This long weekend in Canterbury we took a trip to Akaroa with my inlaws. Akaroa is a sweet little town nestled in Banks Penninsula. The first people to buy the land off the native tribes were the French so all the signs are in French and the whole area has heaps of history around it. The whole area is really beautiful - New Zealand in a snap shot.
I share the same birthday week with Graeme's Mum so we took advantage of their weekend away and spent some time with the family celebrating!
We had family dinners and lunches, watched a movie on a rainy Saturday afternoon, visited a market, did some walking and went to a beach on our way home. We stayed up late and played cards and a hilarious game of charades. Probably the best game of charades I've ever played. The night ended with me going to bed first while I could hear Michael Jackson playing downstairs amongst lots of laughter. Perfect.
I woke up in the morning to my birthday! Graeme started to teach Camilla to skateboard (gotta start em young) and in the afternoon we made our way home.
Even though Akaroa is crazy touristy now and much of its original French charm has been exploited by the tourism industry I still appreciate the area for its history. You might remember, we went their a few weeks ago and visited the families Marae. While I was there I did a little reading and learnt how the French did some deals with the local Maori tribes to buy some land - they went back to France to get their settlers and 2 months later the English came in and officially colonised New Zealand. The unknowing french returned on their ship and discovered they had no where else to go, so they stayed in Akaroa. I find stuff like that really interesting. I love history and I love learning.
Thanks Phillip for the photos! :)
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