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Published: December 25th 2012
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Synchronised Swimming
Dolphins in Akaroa harbour Today (Monday 24 December 2012) we docked in Akaroa, New Zealand. Akaroa, long harbour in the Maori language, is the crater of a volcano which became extinct about 6m years ago. Akaroa is located on the eastern side of the south island (just south of Wellington). As there was a trip with a difference, which didn't start 'til 10:30 am, we decided to do that tour.
To reach the town we had to go by tender and once in the town we boarded the ketch Fox II for a wildlife tour of the crater. The boat, which was built in 1920 and started life as a British cargo boat, was captained by Roy, the current owner. The crew were three young people who are involved in one of the many conservation schemes in NZ.
We sailed around the crater and Roy pointed out some of the buildings perched on the lava rock face. One of the most interesting facts: the settlers brought gorse with them. Gorse is a pesky nuisance for farmers as it grows rampant and is inedible by sheep and cattle. However, it provides nitrogen to the soil and forms a new top soil. As a result
the trees that had been chopped down by the settlers are being replaced and the gorse is dying naturally.
We hadn't gone very far when we were joined by a small group of dolphins. Roy turned on the dolphins favourite music and before we knew it we had a big group of dolphins "dancing" in formation like synchronised swimmers. These are Hector dolphins and they are the smallest and one of the rarest breeds.
Our next treat was a large flock of shags feeding. Shags are birds like cormorants. They look like they are committing suicide when they suddenly disappear under the water to feed. They can swim underwater for their prey.
Amongst that lot was a lone little blue penguin. However, around the natural caves we were able to see a whole colony.
The rocks that suddenly moved were well-camouflaged fur seals. We saw a mother chasing after her pup trying to prevent it from falling into the water.
We also saw Oyster Catchers, black birds with big orange beaks.
To the sounds of Rod Stewart singing "I am sailing" (corny but mood setting) we sailed into a southerly wind blowing in from the Antarctic which was quite cold, going right into the Pacific in order to see the albatross. It was easy to feel how the ancient mariner must have felt; the albatross is a big bird and in a southerly breeze the sea is quite rocky and I was pleased to turn back to the calm of the crater. En route we sailed into one of the natural caves. It was quite eerie.
In summation this was an amazing trip in an amazing part of the country.
Once back on board MS Oosterdam we had lunch and I went for a nap. Don went back to Akaroa to post yesterday's blog on free wifi.
The ship set sail at 1900 for Wellington. However, as tomorrow is Xmas day the ship will drop anchor outside Wellington for 24 hours. In the meantime kids are hanging up the notices to Santa outside their cabins to remind him where they are staying.
Oh and the saga of the dripping light continues. This morning there were two buckets outside our cabin collecting the drips. The strip light had been removed. And by this evening the drips were almost under control as we were back to one bucket but two caution signs and the light was still not working! And the drawer is back, held closed with a doorstop ;-}
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