A Date with Dolphins

Volcanic rock formations in Akaroa harbor

I woke up to find it was a bit too early, and after lazing for a while got dressed to explore the streets of the city. Previous night I tried to connect in to the Wifi network and as I did not succeed, I walked down to the lobby of the hotel to find no one other than a cute Korean girl. She was also struggling to make her own Internet card work. We settled in the sofa and soon were able to successfully log onto the network.

Cold winds and the fresh air filled my lungs as I walked on the deserted streets admiring the old building of Canterbury Museum and continued further on to a long stretch of road along the Hagley Park! Tall trees and bushes are spread over miles of the park area right in the midst of the city. No wonder, Christchurch is called as the ‘Garden City’!

After returning to the room we got ready for going by bus to Akaroa, which is a tourist destination about 84 km away from Christchurch! Akaroa stands for ’long harbor’ in Maori language. The bus arrived in time and the friendly driver John ushered us into the bus! We were the only passengers traveling so after settling down the driver continued to chat with me as he showed us around the city and the country side. He told me that Richard Hadlee ,the  New Zealand cricket team fast bowler of yesteryears was his school mate!

New Zealand is endowed with so much of beauty all around that one can close the eyes and click the camera to find a picture postcard setting in any direction. The bus stopped for a while at Little River which has a quaint old railway station and has a train too from the era of 1800! We halted for around fifteen minutes and went around the few shops in this little village town. The air was filled with aroma of tea trees and maple trees. Manuka and Native bush honey is produced here! After a brief stopover we continued the journey through the unending snow clad mountain ranges, to stop at a Cheese Factory. We went around the cheese making plant and sampled some of the most delicious varieties of cheese being produced here. En route we came across hundreds of cows and sheep dotting the modern farms. The bus started upward climb to offer the magnificent panoramic view of the lagoon of Akaroa in one direction and Kaikoura in the opposite direction. One can see the sea in either direction from the cliff top! We reached Akaroa in 2 hours. Soon after getting down, reconfirmed our booking for the nature cruise  in the harbor, and collected the boarding passes for a ride two hours later. The town has just 3000 inhabitants and a wide open expanse of turquoise blue sea, beautiful houses overlooking it, sea gulls, sparrows circling the sky and trees lined on lovely boulevards. The New Zealand government has created a number of free hot spots everywhere to encourage the growth of internet. So it is easy to connect with world through smart phones or laptops/ tablets at any place! We sat down to admire the beauty of the place and fed the sparrows and sea gulls with snacks that we had! They flocked all around us and happily gave us company with constant shrill of acknowledgement as they quarreled amongst themselves to catch the food from mid air! The ferry departed from the terminal precisely at 1245h and the crew offered us a welcome drink as we boarded the small boat. There were just two more families besides us. A total of seven passengers! The boat tore through the blue waters and headed out in the bay cutting through the icy winds! We came inside the cabin unable to bear the chilly winds.

Welcome sight of Hector Dolphins

We were shown around the multihued rock formations created by volcanic eruptions hundreds of years ago. There are very few places in the world with such biodiversity making the area fit for survival of some of the most unique creatures like ‘Hector Dolphins’( smallest in the world measuring  just about 3feet !) There are just a few thousand of these left. The skipper of the boat narrated the story of French settlers, the Maori tribes and their unique customs as the boat moved along. After half an hour the boat slowed down as the small dog which was also in the boat excitedly started to bark! It seems the dogs can smell the presence of Hector Dolphins and lo and behold, they came in small swarms and danced in the air and enthralled us with leaps in air!! It was like a group of excited school children giggling aloud as they played!  Swimming with the dolphins is very popular during the summer months.

 We next moved to see a colony of seals which were very tiny and were scampering over the rocks! Small seals and blue penguins inhabit the land masses along sea shore that hide in the holes created by hot gases from the lava thousands of years ago.

 We were rewarded in more than one ways including a treat of home baked chocolate cookies offered by our hosts as we sailed back into the harbor! The Akaroa harbor has Salmon fish farm too! The boat trip lasted a little more than two hours through one of the most pristine and un spoilt waters! 

A short wait in the nearby library and the bus arrived to take us back to Christchurch. On arriving back in the city we were greeted with rains! How lucky, that it did not rain during the day!

PS- This is the second post on the recent trip to New Zealand to share some exciting moments with all the lovely readers. One more post on some more moments of exhilaration would follow before bringing down the curtain.

                                             Seagulls as companions to eat in Akaroa harbor