Goodbye to Akaroa OR: Once a small town, always a small town

Our days in Akaroa are coming to an end. To be more precise, our last day in Akaroa is coming to an end. And to be even more precise, we will be leaving the francophile small town that has been our home for the past two and a half months. Au revoir and (probably) farewell! Are we sad to leave Akaroa?

Well... on the one hand, we have settled in quite nicely here in the past weeks. But you really can't complain about the landscape... Plus, we have been getting more and more involved with our colleagues, especially Allison. In the weeks leading up to our departure, we filled in as baby/house sitters for four days so that Allison - a single mother of two teenage daughters with five jobs - could have a weekend to herself and experience a hint of relaxation. We were happy to do that. In return, we could stay at her place during that time and help ourselves to the fully stocked fridge. Just like WWOOFING. And as a thank you, Allison used her connections to organize a dolphin-watching tour for us, the number 1 tourist attraction in Akaroa. Normally, you would have to shell out 80 dollars per person for that, but we got it for free. I have to say, watching dolphins in their natural habitat is something really special. Especially since these animals are very curious and - once they have spotted their observers and are not busy hunting - like to swim alongside the boat and make joyful jumps. By the way, the dolphins are spotted by a dolphin dog, who can hear the dolphins and goes completely crazy when they are nearby. We also passed by a seal colony (baby seals!) and a penguin, who was swimming lonely on his way...

So far so good. Akaroa is a classic tourist town. People greet you friendly on the streets, there are happy faces everywhere, it's full of cafes and small shops, and the sun practically always shines. But that's just the surface appearance and, as we know, appearances can be deceiving. We were also blinded by it for a long time. UNTIL NOW! Because shortly before our departure, we learned something that made us - well - swallow. And reminded us again how small town Akaroa really is... dangerously small town... If you're thinking of Edgar Wright's "Hot Fuzz", you're not completely wrong. Well, no blood has been shed yet... Although, apparently a millionaire disappeared in the mountains here a few years ago... they only found his clothes. And let's not forget about the pony, the poor white pony, which was mistaken for a ghost by the neighbors of its owner and was shot because of that.

Also, just like in any other small town, people like to gossip here. For example, one of our colleagues started a rumor (mind you) that Mr. So-and-so beats his wife. The poor man, who has never been violent in his whole life, has now been single for eight years. But the best part is that there are so-called "swinger clubs" here. This is sort of the New Zealand version of "Wife Swap". People meet, have a coffee get-together, and then the spouses are swapped at will. The headmaster of the local school is for example a more prominent member of these clubs. Plus, the clubs are in competition with each other, because some clubs have a better reputation than others, and it's a true honor to be invited by the more popular clubs... Well, if that's not mind-boggling, then I don't know what is. But as the saying goes: Once a small town, always a small town (is that how it goes?). Now the dirty truth about Akaroa is out. Far from being a tourist showcase town. But we have left that far behind us now.

Nevertheless, we have spent our last few days here really nicely. In addition to the Akaroa Dolphins, we also visited the "Giant's House", which was named after a little girl who was so impressed by the size of the house that she thought it must be the house of a giant. For twenty years now, this house has been inhabited by an artist who creates imaginative sculptures out of mosaic stones for her garden. The result is a colorful, glittering fantasy world that hides a little beautiful detail in every corner and every hideaway. Another highlight of our journey!

In the last days before our departure, Allison invited us to her place again, as we had to make room in the staff house for the new kitchen-hand, but still had a lot to prepare for our journey. And there was a small farewell gathering at "Bully's" for us, which turned out to be quite small due to a lack of information. But that didn't matter, because we still had a lot of fun (with homemade sushi and drinks).

And then, on Wednesday last week, fully fueled and fully loaded - VROOM (please insert intimidating engine noise here) - off we went...

Maggi&Richi, on the front seats of our Mitsubishi on a rainy campsite somewhere in the middle of nowhere 13.04.2017, 11:11 a.m.