CHRISTCHURCH AND AKAROA

I flew to the South Island to ChristChurch on March 4th and in many ways landed in a different country. ChristChurch appeared to be distinctly different from the other towns I had visited in the North Island. Many say CHCH has a more British influence and I agree, yet I would also say it doesn't look exactly like the towns I have seen in England. The South Island has about a million of the 4 million total New Zealand population. ChristChurch has about 400,000 of the one million living in the South Island. By comparison, I think there are about 40 million sheep here and perhaps as many as 20 million cows.

Click here to view some pictures of Christchurch and Akaroa.

Akaroa is a town about an hour drive from CHCH and located in a beautiful setting on the water. It is tucked away in a cove created when the local volcano blew its lid many, many years ago. It has a strong French feel and appeal. Word has it the French occupied the area with the Maori people and were having such a good time, they forgot to post a flag. When the English arrived to this paradise, they proudly placed their flag in the soil and immediately explained to all the area residents that this was now Crown-country and ordered them to stop their painting, collect their baguettes and move on as it was high time we had tea and scones to replace the crusty old french bread and moldy brie.

My trip to ChristChurch and Akaroa was thoroughly and thoughtfully coordinated by Graeme and Jenny Robinson. Graeme was a NZ Eisenhower Fellow and traveled to the United States in 1984. They could not have been more kind or helpful to me during my four day visit.