Aaahhh, Akaroa. Akaroa is definitely my favorite port in New Zealand. This little town of 650 residents swells to 10,000 during the summer months, but with only rare snow at the higher elevations and a fairly temperate climate, it seemed a little slice of heaven to me. After our visits two years ago, I was ready to sell everything and move here ASAP. Today injected some reality into my little pipe dream. I still love it, but yikes, I am no longer as accustomed to wet, cold days as I was when I lived in Ohio. And today was very wet. And very cold.
Our late departure from Tauranga two days ago was largely made up over our day at sea, but the Ruby Princess still made the turn to starboard to enter the Akaroa Harbour an hour behind schedule. Fortunately, the strong winds that had been predicted for today didn’t materialize, and though it was a little rocky boarding the tender this morning for the 20 minute transfer to shore, the ride itself was comfortable. It was hugely overcast but not yet raining when we first arrived ashore. Several months ago we, along with Paul and Marlene, had booked a two-hour nature tour with Pohatu Penguins, the ecotourism company we had used in the past for their four-hour tour. I wasn’t sure I’d be up for the hiking on the longer tour (it was a wise decision) but wanted Paul and Marlene to see that beautiful scenery we had enjoyed during that excursion. For photos of that trip, see my November 20, 2017 blog post.
Our tour was scheduled for 1:30pm, and I knew exactly why I had chosen that time. I remember that so many of our mornings in New Zealand started out overcast and misty, but by 11am or noon, the sun would appear and the afternoons offered much more pleasant weather. Unfortunately, today was quite the opposite.
With some time to spare, we booked a two-hour tour available from several operators on the pier for a ride in the opposite direction, across the harbor, for some scenic views. The driver promised we’d be back in plenty of time for our Pohatu Penguins tour. We set out in an 11-person van, driving around the harbor until we started to climb. The hillsides were so green and beautiful. Paul and Marlene have been to Scotland, and said Akaroa looks much the same, but is perhaps even prettier.
While we still had some expansive views at the lower elevations, as we climbed to the lookout at 1500 feet elevation we were in the clouds, and saw nothing. That was rather sad. We stopped at the top to enjoy a snack purchased from a cafe called Hilltop that must feature an endless view when it is clear, but all we saw was fog.
The views st the lower elevations.
The Ruby Princess at anchor in Akaroa Harbour
A panorama photo of Akaroa (which means long harbor in Maori) Harbour
We also stopped at a cheese factory on our return. This area exports a great deal of milk powder and cheese to Asia. By the time we returned to Akaroa, a steady rain was falling, which considerably dampened our spirits about what we might see during our afternoon tour. We were all dressed for the weather, and it wasn’t so much that we were cold, but it was 43F and the wetness was definitely making me feel chilled.
Our driver and guide with Pohatu Penguins was April, who is the wife of Frenchman Kevin who was our guide two years ago. He had told us he came to the area to study conservation and ended up staying, and I knew a girl was involved. April was enthusiastic and very pretty. It is her aunt and uncle who own the large sheep ranch and have put so much effort over decades into protecting the little penguin population and restoring their land to the way it was over 200 years ago, with large number of native trees.
It was sad to travel in the 4WD roads back to Flea Bay and the sheep ranch, seeing nothing through fogged up windows and the rain, and know that gorgeous views were all around us. Still, once we reached the sheep ranch, all the darling lambs kind of made up for it. While the others set out to walk to some of the little penguin nesting boxes on the hillside, I knew that walking on a wet, muddy, slanted hillside was not in my best interest and stayed behind. I was delighted when I was offered the chance to feed two of the motherless lambs by bottle.
Flea Bay on the Banks Peninsula
(Paul’s photo)
Flea Bay
(Paul’s photo)
Rosie playing King of the Hill on a rock pile
(You can see a little penguin nesting box in the background.)
There were also geese and new goslings on the ranch.
The ranch house surrounded by beautiful calla lilies.
Patches, a male lamb
Feeding Patches and Rosie by hand
Rosie’s milk-covered face, which she immediately rubbed all over my pants leg
A parent blue ( or little) penguin sits with the two eggs in a nest box while the other is out at sea feeding
(Paul’s photo)
(Paul’s photo)
By the time the others returned from viewing the penguin nests, the rain had intensified and the weather was irredeemably awful. We rode in the fog back to the tender pier, and wasted no time in boarding a tender back to the ship. Despite the rain and limited views, today we really felt like we were in New Zealand; the soles of our shoes were covered in mud and sheep, geese and penguin poop. We boarded the ship and, walking down the corridor to our cabin, started pulling off clothes and hats and gloves and, when we came to the passenger laundromat, we dumped those items in a washer and took turns going to the cabin to remove the rest of the clothes we’d been wearing and adding them to the load. It was 4pm went we returned to the ship, and by 5:15pm we had both showered, and our laundry was dried and back in our cabin. It felt so good to get clean again.
The last tender from shore wasn’t until 5:30pm, and the DaVinci Dining Room was nearly empty when we arrived. We watched from our table as the tenders on the port side of the ship were retrieved, and it was 7pm by the time the Ruby Princess was ready to sail out of Akaroa Harbour into the Pacific Ocean.
We were fairly hungry at dinner, and had three courses each, plus dessert. This was one of those rare days when none of the entrees on the menu could be modified to be vegan, so a special veggie curry with garbanzo beans was made for me. It was delicious and very warming.
Day 24 dinner menu, page 1
Day 24 dinner menu, page 2
Day 24 dessert menu
As tired as we were (once we had eaten), we still made it to two different shows tonight. The first was the 7:30pm performance by Australian comedian Chris Radburn in the Princess Theater. He seemed like a really nice guy but an average comedian. And then we were able to find two seats in the Explorers Lounge for Pearson & Harvey’s silliness in their 8:30pm variety show. But when that was over, we were exhausted. G was asleep in seconds and I will be, too (hopefully).
I decided today that, if the weather tomorrow in Port Chalmers is a repeat of today, I am going to find a comfy chair on the ship and read Elton John's autobiography called Me that was released just yesterday. I purchased it and downloaded it while waiting for yesterday’s Princess Theater show to begin and it is taking all sorts of restraint to not start it tonight after this post is published. If the weather is better tomorrow and we have a good day in Port Chalmers, I’ll be happy. If the weather is crap and I stay on the ship and read Me, I’ll be happy. It’s a win-win situation.
I’m really not certain which scenario I’d prefer. 😉
Day 24 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 24 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 24 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 24 Princess Patter, page 4