Akaroa, the home of the blue Pearl

We just had to write about this place! It was recommended to us by a few people. The history of Akaroa is, very loosely, that the French landed and settled there and then the English claimed the area by sending out a boat from the UK to raise the flag before the French could claim the area (i think). Anyway, without going into boring detail, which i would no doubt get wrong anyway, it basically means that the place has retained the french charm. What a pretty and pleasant place this is. We nick named it Chiswick by sea as things are all rather lovely. Ra.

The blue pearls originate from this area and the first farm was set up here (there are only 3 in the world all of which are in this part of the world). The hemispherical flat back blue pearls are cultured in Paua which is a shell fish (Abalone). Of course i 'forced' Dipi into the shop and we bought one, which was a nice little treat.

We had seen in the lonely planet a place called Tree Crop Farm, which had been touted as a very quirky place to visit with rambling wild gardens and great snacks and drinks (berry juices were recommended).

We went there for the walk and it was a great little place with massive amounts of character....

We took a leaflet on the way out and that's when we noticed that they did accomodation also...... it wasn't until the next day that we decided to treat ourselves to a night there.
To outline the whole deal, they offer rustic romantic accomodation within 3 small 'huts', all with open fires, sheepskin rugs etc but ranging from one with shower, toilet and electricity, to one with no electricity for those who want to get completely away from it all. We went for the 'cosy' option (i.e. electricity, own shower and toilet, i mean thats what we missed in the van so we deserved it!). We didnt get that many snaps of the main bit of the 'hut', which is a shame, but what you can see below is the intermediate covered outside deck (there was another open deck outside with BBQ etc), which also has a double bed on it just in case you fancy sleeping out there instead of inside....

We checked in at 4pm, when they welcomed us with some lovely 'afternoon tea and treats'. All very nice natural, fresh, indulgent foods. We then arranged a time to get our OUTSIDE BATH ready (how cool). They needed notice as they actually light a fire under the bath in order to heat the water! (they also put lots of natural smellies in the bath for you). When it gets dark the candles got lit, the bubbly got poured, the outside fire was lit and we indulged in the most wonderful hot bath ever!


We had the rest of the evening to enjoy to ourselves with music, good wine and steak which we cooked on the BBQ feeling safe in the knowledge that check out was 12 the next day (wicked!) before which we had a hot spa and were prepared a lovely brunch to send us merrily on our way! One word, superb!!!