Akaroa is an old whaling town on the head of Akaroa harbour. It was originally settled by the French, but the British nabbed it from under their noses. With the presence of so many French flags and plaques reminding us of who was here first, we think they haven’t quite got over it yet! This is fab for us though, as there are lots of
French-influenced historic buildings, French place names and a general air of je ne sais crois We feel right at home!Our home for the next two weeks is a French cottage, set in a shady garden complete with veggie plot, full of ready to pick produce, and cottage flowers. There are all sorts of trees,
groaning with fruit. Pear, Grapefruit oranges, plums and apricots, as well as lemons and mulberries.We are looking after Biggles, a 9 yr old maltese terrier, some doves who visit for a feed daily, and some Monarch butterflies! The
Monarchs like the swan plant so we need to check them daily for caterpillars, if there are too many caterpillars we have to cull them!! Thankfully, so far only one caterpillar on each plant!
The cottage garden is a haven for all sorts of birds and the birdsong in the early morning and later in the evening is beautiful. We have seen the bell bird, huge wood pigeons, fantails as well as blackbirds, sparrows and thrush - not a squawky thing in sight!!
Weather has been extremely kind - sunny, warm and cloudless blue skies. The night sky has been clear and the stars have to be seen to be believed. With little or no light pollution we can see hundreds and thousands of stars and the milky way can be seen right across the night sky.
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