Akaroa is an interesting beach town to visit but includes some winding roads if you suffer from motion sickness. Driving from Ashburton the scenery starts to change about 80km into the drive and there are more than enough stops to buy food or top up with fuel. Birdlings Flat is an interesting stop along the way, a ‘village’ from a Dr Who episode that is possible controlled by aliens.
After that the landscape gets a bit more hilly which means the roads get narrow and more windy. The map shows the possibility of doing a loop track to return but with an extra 10 km or so of winding roads. Since I was at about 10% car-sick [I get car sick while driving!] I didn’t want to add any more distance to the trip and we settled for driving to Akaroa and back.
