Akaroa at Last!

 Akaroa at Last!

Beautiful Akaroa Harbour

MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER  2025 - TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER 2025

After three busy weeks in Christchurch it was finally time to head off again but before leaving we finally got to catch up with Robyn and Derek in West Melton. Robyn and I worked at Albany Senior High School together and quickly turned from work colleagues to great friends. I had stayed at their gorgeous house before on Girls’ weekends but it was the first time for Dave to catch up with them, probably since their wedding! The other first for us was that this would be the first time since we left Auckland in February that we would not be sleeping in The Beast. We spent two relaxed days talking, checking out the local area, talking, exploring further a field, talking and generally just soaking up the Claxton’s hospitality. They did take us to another fabulous South Island Pie shop in Darfield and their local eatery, Two Fat Possums. Obviously we were doing way too much talking as I hardly took any photos but I did manage to get one with Robyn and a photo of their dog Maisey - sorry Derek!

Thanks Robyn and Derek for a restorative couple of days and we really hope to catch up with you in your motorhome in the near future.

How many times have I mentioned in this blog that we would be visiting Akaroa shortly?? It is a place that has been on my bucket list for quite some time.  I had visions of strolling down La Rue while eating a fresh croissant and finally we were heading there. Although the roads were  steep and twisty the views were spectacular. 

We were staying  at the Akaroa Top 10 Holiday Park which is on a hill that looks down on the town but luckily it has a track with a million steps that leads down to the harbour.

We wandered down to the town to do a quick reccy of the place and didn’t manage to pass the Akaroa Fudge Shop without purchasing some of its sugar rush goodness. We also checked out Blackcat Cruises as this would be our best chance to see Hector’s Dolphins. We knew that we had a couple of days of really rough weather coming so booked a cruise for the next day which looked like our only window of opportunity.

Friday didn’t dawn a brilliant fine day but it was calm and the wind was from the right direction to allow the boat to get out of the mouth of the harbour which is where the dolphins play. We hugged the coast as we slowly made our way out to the Pacific ocean stopping to see spectacular coastline like Elephant Head Rock - which actually looked like an Elephant’s head!! We also spotted two of the smallest penguins in New Zealand, the White Winged Penguin. 

Once we were out of the bay it did not take long for us to spot a lone Hector’s Dolphin. Surprisingly these dolphins are not as social as their larger counterparts and often hunt and swim alone - even baby ones! The other interesting fact we picked up is that they can hunt on their backs if they are trying to get flounder or blue cod off the sea floor. They send out a stream of clicks and then interpret the echos that come back to them - clever!

We did see more than one dolphin but they were always flying solo. We also  got to see more seals and, for the first time for me, we also saw some majestic Albatross gliding effortlessly around a nearby fishing boat.

As we re-entered the bay the boat captain pointed out the current automated light house that now stands on the point and told us the story of the original lighthouse. The mechanism for the lighthouse came from Scotland and operated from 1880 to when it was replaced in 1977. In 1990 when the lighthouse was decommissioned and moved to its current place on Beach Road the Scottish company asked for all the workings to be sent back to them. The locals, thinking quickly, stashed the mechanism somewhere safe and just waited out the communications from the Scottish company who eventually gave up and sold the machinery to the locals for $1. It has been renovated and is within easy walking distance of the town.

We did get two days of bad weather and in fact on one of those days it rained heavily for the whole day so we both made progress with our books and my knitting grew some. As we still had some exploring to do we extended our stay at Akaroa for two days so we could cash in on some fine weather. We did manage to walk down La Rue eating fresh French pastries and enjoyed some time at kerbside cafes overlooking Arakroa harbour. 

This was one part of New Zealand that I had really, really wanted to visit and it didn’t disappoint. The road in was not as bad as we had been told and this little French settlement really cast its spell over us. From here we will meander our way back to Nelson passing through some places we have already visited and some new places. The itinerary is still a bit vague but we have had to buy a new 2025/2026 fishing license for one of the places we want to check out. Fingers crossed that we get there AND maybe even catch something this time.