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.

RSA Building, Sumner, New Zealand, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

The Sumner RSA (Returned Services Association) building was devastated in a rock fall during the Feb 22 2011 Earthquake.

See footage here; youtu.be/MOE6NSc4rOo

While I would love to just post beautiful landscapes, nature and wildlife – Images of the superb New Zealand scenery, the reality is Christchurch and its suburbs are still struggling under the weight of the task ahead of them, re-building their beautiful city.

Now 3 months on many many buildings are fallen or set to be demolished and rubble still lies in the streets – this is what we saw while we were there.

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

New Brighton is a coastal suburb of Christchurch, lying to the east of the city centre.

This shot was taken standing on the middle of the 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.