Cruising Akaroa Harbour

Thursday 28th December 2017

• Both Gerry and I were woken up by our alarm clock which went off at 7.30 am – we were going to have a very busy day today and were glad that we had a good night’s sleep – a complete knock out from 10.30 pm the previous night till 7.30 this morning. We certainly needed this sleep as the snatches of sleep on the plane were not enough…..

Today we were meeting Ralph and Eve in the lobby just before 10 am as we had planned a trip to Akaroa, a little picturesque waterfront town some 80 km west of Christchurch. At Akaroa we had booked a harbour nature cruise where we would be able to see Hector’s dolphins – the smallest species of dolphins in the world, fur seals and penguins as well as some nesting birds in the cliff sides.

Our trip through the golden coloured hills was magnificent -the road was winding but not too busy and strangely enough here in New Zealand the driving limit on secondary roads is 100km ( unlike in Europe where it is 80 km). On the way we stopped at Little River to have some breakfast . This place used to be a train station and the locomotives still stand there on the rails but they are not going anywhere. Most houses here are built of wood and the train station has been converted into a shop!

• After having had our breakfast we continued our drive through the hills to Akaroa. It was magnificent ! We stopped a couple of times for our Kodak moments – and it was well worth it.  Akaroa is situated on the Banks peninsula (Horomaka) which was formed by two giant volcanic eruptions  some 8 million years ago. This can clearly be seen when driving down to the seafront town and as the pictures show here below.

• Finally we arrived at a really pretty waterfront town – Akaroa – Long Harbour in Maori – which is New Zealand’s first French settlement and where the descendants of the original French pioneers still live.  Akaroa resembles very much a French seafront town like those found in Brittany or Normandy and surprisingly most streets are still called “Rue”. It is now high season and therefore the town was very bustling with tourists  and what is most exciting here is that we booked a harbour cruise where we were promised that that we would be seeing the smallest and rarest species of dolphins – Hector’s Dolphins; fur seals and penguins. Although somewhat windy, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip especially as we did manage to see the dolphins at play and the seals although camouflaged by the rocks were also very interesting to watch. It was difficult to get some good pictures of all these natural beauties but i think I did manage a few shots.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• We were given a running commentary by our knowledgeable guide and as we left this quaint little town we sailed towards the awe-inspiring sea cliffs and it was fantastic to see the various rock formations and especially the “Cathedral Cave” with its many nesting sea birds.  This cave and volcanic amphitheatre clearly shows the origin of Akaroa. We were lucky to watch the dolphins at play while the fur seals could not be bothered that we were secretly observing them. Besides all the natural habitat we were able to admire, there was another species in the sea – a cruise liner – the Liberty X – Since the earthquakes cruise ships come into Akaroa harbour instead of going to Lyttelton Harbour and this has proved to be very popular since then.

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