Okains Bay

We drove an hour and a half to Okains Bay on the Banks Peninsula for the weekend. Okains is one of many bays that circle the outside of Banks Peninsula. Here's a map (Okains Bay is in the northeast corner of the peninsula):It's a gorgeous drive. This is a photo from Summit Road, looking down onto the Bay. It's a pretty crazy windy road out on the Peninsula with lots of dips and turns - it's not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Sheep or cows would sometimes charmingly wander into the road. But they get out of the way pretty quick...

This photo was taken looking down from Summit Road toward Akaroa. The valleys are populatd by sheep and some cows. When you stop to take photos, you hear "baaa baaa" echoing from the hills. In other words, exactly what you'd expect from New Zealand's south island.

Here we are at the beach on Okains Bay. It was nearly empty. We set up some chairs and read books until Gareth fell asleep in his chair. Ahh, the serenity!!

Here's "the city." The town centre of Okains bay had a dairy, a school, a church, and a teeny tiny library. There was also a Maori and Colonial museum, but they were charging $7 per person to get in. I think the Chicago Art Institute charges less than that... We skipped it.
This was probably our last camping trip until after the baby is born. I'm getting to be a bit too big to sleep comfortably in a sleeping bag on an air mattress. We have so much more to explore - as soon as the boy is big enough, we'll be back out there!