Day 259: Jenna's Birthday!



Table for high tea



Jenna, Emma and Louisa all have birthdays in September and October.  And they are all turning 25.  So they decided to have high tea at The Sign of the Takahe to celebrate.  We got dressed up and munched delicious sandwiches whilst sipping tea and coffee and enjoying decadent desserts in a midaeval style castle.  The Sign of the Takahe used to be a road house for travelers coming from Lyttleton Harbour to Christchurch.  Now it's a restaurant.  There's also a Sign of the Kiwi (which is a cafe) and a Sign of the Bellbird (which is the remains of a stone house.)  They are all that's left of the road stops that used to serve travellers back in the day.



Example of the decor



Jenna, one of the birthday girls



Yum nibbles



Day 252:Dress Like a Pirate Day

My costume

Tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day and also locally it is Dress Like a Pirate Day at work.  Here is my costume.  Notice my knarly hook hand.  I also have some sweet hoop earrings (donated by Jenna) and some pirate-y scarves in my hair and around my waist (also donated by Jenna).  Arrrrr....

Day 250: Off trail hiking



Mel & Batman at falls



View of the tops

We had a closed day at work today, so I went for a wander in the woods with Mel and Hamish (although we all call him Batman.)  Batman is from the area so he knows the woods quite well, which means he doesn't have to stick to any sort of trail.  First we went down a trail that had been closed for slips (mud slides).  We just climbed over them and kept on going.  We found a lovely little waterfall, but I can't remember what it's called.  Then we headed cross country, forded a stream and did some scrambling through the bush, struggling to escape bush lawyer (a vineish plant with very strong stickers that wraps itself around you and makes it difficult to make any forward progress until you work hard to free yourself from its grasp) and bashing ourselves on rocks and things.  Eventually, after a lunch stop by a stream, we worked our way uphill for a while and came out onto the junction with the Mt. Somers trail.  In amongst the bush we found a deer skull and evidence of wild pigs rooting in the dirt.  We hiked up higher until we had a nice view of the mountain and the snow settled on its top, then turned around and headed down via the trail.  It was a pretty fun, hard core day. 



Mel & me & DeerFred 







Victory photo at the end of the day



Day 244: Snowboarding!!



View down the lift line to the obscured plains below



ridin' the lift

I decided to take advantage of my employee lift pass and use it on my day off to go snowboarding with my friend Mel.  We enjoyed super weather and good snow conditions and I improved enough to ride the lift all the way to the top of the mountain and snowboarded down without falling!!! Which is pretty exciting since falling is basically my signature move.  Check out the awesome view down the lift line.  In the background you can see the access road and all the low lying clouds in the distance are covering up the Canterbury plains that stretch away east to the sea, which means that down in Methven it's an overcast, grey day while up on the mountain the sun is shining away...



View from the summit









Day 239: Earthquake Aftermath

Due to a closed day today, I was able to come into Christchurch with my friend Mel to go to church.  Afterwards we went to lunch at one of the family's houses and then Mel and I went on a mission to the mall to try and find a wedding present for my Auckland flatmate Alex.  Unfortunately, when we arrived the mall was crawling with construction workers and not open to the public.  There was a guy sitting at a table blocking the entrance and only letting authorized people inside.  Some giant light ball things had crashed down from the ceiling and you could see inside that things had been a bit shaken up and needed to be put back to rights.  Across the street the sidewalk was cordoned off in front of some shops where the windows had been broken in the shaking.  And next to that a pile of rubble indicated where a building had once stood.  The earthquake seems to have hit somewhat haphazardly: some buildings are fine and others are destroyed.  Christchurch was really fortunate in that the earthquake happened so early in the morning: people were at home with their families and not out and about on the roads or in the shops. Casualties would have been much higher if they had been. Except for the missing pieces of buildings and the holes covered with blue tarps and the chimneys on the ground instead of on the houses or the brick fences crumbling here and there, it's hard to tell that a massive earthquake occurred yesterday.  People are getting on with life as much as they can and as quickly as they can.  There is still a restricted zone in the center of the city, and the army is out patrolling to prevent looting, and a curfew is in effect, but otherwise life goes on.  Some neighborhoods are without power and water and officials are beginning building inspections to determine which buildings are safe to be in.  It will be a massive effort to get the city up and running again.

*Note: the earthquake from yesterday has officially been downgraded to a 7.1 magnitude.  We are still feeling aftershocks in Christchurch and also in Methven.  But, as I said, life goes on...

Day 238: Earthquake!

This morning I was sleeping happily, when I was woken up at 4:35am with the thought, “wow, the wind is really strong,” because I could hear a roaring noise like the wind and it was shaking the house. My next thought was one of confusion, what is happening? Because instead of dying off the shaking and the roaring noise just got stronger and stronger. I was so confused and scared and not sure what was going on. I sat up in bed and then there was an enormous crash from the lounge and I thought maybe the wind had busted the window in. A second later Jenna opened my door and said, “we're leaving.”


Although I was doubting my hypothesis with every passing second, I asked, “Was that the wind?” And she said, “No, it was an earthquake.” (Afterwards she laughed at me for not being able to figure out what was going on.)

So we left the house, which is right on the beach, and drove to higher ground in case of tsunamis. We drove a wee way up the Amberley Beach road and pulled over on the side of the road. It was a really clear night, the stars were amazing. Several other cars from the neighbors pulled off alongside ours and we sat in the dark listening to the soothing voice of the TalkBalk radio DJ telling us not to panic and reading out people's texts that they were sending in to the station. Eventually the news came through that the earthquake was a 7.4 magnitude, 33km below ground (pretty shallow) and 30km west of Christchurch. Every once in a while we could feel the ground shaking again as aftershocks came through. After about an hour there was also a notice from the Pacific Tsunami Warning System saying that although there might be local tsunamis there was no overall tsunami danger, so we returned home. Since then we've been feeling several more aftershocks (up to a 4.9 magnitude) and listening to the radio and TV to get some news. Since the quake was quite close to Christchurch, there is extensive damage in the city, and they have no power there or water as well as no septic systems. Breaks in the water lines and sewer systems and a good shake up of the substations means that it's not likely they will get those back in the immediate future, and they are talking about setting up water stations and water rations for people in the city. Water pipes have burst and there are cracks in the roads. Cars have been crushed by falling debris, the fronts of buildings have tumbled into the road, and chimneys have fallen off houses. Apparently there have been injuries, but not many major ones, and no deaths have been reported. There have also been some reports of looting from downtown Christchurch, and they are asking people to stay at home, not use the phone (to keep the networks clear), conserve water and stay calm. They are saying it is one of the largest earthquake in New Zealand in the last century.

Luckily Jenna & Rob's house has had relatively little damage, being farther north of the city. The massive crash was a potted plant falling off a bookshelf and almost onto Rob's head. It crushed a guitar and also dumped a whole bunch of dirt inside the instrument. Also a smoothie maker fell off the top of the fridge, and a mirror fell over but didn't break, but otherwise, everything else seems okay.

For more info try: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4096327/Rocked-in-home-at-the-heart-of-the-quake

Days 228 - 230: Tramp to Welcome Flat

I got three days off work for a tramping trip this week. I've pretty much been looking forward to this trip since deciding to head to the South Island and my friend Holly said we should do something fun when she came down for her annual leave. So the plan was a three day tramp to Welcome Flat, which is over on the west coast, near the town of Franz Josef.

My day at work on Tuesday passed pretty quickly, despite my excitement for the day to end, and then directly after work I headed straight to Christchurch and met Jenna at my friend Emma's flat. I had a quick shower and put my pajamas on (since it was already after 7 pm and we had a three hour drive ahead of us.) But first we had to wait for Rob and Holly to come in. They didn't arrive until 9pm, and we weren't on the road until about 10 or even afterwards. Then we drove west into the mountains and up and over Arthur's Pass. We got treated to a moonlit view of some beautiful snow-covered mountains and had a good drive overall, catching up with each other and enjoying each other's company. We arrived in the west coast town of Hokitika about 2am and moved all of our stuff inside, then went directly to bed, since we had to be up at 6 the next morning.

After some porridge and final packing we loaded back in the car and headed farther south. It was a clear morning and we could see Mt. Cook (also called Mt. Aoraki), NZ's highest peak, straight ahead in the distance. We had a yum stop for some pies and sausage rolls, and arrived at the trailhead by about 10:30. The tramp in was lovely, beautiful weather and wandered its way through some beautiful New Zealand native bush, with the Copeland River and the lovely glacial Karangarua River flowing below us. We had lots of swing bridges to cross and some avalanche danger areas to get past (the signs said, “No stopping next 300 meters.”) We made it to the hut (which was lovely) by about 5, just before it started to get dark, which gave me and Jenna and Holly just enough time to put our togs on and jump in the hot springs which are a short way from the hut. They were so nice. Everybody was pretty tired though, so after some tea and meeting the two guys who arrived after dark and Rob and Holly kicking my butt at cards, we retired upstairs for a well earned sleep.

The next day was pouring with rain, but Rob and Holly and I ventured out to “take the rifle for a walk.” We continued farther down the track and turned up Scott's Creek for a while. Rob continued on up to the next hut but Holly and I walked back to Jenna and the hot springs at Welcome Flat. We spend a good two hours sitting in the pools, getting rained on. It was great! That night two different trampers showed up to replace the two guys from the night before, but we built the fire up and dried everyone's clothes and it got rather cozy and warm in the hut.

The next day we retraced our steps to hike back to the car. It had been predicted to rain but the skies didn't open up until after we'd gotten back in the car, and then it started to pour! So the weather cooperated with us fairly nicely. On the way home we swung into the Franz Josef glacier to have a squiz at that and since it was tea time when we pulled back into Hokitika, we found a fish and chip shop and feasted on fish, hot chips, NZ style hot dogs (battered and deep fried on a stick), tomato sauce, vinegar and Lemon & Paeroa to drink. Mmmm. It was delish. After our tea stop we hit up the grocery store for some lollies and the headed out of town. About 10 minutes outside of Hoki, Holly realized that we'd forgotten to fill the tank, but Rob reckoned it would be okay for us to get to the next petrol station. So off we went. On the drive back over the pass there was lots of singing, and also a fun game invented by me which we played after dark where you put a giant jellybean in your mouth and try to guess what color you are chewing on, then shine a headtorch at your mouth so someone can check if you were right. But unfortunately the petrol light came on before we were even over the pass and we were beginning to worry that we might not make it when we kept passing petrol stations and they were already closed for the night. So we pressed on. I'd had a text from my boss saying I was on early so I needed to be at work the next day at 5:45. I was kind of wondering if we'd get stranded along the side of the road, but we made it into the city without running out of petrol. Back at Emma's I grabbed my stuff and had a quick shower, then jumped in my car and drove home, getting into bed at midnight to be ready for work early the next day.

The tramp was so fun, and beautiful country, but the best part was spending time with Rob and Holly and Jenna. We had lots of laughs and the only downside was that the trip was over too soon.

Day 227: My life as a liftie

Hey everyone!  Sorry it has been so long since my last update.  I've been working at Mt. Hutt Ski Field for about a month now, in the lifts department.  So I thought I'd tell you a bit about what a day in the life of a liftie looks like.


Most days, I get up at 6:30 to get to the town office of the ski company by 7:20.  (If I'm on early I have to be there anywhere between 5:15 and 5:45, depending on what's happening on the mountain that day - it could be a race start or deicing of the lifts.)  Then I jump in a staff bus and get a ride up the hill.  The ride takes about 45 minutes or so, and we wind our way up a steep, curvy unsealed road with quite severe drops on the sides in places and minimal guardrails.  Sometimes we have to stop the bus and put chains on, depending on the state of the road and what the weather is doing at the time.  The mountain is very barren (no trees) so the wind can get quite strong in exposed places and this means at times the road is closed to traffic going up and sometimes, coming down, as we found out during my second week when all the staff and 1,000 guests got trapped up the mountain overnight by excessive winds (I slept on the floor in the retail store next to the ski socks!).

 Once I get to work, at about 8, I have a look at the roster to see where I am working.  The lift department covers all lift operations, as well as the carpark and road patrol (helping people who get stuck on the road) and chains.  Depending on road conditions chains may be required to travel the road, and the mountain hires them out and fits them to cars for a fee.  As a chainy your job is to crawl around under cars fitting chains.  Fun stuff. 

By 8:15 I am at my morning station, with a radio and a drill with an enormous bit for drilling holes in the icy snow. We set up the gates and the queue lines and get the top operator up to the top and do stop checks on the lift (checking that all the controls are working properly.) Once the stop checks are finished and we have maintenance clearance (and okay from ski patrol if there has been new snow) a radio call goes in to Admin saying the lift is ready to load at 9am. When 9'o'clock comes along we unsuspend the gates and start to load people. If I'm working a base station we usually do half hour rotations in three different positions: controls (stopping/slowing the lift), tickets (checking that people aren't cheating on their tickets or helping them out if the gates won't let them through) and ramp maintenance (shoveling and raking the ramp to keep it smooth and safe so people's skis don't get caught in the snow and the don't get pulled off the chair – I've seen it happen more than once!) At about 10:30 or so there is usually someone around to give us each a 10 minute break and then at 11:30 people start showing up to break us out for lunch. We get an hour for lunch which is nice if you want to go riding or skiing on your break. After lunch you are generally rostered onto a different position, so I will head out to wherever my afternoon station is to give them a lunch break. Then we get another 10 minute break at some point during the afternoon and next it's time to pack up at 4pm when the lifts close. We put everything away and help each other out on the stations that take more time. Then all the liftys gather in the staff room for a quick meeting and then it's out the door and down the mountain. We are the last people to leave the hill every day, and sometimes we have to wait to make sure any leftover guests get down safely. And then we do it all over again the next day!
 

Day 213: Rach has gone to buy me lollies

Hi, It's Jenna here (aka Pip) my household servant (aka Rachel) has gone to buy us some lollies (aka Candy) so we can eat them while we play on the playground. It has been great having Rachel around the place, when I was working I would come home to a nice home cooked meal and a warm house. Now that I am unemployed (for a short time) we hang out together, fight over doing puzzles, eat tim-tams and thismorning we even went for a run. Somehow I even managed to not die! Now that rachel is working we can only hang out on her days off (Monday and Tuesday) or when the mountain is closed like it has been the last two Sundays. I love spending time with Rachel, it reminds me of the great time I had in America and the amount she talks about NECC and the amaizing people there, really shows me her love for others and for the burden God has placed on her heart about spreading his word. I don't want her to leave us so I am eagerly searching out a suitable husband for her to marry so she can stay here forever! I have also enjoyed getting to know MiniWati and we have become very close friends.

It is time that we carry on our adventure for today
(This photo is from the other day when we tried to go swimming in the FREEZING cold)

Day 202: Employed once more!

Today I started a new job: working as a liftie (lift operator) at Mt. Hutt skifield.  Mt. Hutt is about 1 and a half hours southwest from Christchurch.  The nearest town to the skifield is called Methven.  Methven is a really cute little town, but there isn't really a whole lot happening when the mountain is closed.  Anyway, I showed up for work today, got issued some really nice outdoor gear (the nicest I've ever gotten to use!) for my uniform, and went up the mountain to fill out forms and start to learn how to run lifts.  I subbed in for another liftie at the top of the Magic Carpet (beginners') lift, and it was pretty funny to watch people fall at the end and collide with one another (safely, of course.)  Then in the afternoon I worked on the detachable six-man lift and started learning how that works.  It was pretty fun, everyone was helpful and nice, and I enjoyed myself.  I think it's going to be a good job.  Now I just need to get my hands on some ski gear or a snowboard and I can start improving my skills!

I'll probably be working at Mt. Hutt until the end of the season (which is mid-Oct or so.)  The only drawback to this job will be that I won't get to go to church (my days off are Mondays and Tuesdays) and I won't get to see my Christchurch friends as much since I won't be living there anymore.  But I'm really grateful to have a source of income after such a long period of unemployment.  I need to save up my money as much as I can for when Mom and Betty come to visit!

Day 201: Astonishing!

Last night I learned something about New Zealand that I previously had not known: Kiwi police officers carry no guns!  This is somewhat shocking to me, and it took me a while to get over it.  At first I couldn't understand how the police could have any authority without weapons.  Apparently it is somewhat of a matter of pride amongst Kiwis that their police don't need to have guns (it is a relatively safe country).  But that said, there are murders here, and robberies, and violence happening.  It must make it a bit scary to know that as a cop you have no means of defending yourself against a criminal armed with a gun.  How much more sacrificial might that make your job?

I suppose you could look at it that police not having guns makes criminals less likely to carry them themselves.  I don't know if this is true; it would make an interesting study.  But what if no guns for police means more criminal will carry guns because they know it gives them the upper hand?  Is it possible that armed police officers in the states makes our criminals that much more violent? 

I wonder where on the page of history America took a course that established the right to bear arms as a fundamental right (maybe this started in the wild west, conquering of the frontier days) and where New Zealand decided on an opposite legislative course of action?  Apparently it's much more difficult here than it is at home to obtain a hand gun; hunting rifles are not that hard to get, but hand guns, which are more easily concealed, require special permits.  Interesting to think about...

Day 191: Six Months!

I have now been in New Zealand for six months, which means that my visit here is half over, and that I have another six months to go before my flight home.  The knowledge that my time is half over is somewhat bittersweet.  I have really been enjoying my time here, mostly because of the amazing people that I have met and gotten to spend time with, and also because of the beautiful and interesting places that I have dreamed about and actually gotten to go to, which previously were summed up as just words or pictures in a book.  Most of the time I have been quite happy and content and grateful to be here.  I am being challenged in my life, and my faith and in who I am, in good ways.  I'm trying to learn to rely on God and I've had plenty of time to consider what I believe and think about things which is one of my favorite thing to do.  I really appreciate everybody from home who has been in contact with me and encouraged me when I was down, or shared good times with me from afar.  And I also need to say a big thank you to people that I have met here who have helped me out, remembered and included me, hung out with me, had good conversation with me, encouraged me, supported me, housed me, fed me, and even clothed me.  I am amazed at how easy they have made it to feel like I belong in the body of Christ even when that body is not located in a place that I would normally belong.  So, thank you to everyone for sharing in my New Zealand odyssey so far.  Here's to more adventures to come! 

Days 175 - 179: Girls Winter Camp at Waihola

Jenna and I are in Waihola, at the Waihola Christian Youth Camp to volunteer for a week.  It is pretty fun being the only American there, and I teach the campers lots of songs that I know from NECC, like "Just Plant A Watermelon Right on My Grave," "The Johnny Appleseed Grace," "Swimming, Swimming," and "The Sea of Galilee."  The girls that are there range in age between 8 and 13.  I am working with the oldest girls, between about 11 and 13.  The schedule for the day looked a bit like this:

7:50 Leaders meeting and devotions
8:15 Devotions with campers
8:30 Breakfast
9:15 Duties (these are chores that the campers have to do, like setting up the tables for meals, sweeping the floors, washing campers' and cooks' dishes, cleaning the toilets and peeling vegetables for dinner.)
9:45 Morning Tea
10:00 Speaker (our speaker was a lovely woman named Ann, who talked during the week about seeing Jesus face to face.)
11:00 Activities (the campers rotated through activities which were Archery and Air Rifles, Go-Karts, Flying Fox (zipline), and Horses.)




1:00 Lunch
1:45 Duties
2:15 Afternoon Tea
2:30 Camp Store!!!  Get all  your lollies here!
3:00 Afternoon Activities (the theme of the camp was The Amazing Race, and the campers could earn points for their teams through challenges that they participated in.  These were things like building a sledge for the mudslide, a challenge walk around Waihola (with a quiz about the things you were seeing), and a Cluedo game where they did challenges for staff and could see part of the answer they were looking for after every completed challenge.)

6:00 Tea
6:45 Duties
7:30 Group games
8:30 Everyone goes and puts their pajamas on and comes back for supper (snack)
9:00 Move (we watched "The Ultimate Gift" in installments, about 30 minutes each night.  This was my favorite part of the day.)
9:30ish Bed

So there are a lot of things in there that seem very familiar to me from other camps that I've worked at, and I got asked again and again "how is this camp different to camps in America?"  which is a really hard question to answer.  Because there are a lot of the same elements (only I don't think we eat quite so often maybe?) but they are just done in slightly different ways and have a slightly different feel.  At this camp the kids have more unsupervised free time, I'd say, and are less tied down to the schedule always running on time, but then, it is much smaller (with only about 30 campers) so it doesn't matter so much since every group is following the same schedule anyway.

At camps here, adults are referred to as Aunties or Uncles, so for the week I was Aunty Rachel, or, often, Aunty Rachel from America.  Despite the fact that I caught a cold and felt sort of out of it for a couple of days, I really had a good time, enjoyed meeting the awesome other leaders and the great kids, and enjoyed being a part of camp in New Zealand.

Day 174: Queenstown

Jenna and I leave Cromwell and head off to Queenstown.  It's very beautiful there, with a river running a thin channel between steep mountains on either side.  It's also really cold!  We bundle up and go for a walk in the park, where we find the ice skating rink and laugh at people who have hired Segways and are cruising around.

Next we drive over to the gondola.  Queenstown's gondola is very steep and fairly long - also a bit pricey at $23 for a round trip.  Apparently you can ride it one way (down only) and hike up if you want.  To save ourselves $11, this is what we do.

Although it is cold, we both get nicely warmed up on the 40 minute or so hike to the top of the gondola line.  Since we have been thrifty and saved our money to get up to the top, we decide to ride the luge, which is a concrete course with small carts with wheels.  We ride a chairlift (with the coolest ever automatic integrated return for the luges themselves worked in) up to the ticket office and buy a ticket, then we're off!

(the above photo is actually a photo of the photo they took of us riding the chair lift.  Quite a nice view, tho, huh?)

Here's Jenna (and miniwati) on the luge.

And then here's us on taking the gondola down and some pretty pictures of Queenstown scenery.  Ah, Queenstown!

Day 173: Cromwell

I have tagged along with Rob & Jenna to a wedding that they are attending in Cromwell, which is south of Christchurch, and sort of in the middle of the South Island.  While they go to the wedding, I wander Cromwell.  There is not heaps to see.  But here is some of what I did see.
 

When we pull into town the first thing we come upon is a sculpture of giant fruit.  So of course I needed a photo of that.  Apparently much of original historic Cromwell was destroyed when the river was dammed to create lake Dunstan.  So next it was off to visit the historic town (they salvaged some of the buildings by moving them to a dry spot before the river was dammed.)

In the historic section of town, which is closed to traffic and only open to pedestrians, are about 2 streets worth of old building, most of which have been turned into cafes or art galleries (hence the metal roses and the felted hats - Mom, I thought you might like those.)  I wandered around there for a while, then headed to the lookout, to get a glimpse of the lake and the old location of the heart of the town.

This photo is looking out over Lake Dunstan.  Cromwell's original main street is now underwater here.  The town is surrounded by these barren looking mountains, brown and sort of bare looking all the time.  There are some higher mountains, with snow, that can be seen farther off in the distance.

After our chilly excursion around Cromwell, Miniwati and I enjoy some tea back at the house where we are staying.





The perfect ending to a lovely day.

Day 162: A Ride Into Town

Today I rode my friend Jenna's bike up the road and into the town of Amberley.  It is only about 5 km which is a good distance to ride a bike for the purpose of errands, and also if you haven't ridden a bike in a while.  My only errand was to visit the library.  I got a library card last weekend (thanks to a piece of mail with my new address on it!) and have been enjoying visiting there immensely.  I am actually really thankful that there is a library in Amberley because they have free internet and interesting books.

One thing that I have realized about bikes in New Zealand (and, I suspect, anywhere where people drive on the left) is that the brakes are opposite from what I'm used to at home.  The rear brake is on the left side here, not the right.  Which takes a little getting used to.  I've concluded that this is so you still have access to your rear brake for stopping while you are using your other hand to signal a turn. In the states you'd use your left hand to do this, because you'd be riding on the right, whereas here on the left hand side of the road, you'd want to signal with your right hand.  Crazy.  It actually took me about three times of riding a bike before I realized that using my right hand to brake was having some unexpected effects!  

On my way back home today I timed myself: 18 minutes to bike the 5 km, including putting the bike away and hanging up my jacket.  Not too shabby!

Day 157: Akaroa

I met up with my old friend Matt today (I met him in Auckland on the free city tour) and headed out to Akaroa on the Banks Pennisula.  The Banks Penninsula is a little south of Christchurch city and Akaroa is the principle town on the penninsula.  We grabbed some food for a picnic lunch (in the rain!) and made the windy, hilly drive in about an hour and a half.  It's very beautiful; lots of high hills and deep valleys.  Akaroa's main feature is that it was oringinally a French settlement, and many of the streets bear roadsigns in French and with very French sounding names.  Matt and I ran around to see how many French things we could photograph in 30 minutes of trying.  We found a lot!  (I think the town is trying to capitalize on its French heritage because there were things like Le Bon Email (online cafe) and L'Essence (the local Shell station.)  Fun nonetheless.

A bit outside of Akaroa we also found a cool pa site. Pa were the Maori defensive works - usually with an earth wall or fence around them.  This one was on a little spit of land sticking into the ocean (we think the access was only tidal) formed in high humps of hills.  We took a little hike out to the end and enjoyed the surrounding view.  It would be a good defensive position - you could only access it by land from one direction, and that only when the tide was low, and you have a great view of the surrounding water so you could spot a potential enemy approaching by water, and have the advantage of being above them (up the hill) as they tried to attack.  Good choice, Maori tribe of old.

While we're on the subject of Maori and their traditions, it's Maori New Years here.  The new year is marked when the constellation Pleiades (The Seven Sisters) appears again in the sky after having disappeared a few months ago.  In Te Reo Maori the Pleiades are called Matariki.  So that is what they call New Years as well.