Our first destination on South Island was Akaroa, not so far from Christchurch where we started our antipodian adventure. Akaroa, or rather the Banks Peninsula, has volcanic origins, just as the Dunedin region (Otago) further south, and was formed between 11 and 8 million years ago. It is circular in shape, with many bays (former craters) and two deep natural harbours. The highest point is Te Ahu Patiki (Mt. Herbert, 919 m).

Captain Jean-François-Marie de Surville, a merchant captain with the French East India Company, is the first known Frenchman to have visited New Zealand, in 1769. In 1838, the French captain Jean François Langlois made a provisional purchase of land on the Akaroa peninsula from 12 local Māori chiefs. He gave them commodities for a value of 150 francs and promised to pay the rest of the 1000 francs on his return, then sailed back to France. When he came back with two ships with 63 prospective French and German whale hunters and other settlers in 1840, they found that the English had claimed the Banks Peninsula, just as they had declared British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand after they made the Māori sign the Treaty of Waitingi. Instead of taking possession of the whole peninsula, the newcomers finally were confined to two villages on Paka Ariki (known as French Bay). (continued)