Blogs from Akaroa, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa November 17th 2022

Bonjour à tous, J'ai deux mauvaises nouvelles, enfin surtout pour moi. A Omaru, il y 3 jours, j'étais heureux, victorieux j'avais trouvé les pingouins, j'ai appris hier que ce n'étaient pas des pingouins mais des cormorans "machins", j'ai oublié le nom. Comme en Argentine. Et seconde je ne me suis pas rattrapé hier au soir. La soirée découverte pingouins, c'est presque une arnaque, je vais m'en expliquer. Rendez vous 18H30, il y a une quinzaine de personnes, 2 mini bus Toyota, le guide (français) demande aux francophones de monter dans celui de devant. Je suis enfin content je vais pouvoir enfin profiter des informations en français. Nous sommes 8 personnes, un couple belge, un couple canadien de Montréal, avec leur fille de 11ans, un couple NZ, et moi. Donc 6 francophones. Le seul bilingue était le ... read more
Carte Banks Peninsula
le Bed and Breakfast
pingouin

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa November 16th 2022

Bonjour à tous, La soirée d'hier aussi peu animée que les précédentes. Souper sur le bord du lac, d'un plat de pâtes version italienne, améliorée avec une sauce néo zélandaise, plus tôt bon au goût, mais mon estomac l'a moins apprécié, petite tourista dans la nuit. Et ce matin tout était ok. Il ne faut pas que fasse trop d'expérience culinaire, peut être y avait il du poulet??. J'avais choisi ce resto, justement parce que face au lac, que le temps c'était bien dégagé, j'espérais un beau couché de soleil. Je l'ai presque eu, mais les montagnes avoisinantes font écran, et lorsque le soleil disparait il est encore haut. Ce n'est pas un vrai couché. En me levant cette nuit, je suis allé voir dehors le ciel étoilé, c'est vrai qu'elles étaient très lumineuses, pas autant ... read more
panorama, Banks Peninsula
Akaroa
Géraldine

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa September 25th 2020

We were so pleased that we did manage to switch off from working one day to being on holiday the next. There was no waking up at 5am or before thinking that we had to go to work with Gretchen on her way by 7.15am and me by 7.45am. We get get to hear the 6am news before a Fulton Hogan street sweeper truck drove by sweeping the few leaves that had fallen from trees onto the road at the seaside and disturbed the otherwise peaceful environment adjacent to our upstairs accommodation. We decided today that brunch, rather than breakfast was the way to go.This way we could lie in bed for longer and then having eaten 'breakfast' later in the morning we could bypass lunch and by the time dinner comes around we would be ... read more
Looking back towards Akaroa Village
Great uncle Patrick Mahoney resting place Akaroa cemetery
Wood pigeon getting drunk on the spring flowers

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa September 24th 2020

We were supposed to have visited Corsica in the Med back in May but COVID-19 reared its ugly head just before we were due to leave New Zealand and of course we didn't even get onto the aeroplane to take us to Auckland and then faraway places. Instead we traded our Air NZ tickets for flights to and from Christchurch and here we are Day One flying from Tauranga to Christchurch in the Air NZ Bombardier Q300 with a full load of travellers,many in holiday mode. Leaving Tauranga the weather looked threatening to the west,which was to be our takeover route and the pilot did warn of 'a few bumps' we would experience during the near 2 hour flight to Christchurch. We are sure he really meant 'air turbulence' as 'a few bumps' to us was ... read more
Russian Fudge courtesay of Air NZ
Akaroa Harbour from Hilltop Tavern
Multi coloured seaside boat sheds at Robinsons Bay,Akaroa Harbour

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa February 6th 2020

Akaroa, NZ Today was all about being on the water and wildlife sighting. We board the Black Cat and head out into the harbor, the remnants of a volcanic caldera like Santorini. We are looking for dolphins, penguins, fur seals and sea birds. As we cruise, we pass Onuku Maria a Maori village where there is a meeting house, a kitchen and accommodation for Maori traveling there for meetings and festivals or just to visit local residents living in the area. Soon we were met by Hector Dolphins. These are the most endangered dolphins. They measure about three feet versus nine feet for bottle nosed. They have been driven to the point of extinction by long net trawlers. With a perdition rate of 7% and a reproduction rate of 4% it appears their days are numbered. ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa December 20th 2018

We took the bus from Mount Cook at around 2pm and arrived soon after in Tekapo. We went for a nice walk from our accommodation to the Hot Springs, walking along the beautiful Tekapo lake. We had found a deal on Bookme for the Tekapo hot-springs so we were very happy to be able to relax in the three pools with water ranging from 35 to 38 degrees Celsius. When we got back, we were pretty tired (and relaxed!). We had a quick dinner in the kitchen and went stargazing once the sky was dark enough (at about 10.30pm). We took two glasses and a bottle of wine and found a nice spot to sit by the lake, on a big rock. We used an app Shaun had on his phone to find constellations and we ... read more
Rowing hard while Shaun’s taking pictures!
Hector’s dolphin

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa April 6th 2018

Blog 21 Akaroa, New Zealand, April 4 ,2018 – Weather forecast: sunny with scattered clouds; temperature 21°C, wind 22kts (5 Beaufort) Today we dropped anchor in the habour for Akaroa, the South Island’s oldest town. It is a historic settlement founded by both British and French settlers and is nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano. Akaroa serves as the port for New Zealand’s third-largest city, Christchurch whose harbour and its infrastructure was devastated in 2011 by a series of earthquakes. Our excursions for the day were mixed, John and Mary Ann took the shuttle to Christchurch to visit with a friend there; Brooke sailed around the harbour on a sailing ketch to view the wildlife and I took part in a cooking class. This was my combined Christmas and birthday gift from Brooke. After ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa January 20th 2018

... and the blog goes on Sadly looking back on my amazing holiday now - which thankfully doesn't yet seem too far away - but I am hating the fb posts from people out there - it is still sunny and beautiful. But I don't miss it, that is probably because I am planning my next trip out there (next year oops) I am going back. A colleague pointed out to me if a did a type of work (that I hate, but am supposed to do I) can do it from NZ and that other colleagues do - so I could work 2 day pw and be over there, in the their proper summer - do you know I may not hate that type of work anywhere near as much as I thought I did? ... read more
Akaroa street
Dolphin !!!
Giants house 1

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa January 15th 2018

We arrived in Christchurch and headed straight for the botanical gardens to park up and stretch our legs. They were really beautiful and lots of the plants and trees were in full flower so the place was bright multicolours. We walked through past a pavilion greenhouse come afternoon tea spot and found ourselves at the main city museum. In comparison to some of the other museums in NZ this was pretty meh. It had some interesting displays of Maori culture and the 10000 kids running about the place seemed to be enjoying themselves but we soon left. We walked down a pretty road along side the tram tracks and investigated what was planned for the up and coming street performance and busker festival. We then had a brisk wonder around the art gallery. Neither of us ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa April 17th 2017

18th March Akaroa Cruising into this historic town, you can see why Captain James Cook thought it was an Island. Naming it Banks Peninsula in 1770 after the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, it was formed by two giant volcanic eruptions. Harbours and bays radiate out giving it an unusual cogwheel shape. Akaroa is 80km from Christchurch and is used by cruise ships as a tender port since the devastating earthquakes in 2011. The town is a picturesque colonial place and was originally settled by the French. However following the Treaty of Waitangi it became part of the British Crown. Again the town celebrates its heritage, the French influence remains and is visible in many of the street names and the wooden slatted Mediterranean style houses. We had plans today, firstly to get off Victoria as soon ... read more
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