Akaroa

Michele kicks off her mammoth trip on 9th January 2012. Read her roving reports from the High Seas to her journey Down Under. Keeping you up-to-date with all the news as it happens.
Post Reply
User avatar
Michele Monro
Posts: 1097
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:31 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Akaroa

Post by Michele Monro » Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:27 am

Due to the earthquake damage at the port of Lyttelton and the main sites in Christchurch, the call had been cancelled and replaced with the port of Akaroa. The place is a quaint, colonial village and although I wasn’t upset by the itinerary change, I was miffed that the call involved a local tender to get us ashore.

On embarkation day I’d met a fellow passenger called Tom and we have become friends. He’d originally booked a day’s visit to Christchurch but apparently there are still tremors and the possibility of another earthquake so he changed his mind about going. Instead we hooked up and decided to go across the bay and explore what to do. Even though it was slightly warmer than Dunedin, I wasn’t wrong about cancelling the dolphin swim. Our tender took us across the main wharf but it’s a wonder we ever got there. The boat, which we later found out was one of the lifeboats, had no windows and we were packed in like sardines. That wouldn’t have been so bad had it not been for the twit driving the vessel. We couldn’t have gone any slower had we tried and I’m sure if I’d had the ability to walk on water I’d have got to shore before the tender. I’m not sure whether he was in training, but the journey was excruciatingly slow. Paint would have dried quicker. It took 30 minutes to make the 10-minute crossing and I practically stampeded off the boat in my quest to make shore before sunset.

Banks Peninsula was formed following violent eruptions by three volcanoes. The craters nurse the harbours of Akaroa and Lyttelton; smaller bys indent the rest of the coastline. It makes the bay look like a giant lagoon and there wasn’t a ripple in sight. The pier was dotted with dozens of dolphin harbour and wildlife cruises as well as fishing, kayaking and dive charters. Although I would have loved to have seen dolphins, I didn’t fancy being squeezed onto another small boat with a lot of overbearing tourists. Instead Tom and I opted to walk the 15 minutes into the main town walking along the coastline. We stopped at a garden eatery for a toilet break and a drink and one could have sworn we were in Devon or Cornwall. The sun had come out in full force and I was soon stripping off some of the dozens of layers I had put on. There were doubtless loads of people who’d loaded up on clothes when leaving the ship, as it had been cold early morning but now I was stuck carrying my winter coat around.

There were countless number of quaint shops en-route and at the end of town we fond a small market, similar to England’s car boot sales but with more up-market wares. Tom bought several plates and a few pieces of jewellery. He found an art deco cross which was stunning. I bought myself a Star of David. I haven’t worn one in years since I lost the one a friend had given me in my youth. I also bought some faux jewellery to decorate a jean bag I’d bought yesterday. I shouldn’t have crossed the road because I feel in love with a fluffy black designer handbag that I just had to have but as Scarlett said “I’ll think about it tomorrow’. I also bought a beautiful photographic book on New Zealand but I think I’ll probably post that to myself along with a few other books I’ve bought across my travels as they really add a lot of weight to the baggage and I need all the help I can get.

We stopped for a rest on a bench overlooking to crystal waters of the harbour and it gave me the chance to taken even more photos. It was nearing 3.00pm and the sun was slowing slipping away so Tom and I decided we’d shopped ourselves out and made our way back to the tender area. Going back was hugely different, not only did the craft have windows but there was an open-air deck, which we grabbed so we could take pictures of Sea Princess bobbing up and down in the lagoon.

Having secured our seats on Deck 12, we headed straight for the buffet, I was ravenous and it didn’t take me long to polish off a couple of sandwiches. It must have been the amount of walking but suddenly I couldn’t keep my eyes open so excused myself for a short nap. It was just as well I put my alarm on for 6.00pm otherwise I might not have got up at all. I headed for the Casino and met up with Gabby. Ocean Poker wasn’t open so we headed for the slots (as you do). On my way to bed several hours later, I was delighted with my $280 slot machine win.

***

At about 3.00am, Sea Princess passed Cape Palliser, which is the southernmost point of the North Island at a distance of approximately 23 nautical miles. Throughout the day we will maintain a northeasterly course along New Zealand’s coastline. I always like a day at sea in-between pots so I can recharge my batteries but the weather still wasn’t warm enough to sit out so it was back to the Casino. I treated myself to another massage and it was so good I feel asleep. I introduced myself to the cruise director Peter Roberts and he mentioned that Paul Baker had told him I was coming on. I asked if he’d put a copy of my book in the library and he readily agreed. I’ve been looking in the Princess Patter since we’d left Australia and they don’t seem to have any speakers on the programme, but regardless I’ve told him if he needs anything I’m available so I’ll wait and see what happens.

The German lady I met Gabby came into the Casino and were soon trying to outdo each other on the machines. I managed to win $30 and pocketed it determined to go to bed a winner. I know I’ve said this before but I don’t know where the days have gone, I’ve been on the ship a week tomorrow and I have to admit that I didn’t still expect to be in winter clothes but by rights it should get a bit warmer each day hereafter. God I hope so. I tried to get on-line all day but the ship’s Wi-Fi has gone down so no luck.

Post Reply

Return to “The Long & Winding Road”