Where in the world is Akaroa? Ships used to stop in Christchurch (Lyttlelton Harbour), however, since the earthquake a few years ago, that has not been possible. They now go into Akaroa and send folks via bus who want to go up to Christchurch. If you look at the map below, follow the longitude line that goes between the "H" & the "U" of Christchurch straight down almost to the bottom, you'll find Akaroa.
The ship anchored in the harbor and we went to the dock via a 20 minute tender ride. This particular "fencing" around a park at the end of the dock was quite fascinating! We'd never seen anything like it, definitely wasn't the typical rope or chain! No sitting here!!
Looking back to where our tender is docked. Other than some of the South Pacific islands, this is one of the smallest dock we've seen!
This library is one of the earliest buildings in Akaroa. Because of the Christchurch earthquake, it is closed pending structural evaluation.
The crew readies the FOX II for our Sail.
And, we're underway.
Tom watching the shoreline as we motor out to catch the wind for our sail.
It was a Sunday and the sailboats from the local yacht club were out for their weekly race.
The Voyager (our ship) awaits our return some 3-4 hours later.
The crew hoists the sails. Yes, the crew included 2 girls. There was also the Captain and a young man.
The captain played music and these 3 Hectors dolphins were soon zipping around the boat seemingly performing a water dance for us.
Sails full of wind made for a nice ride.
Caves in the rocky shore carved by the relentless waves crashing there. All the rocky shores here are the results of the repeated volcanic activity millions + years ago.
The waves have actually carved some small tunnels in the softer rocks.
The cavern on the right is known as Cathedral Cave. The Captain showed us why it is called that. He pulled the bow of the boat into the cave and sounded the horn. The resonance around the cave sounded like the best acoustically engineered cathedral in the world!
As we made our way around the entrance of the harbor, we came upon this red patch in the water. To those of us from Florida, it was reminiscent of Red Tide but we knew the waters were too cold and pure for that. We had seen a lot of gulls swooping down on it. The Captain advised it was krill.
The young man crew member, scooped some up and passed it around for all of us to get a closer look. They were about an inch, maybe an inch and a half long and looked like little red bugs! Can you just imagine the number of these things it takes to feed whales??!! Yes, it is a favorite food of whales!
We cruised out into the Pacific the back into Akaroa bay along the other shore. There we saw the New Zealand fur seals. The Captain advised that the yellowish "barnacles" close to the water line (the tide was out) are the beginnings of mussels.
As we head back toward the city, the winds really picked up causing waves to splash over the bow. Fortunately, not too much as several of us were sitting there. We got some light splashes. In the picture below you can get a little bit of an idea as to how far over the boat was leaning. Note the lean of the mast and the horizon beyond!
It was an enjoyable trip! We got back to the dock and boarded the tender back to the ship. At first it seemed like it would be a light load. Then, two buses full of our shipmates arrived! We were packed into the tender like a bunch of sardines!
RF
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