Trans Alpine to Christchurch

Time to move on from Arthur's Pass to Christchurch arriving in the late afternoon via the Trans Alpine Railway. Our agenda here is to travel the following day with Brian out to Akaroa which is a dormant crater and volcanic bay opening to the Pacific. This is a view of the bay from up on the caldera.














Akaroa was a French settlement in the mid 1800's when some adventurer sold about 60 Frenchmen on the idea of coming to Akaroa to set up a French colony. Unfortunately when they arrived they found the British had steamed into the harbor a few days earlier but they stayed on and the place has a definite French stamp on street names and architecture. Here is a colorful jeweler where we dropped a few francs.














After a lunch on the bay we boarded a craft for a cruise out on the bay to the small Hector's Dolphins, fur seals and penguins with a short turnaround in the Pacific.

















Akarora is a yet another fabulous panorama in New Zealand and our trip out was via a sheepherders path which was filled with spectacular vistas.


We left Christchurch the next morning to catch our 7AM Trans Coastal train ride up to Blenheim to tour the Marlborough wine region and the Marlborough Sound to witness the harvesting of the famous "greenlip mussel". These are now marketed as the green "shell" mussels since the idea of lips on a mussel did not "go down well"!

Ever onward!