Akaroa is open
The recent floods on Banks Peninsula have not dampened community spirit in Akaroa, the town is open for business and pleasure with plenty of fun planned for the coming months.
After weeks of wild weather on Banks Peninsula, Akaroa is doing what it does best, which is rallying together, drying out and getting on with it. The recent floods may have lashed the harbour village, but they have not dampened its spirit. As Lesley Burkes-Harding, manager of the Akaroa French Festival and artistic director of the Akaroa Community Arts Council, puts it: Akaroa is open for business.
“Central Akaroa, certainly, we got hammered with the rain,” she says, describing Rue Jolie as inundated and the recreation ground temporarily transformed into a lake. The town was cut off for two days when State Highway 75 closed, but even then, the cafés and restaurants kept serving. “We didn’t do so badly. People have suffered far worse in these weather events. Our Blyth Cliff B&B was full of people who had to stay for an extra night because they couldn’t leave. But we were cosy.”
Now, the village is back to offering everything visitors love: vineyard lunches, award-winning local produce at the Saturday market, heritage museums, boutique shopping and that famous boulangerie baking crusty loaves and pastries daily. “Akaroa is operating and offering the same attractions that it always has,” Lesley says. “It’s nature’s wonderland, if you like walking, come and walk over here. There’s many fabulous places. The history of the area, of course, is also fascinating. We have two fabulous museums, Okains Bay and Akaroa Museum, which will tell you all about those early French settlers.”
Le festival
There’s even more reason to visit this spring. From 9 to 11 October, the ‘once every three years’ Akaroa French Festival returns, culminating in a “top-notch cabaret entertainment” the night of Saturday, 10 October. The family-friendly weekend includes a free circus for children, a vintage fair and a lively historical play about the 1840 French arrival, written by Lesley’s husband, production designer John Harding, which regularly draws a crowd of 1000.
Run by volunteers and supported by the Christchurch City Council, the festival is a true community effort.
“We all work very hard to bring this together for the village,” Lesley says.
Floods or not, Akaroa is ready to welcome you back.
Become a ‘supporteur’:
Help get the Akaroa French Festival by becoming a ‘supporteur’, or member. For just $20 for the year, you become part of the story that brings French culture, music and celebration to life every three years. akaroafrenchfest.co.nz/become-a-supporteur
Have you seen the new movie Holy Days with Miriam Margolyes?
The story of four nuns who tour the South Island with a young boy, much of it was filmed on Banks Peninsula, like the crumbling nunnery, which was filmed in Okain’s Bay.
