View From Above

A view of Akaroa Harbor from the pass above. The bay and its towns are situated in the caldera of an extinct volcano. To get there we had to drive along the crater rim, which meant ordering up a slice of road with Extra Twisty.

Akaroa was the place where 57 French colonists landed in 1840, unaware that the British had claimed the island a few days before. There are only a few French families left, but the town still trades on its French heritage, flies the tricolor, and gives French names to i...