Christchurch
Did a day tour of Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula with Leisure Tours. Not sure it was the most exciting tour to be honest, but the driver/guide was great, the various stops on the ~80km/~50 mile drive from Christchurch were some cute bits of local history, and there were some pretty decent views from the scenic overlooks on the way. Akaroa itself is a little town in the an area of strong French history (and nearby, German history) in New Zealand that was great to learn about from the guide, and the harbour cruise to see dolphins and fur seals was modest but a nice way to spend the afternoon.
Lunch on the tour was at Bully Hayes in Akaroa, most had a set menu from the tour (which looked good!) but the off-the-set-menu/on-the-regular-menu mussels I had were excellent. Jay wanted some for dinner so we ended up, after much trial and error, at Dux Central... which had them on the menu, then said they were unavailable due to shortage?? Ended up with a spread of other items-- salad, seafood chowder, fried chicken, deep fried calamari strips... everything was pretty good, but in all honestly none of it was particularly memorable.
t'was more fun just to hang out tho, both with Jay as well as with David Slotnick. Having my own experience in the media as well as all three of us being serious #AVgeeks, ended up being a good time. Aaaannnnndddd we discovered that there are fancy Tim Tams "Deluxe" in New Zealand.