Banks and Back

We’ve given ourselves only one day to wander around Akaroa and the Banks peninsula, and we fill it up. Will this be the most beautiful part of our trip? It’s looking like a serious contender. Morning brings a sunrise over the hills around the harbor. We cook up a delicious breakfast with multi-colored eggs from multi-colored chickens living 50 feet from us, and step outside to hang out with “the boys”, the five Suri alpacas sharing the property with us.

After walking around the property, dodging sheep poo and swinging on what looks like a Great Depression-era rope swing high up in the hills, we eat a quick lunch and drop back down into Akaroa. We pick up a couple of pies (somewhere between a souffle and a pasty) to eat later and visit The Giant’s House.

The Giant’s House is a nearly 20-year work always-in-progress by Josie Martin. The grounds of this house are saturated with mosaic sculptures and random oddities. The amount of detail is incredible! And so much character. Gloriane in particular is enchanted with all the quirky touches carved into the space, and with Josie’s matching personality.

Done with civilization for the day, we drive up and then back down to Le Bons Bay. Tucked in between two ridges and well-protected from the South Pacific beyond, calm Le Bons reflects the deep azure of the sky above. We tiptoe across tidal flats and up the inlet that feeds into the bay, through a pine forest, and finally back to our car for an early night watching The Whale Rider on DVD.