Akaora

I slept well in my new apartment. Breakfast is outside today. The sun is shining and I fold down the table outside the car. Last night I made tea in my thermos flask and it's now just the right temperature to drink. I sit in the camper entrance, look at the mountains in front of me and enjoy my first breakfast. Today I want to try out Freedom Camping, so it's not far today. I only have to drive half an hour. I read in my travel guide that there is supposed to be a settler and Maori museum here. I saw that on the trip yesterday. Today I'm going to go in.

The museum is small, but very nicely done with lots of pieces to look at. All things that were found in the area are on display here. Many Maori boats (old and new) can be viewed, a Maori meeting house and a few houses of the first European settlers can also be seen. The daily necessities of the first settlers are exhibited in a large hall and there is a 3D profile of the Banks Peninsula. This shows you how mountainous it really is here.

After the museum I make my way to Akaroa. It was previously settled by French settlers, so there are still many French street names here. I arrive at the parking space around 2:30 p.m. An hour later, all 19 parking spaces are taken. So yesterday I did everything right by not driving here.

Akaroa is a pretty little town nestled in a bay. It looks so beautiful here: the place and the mountains and the water. Nature is so beautiful, but this beauty hardly comes across in the photos...