Akaroa Bay from 699m, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

Looking back into Akaroa Bay from the highest point on the Banks Peninsula Tramp.

The Banks Peninsula Track is privately co-owned and co-run 35km track passing through several small holdings on the Banks Peninsula.

We completed the 4 day tramp which involved traversing the headlands and down into bays, sleeping in stargazers and huts, bathing under the stars, walking on beaches with seals and up hills with penguins and some of the most dramatic scenery I’ve ever seen – oh and sheep, lots and lots of sheep!

The numbers are limited on the track to 2500 per year, with a maximum group size of 12, this is so the path is never crowded and minimise impact on this beautiful landscape!

Long Harbour, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

Akaroa is the Mouri for “Long Harbour” – and a long harbour it is!

Gulls in the Bay, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

Akaroa is a historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano just 75 kilometres from the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is home to many different species of wildlife including the ever familiar seagull.

New Brighton Pier, New Zealand, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

300m pier which struts out into Pegasus Bay.

4 Rivers flow into the bay from north to south they are:

Waipara River
Ashley River
Waimakariri River
Avon River and Heathcote River via the Avon Heathcote Estuary.

The pier was built originally in 1894 and was demolished in 1964.

$4 million was raised by the council and community funds to build a new pier, and in 1987 it was opened. You can get good views of the ocean at the end.

There is a library at the beginning of the pier and a cafe underneath.

Akaroa, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

Akaroa, With a population of only 500 the majority of the houses are holiday homes belonging to people from Christchurch and beyond.

Set on a beautiful, sheltered harbour and overlooked by Banks Peninsula Hills, Akaroa is a popular resort village and in summer the temporary population can reach up to 5,000.

PO Boxes, Sumner, New Zealand, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

Sumner is nestled in a coastal valley separated from the adjacent Chistchurch city suburbs by rugged volcanic hill ridges that end in cliffs that descend to the sea shore in places.