Akaroa

Driving to Akaroa

We went to Akaroa today! It's on the Banks Peninsula. The drive was only 1.5 hr, so we got there around 1 pm, but we had gotten meat pies at the gas station on the way out of Christchurch, so those were sort of brunch on the road. Meat pies from gas stations is apparently a thing. I mean pies from a servo. This comes up in NZ conversations online all the time, including recently on reddit. I haven't had a Jimmy's yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Akaroa

Akaroa was a French settlement in 1840, so there is a lot of French influence and pride. They fly the French tricolor and all the streets start with Rue.

So many articles and signs against the council plans to use sewerage.

Mike bought me a Mr. Whippy

Happiness costs $4.50 but tastes kind of like wax.

Harbor Cruise

Harbor cruise with Coast Up Close

Our captain, Tony 

And his 8-month old, Buddy

I had been refraining from uploading videos, but I couldn't stop myself with this one:

Can you see an elephant in the rock?

Lava tube

You can really see how round the Hector's dolphin dorsal fin is.

And you can sort of see how stubby their nose is. Like a small orca's profile, not a long bottlenose we're used to. 

See any seals?

Baby seals

Nobody's brave enough to jump in yet.

It's like daycare. Only one or two adults present.

They move very awkwardly. They look like furry slugs.

That middle guy totally just fell on his chin.

NZ Fur seals dive deeper and longer than other fur seals

A woman onboard paid extra to catch a fish, and they delivered! I thought fishing took a long time, but I guess when you know where to go, it's a cinch. We turned into an area where Tony said the fishing was good and the woman cast her line and within minutes had a bite. A barracuda!

Then we swung around to check on Tony's cage. It was bare, but sometimes they get a few fish and eels they can show guests (and he can have for dinner).

Unsuccessful

More dolphins

Penguin!

Little blue penguins, with white flippers, are only found around here. World's smallest penguin.

Akaroa with its 6-sided lighthouse

Dinner

We couldn't pass up some "world renowned" fish & chips. Fresh gurnard paired with an L&P, which is, as the label says, "world famous in New Zealand."

Fish of the day was gurnard

Then we headed home before the sun was down because we didn't want to risk the windy mountain roads in the dark.

Today was a great day. I'm so glad we went to Akaroa and I would definitely recommend it to anyone heading out here. The town felt like a beachy Stars Hollow, with a small, tight-knit community, some tourists who like antiquing, and a bunch of seasonal residents in the Summer. They were having a harvest festival which we didn't get to, but some stores had the festival posters in their windows with, written in sharpie, "Closed. We're at THIS! See you there!" They have a farmers market every Saturday (when there isn't a harvest festival), and they have other community events which they seem really proud of. Next time, I might consider staying here and exploring more, like the Giant's House.

Tomorrow is another driving day. Heading to Franz Josef!