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no women ( once the Dykes had gone past ) - - well , no real women , anyway - - and precious few in the good-humoured crowd either . ) Unlike Pippa and John this was not his first trip , and he came for the sailing . Afterwards another friend drove us both to his homestead at Akaroa , an hour or so distant , where we arrived in the wee small hours and spent the next day . By that time it was clear that although she was getting good grades and succeeding academically , things were not working out well for her at university , and she left shortly after returning to Christchurch . After a couple of weeks it was back to Britain , this time to Northern Ireland to stay with Ian 's parents and see Pippa and John and family . Suky leads tours of historic Akaroa . He raced with brother-in-law John and niece Claire . ) and the next day we set off for Akaroa to walk the Banks Peninsula Track . New Zealand 's South Island would have been French but for the fact that a boatload of French settlers destined for Akaroa tipped off the colonial English when they stopped at Russell in the North Island , whereupon the latter boarded their fastest boat , raced down , and hoisted the Union Jack to welcome the settlers . Brent and Suky have a fantastic house , which they built themselves from trees growing on their own land ( they had them cut and milled first ) , with a million-dollar view over Akaroa harbour . He caught up with many old friends , ate numerous lunches ( everyone eats sushi , which is great because Ian loves it ) , gave guest lectures in Calgary and Edmonton , hiked in the Rockies , and went to a concert by John Renbourne , the old 1960s British folkie , still going strong . May peace be with you and Christmas letters come earlier this year . One weekend with Pippa and John we sailed Beulah to Tiritiri Matangi Island , the closest you 'll ever get on this earth to the garden of Eden .