HOLIDAY IN MY OWN BACKYARD

This is one of the scenic walks of Akaroa. I am walking the track around Children’s Bay heading up to the metal statue of a rhinoceros.

Here is a lovely photo of me standing in front of a statue of the French artist, Charles Meryon. I am pretending that he is doing a portrait painting of me.

This is a photo of me at the Old French Cemetery reading the names of people who died in the nineteenth century.

By Andrew Oswin

Let me tell you about my holiday in Akaroa and some background history of what I learned. I went on a great holiday over in Akaroa with my parents. We were staying at the Rose Cottage which is very near to the township. The name Akaroa means Long Harbour in Māori. The Māori settlers came to Akaroa first. During the reign of Queen Victoria the officials signed The Treaty of Waitangi on 6th February 1840 in the Bay of Islands. After the English settled during the 19th century the French came to settle here. Lots of street names are named after French people of places during the reign of King Louis Philippe the 1st. There are also some cemeteries for Catholics, Anglicans and Dissenters. I really enjoyed my holiday very much. I got to go out for dinner with some friends at La Thai Restaurant, went on some local and hill walks with my father who is my best buddy, visited the Akaroa Museum to look at some very interesting history, and enjoyed tasting local foods.

I think it is important to encourage people with Down syndrome to write articles about what they have been doing during the holidays with their parents. I would like to recommend to suggest they write about somewhere they went on holiday with a little bit of the township history.