When we got to Lyttelton there was some sort of event on and in our drive through the town we couldn't fina a single park. So we drove on around Lyttelton Harbour, which was very pretty, to Diamond Harbour, more or less directly across from Lyttelton. Here we bought an icecream and walked down the hill to the wharf and ferry terminal.

                                        


From there we drove to Akaroa. I relied on Google to find the most direct route, which turned out to be initially a narrow and winding dirt track. Fortunately we didn't encounter any other cars, as there were no places to park. This wound east past a couple more bays and then over the crest and down the other side.

Akaroa was also busy; it was the terminus for some sort of bike race and part of the road was blocked off. It is meant to be the only French town in New Zealand. It didn't seem particularly French other than selling baguettes.

We wandered up and down the shops and galleries before lunch and a more direct drive back to town.








Location: 351 Montreal Street, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch 8013, New Zealand

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