Akaroa's French Connection

Akaroa : Getty ImagesBaguettes, brasseries, even a boucherie – Akaroa wears its French history on its tricolour sleeve. Street names begin with “Rue”, the biennial French Festival draws crowds to the picturesque streets, a memorial to its first French settlers stands on the hill above the startling blue waters of the Banks Peninsula harbour. British settlers and, later, bach owners soon dominated the town, now with a population of around 750, but the French connection lingers on. As Wallace says, “The French story is very important to Akaroa still. There is no other town in New Zealand where there was an attempt at a French settlement.”By Sally Blundell