Monday 5 February: En route to Christchurch

We'd booked a shore excursion with a private company to take us into Christchurch at less than half the price of the ship's equivalent offering.

But getting off the ship was a shambles as it took us almost two hours to get a tender ashore.

Akaroa is situated on Bent's Peninsula.  Bent was the botanist on one of Captain Cook's voyages around New Zealand

Lake Forsyth

The Canterbury Plain, the largest area of flat land in New Zealand

The Canterbury Plain with the Southern Alps behind.  The Southern Alps were formed by the collision of the Australian plate and the Pacific Plate. European ski teams come to the Southern Alps to train in the New Zealand winter

New housing on the outskirts of Christchurch to replace homes lost in the 2011 earthquake