Day 18- Sidetrip to Akaroa

As we were unable to make the trip yesterday to Akaroa (a french village out at the end of the Banks Peninsula) despite the poor weather today, we headed there anyway. NZ Frenzy had said not to go there if the weather was bad, or the cruise ship in. But everyone had said how wonderful it was, so we decided to go anyway. However, no one had told us of the scenic route out there, so we headed the way Garmin took us, out the highway.

Heading out for the day

We caught up with two other Morgans when stopping for coffee in Little River and followed them out to Akaroa.

Little River Cafe

Approaching the coast

We had high hopes the weather would clear up, but unfortunately as the day progressed, the weather deteriorated. 

Approach to Akaroa

There is a french feel to the little village, but since no cruise ship was in, it was a very quiet village. 

We walked around town and into the French store, where we said "I can buy that in France" for less..

Vivian and Joan 

Walking along the sea front

As there is a "world famous" Fish and Chips cafe here, we all stopped for lunch. The fish of the day was Orange Roughy. I ordinarily do not like Fish and Chips, but these really were amazing. Absolutely fresh fish and a very light batter.  The portions were huge. 

Elaine and Phil 

Fiona, Vivian and Richard eating 

Janet, Fiona and Vivian

The serving of Fish and Chips

Janet and Fiona

Upon returning to our car, we found Pam and Alan sitting in their Morgan eating their light lunch. When we left, they were chatting to a local about cars. 

Pam and Alan

Overlooking the Bay

There is a tourist route around the volcano that surrounds the bay and town, which we had postponed taking when we were driving into  Akaroa, so we all decided to take it on the way back to Christchurch.  It was very foggy for the first 3/4 of it, but we did manage to get a few photos when we came out of the fog. 

View from around the volcano

More views

Views YESTERDAY by Dave

As we now knew about the other scenic route through the tunnel, we decided to take that route back to the hotel. As we approached the most scenic part, the road was "closed for construction". We had also been searching for a petrol station, as we were desperately in need of fuel, so the detour was not much appreciated. We did however successfully make it to the station in time.
The laundry needed doing and we were pretty full from lunch, so we skipped looking for any group outings for dinner and ordered room service. 
We were pretty excited when we saw the size of the bowl of French Onion Soup, but upon removing the cover, found it to be just a few bites. We also had a small side salad.  The cost NZ $40. Not an inexpensive place to visit.

To bed early as we have a long drive to Mt. Cook tomorrow.