THE LUXURY TRAVEL
MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT
TRAVELLERS

A winding road from Christchurch, New Zealand, leads to Akaroa. You can be sure you are headed for a beautiful place because as the road twists and turns at every curve is a postcard view, teasing and beckoning, urging you to keep going, begging you to stay. You just know that the arrival will be like entering a fairytale. And it is. Akaroa is a slice of Vermont, a hint of Loch Ness, an English garden with a Mediterranean influence. It is all of these things; it is God-kissed.

In the 1830s, Akaroa was a large whaling station manned by sailors from France, Britain, the U.S. and Russia. The French were particularly dominant and eventually they approached the local Maori about the possibility of buying their land and claiming the South Island as French territory. In 1838, a deal was struck and the land was purchased. The French went back to France to get government sanction and form a company of settlers. Unfortunately for them, back in New Zealand, the British and the Maori were signing the Treaty of Waitangi on the North Island ceding all of New Zealand to the British. Getting wind of the fact that the French were on their way back to ‘plant their flag,’ the British dispatched a frigate from the North Island, arriving in the South Island just ten days before the French returned, raised the Union Jack and the rest is history. Nonetheless, the French continued to live here and local streets are named after the original French settlers, helping to retain a feeling of French influence here.

On your way there, you'll stop at the Little River Gallery, Shop & Café because it often has a show from a gifted New Zealand artist, has a lovely shop with gorgeous hand-made jewelry, among other things, and boasts the best coffee in the region. I saw artist Jill Hay's exhibit, ‘Under Cover’ – a magnificent surprise in the middle of nowhere by a local who uses her canvases three dimensionally.

I also highly suggest a stop at the Hilltop Café & Bar on the way there, whether you're hungry or not. Why? Because it's owned by two lovely people, Martin (a Brit) and Laurie Sutton (a Californian), because they have the best view of Akaroa for miles around, and because they have a staggering chocolate chip cookie recipe that beats the American one hands down. You can't miss it, but they're just after Little River on Highway 75 (Highway, as in, little rural road!). . It's got to be the only place in all of New Zealand that makes a Breakfast Burrito.

For your accommodation in Akaroa, I suggest Maison de la Mer because it is, hands down, the most lovely Heritage & Character Inn you'll find in the southern hemisphere. It is in the village, on Rue Benoit perched on a hill overlooking the harbor, the sailboats, the rolling hills, framed by their English garden of roses, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, peonies, pansies and nasturtiums. Their lovely turn of the century home is laid open to three sets of lucky guests who may choose from the two rooms in the main house – the Fleur de Lys room, the Provence room (my favorite), or the separate Boathouse with beamed cathedral ceiling, 60 inch circular window overlooking the harbor, full kitchen and separate lounge area. The décor is French Country, with fine art, antiques, Persian carpets, crisp white linens, and fresh flowers everywhere. ($345 – 395 NZD). I loved the little extras: homemade chocolate chip cookies, chocolates and a bottle of sherry. Pre-dinner drinks can be enjoyed in the main lounge or on the deck overlooking the harbor. Accommodations include a gourmet breakfast with many choices, not the least of which is creamy scrambled eggs, garden herbs, and locally smoked Akaroa salmon. You will not be disappointed with any aspect of your stay here.

There is so much to do in this tiny town, I hardly know where to start. The Giants House is a living work and will survive as a monument long after you, I, and artist Josie Martin leave this earth. Description of this house and garden defies all imagination. It is a late 19th century mansion made from local totara and kauri hardwoods milled from the Banks Peninsula. The house has beautiful high ceilings and tremendous wall space to display Josie's original paintings as well as her unique and playful creativity in color and design. She opens the house as a B&B, but it is really a gallery as well. When Josie bought it, there was no garden, and she has applied her considerable skill as an artist and horticulturalist to this natural canvas. Her palette are the seeds, grasses, flowers and trees among sculptures cast in cement and covered in smashed tiles, pottery, and china in an array of colors and shapes so mystifying in their precision and playfulness that while a video clip with sight and sound might suffice to convey their essence, mere words or even photographs would not. I was, quite unexpectedly, moved to tears by the sight of a person’s love so ardently expressed through her talent, and that talent so inextricably interwoven with her physical property and the flora around it that it is inseparable from the environment. Thus, it cannot be transported to the Museum of Modern Art or the Louvre; you must venture, by necessity, to Josie. And when you do, she will be dressed in a rose velvet hat with ostrich feather, striped lime tights and sequence shoes or something equally outrageous. You will wonder if she is eccentric, or whether she is a painting herself and you will be right on both counts. She is a mystery, a marvel and a delight and I felt, in meeting her, that I was in the presence of greatness and stopped to pray that she would achieve global recognition while she is still with us on this earth.

In addition to the many hikes around the area, the nature cruise by Akaroa Dolphins is a wonderful way to pass the morning. You will have the opportunity to visit the endangered Hector Dolphin in its natural habitat, visit the seal colony and view the penguins while taking in the truly spectacular and rugged scenery in the harbor and the ocean – sheer cliffs dropping hundreds of meters to the ocean’s crashing surf.