We then continued to our final destination, Akaroa. Akaroa was originally a French colony, and is marketed as an oasis of French culture, but this is long gone. What's left is a quiet seaside beach community. After some browsing among the tourist shops we headed back to Christchurch. We finished the day with a very good dinner at the hotel's restaurant, and got to bed early as we (really Somchai) had a long drive ahead of us.

We then drove to the Banks Peninsula via the Summit Road, a winding road along the mountaintops. The scenery was beautiful, and we passed dozens of hikers and bikers even though the skies were dark and the air frigid. After about three hours, we stopped for lunch at French Farm, a French style villa and winery that's locally famous for lunch (the photo where Somchai looks like he's going to park your car). We had a great meal there, although the interior and overall feel of the place veers very close to a cafeteria, and the waitress uniforms have got to go.