EC-Rider Travels

Philip, more than kindly, took another day off work and insisted on not only joining us at Akaroa but driving us there so we could both enjoy the beautiful views on the windy journey. We headed south out of Christchurch across the extraordinarily flat Canterbury plains and up into the Port Hills of an extinct volcano. Eventually, as we came over the top, beautiful Akaroa harbour, with its turquoise blue water, was revealed.

On the far bank of the peninsula, is the small town of Akaroa itself which for some time was a French settlement and still retains a very French feel and a lot of French names. It is a pretty little town much loved by the people of Christchurch as a weekend/holiday destination. It only has 750 full time residents but looking at its size, this must increase three-fold when all the second home owners descend. In the centre of the town is a war memorial dedicated to the surprising number of people who died during WW1 and WW2 from this small community. The memorial had been beautifully restored by the Swire Charitable Trust after the earthquake. Rather appropriately there were two very sleepy white doves keeping watch at the base and a few more on duty at the top.

We were a little early so drove through the village and out the other side to a little Māori village called Ōnuku where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed by two local Maori chiefs. Equally importantly it was where Philip and Fenella got married in the smallest and most adorable church you have ever seen.

We then returned to Akaroa, for our our boat trip in search of the worlds rarest and smallest oceanic dolphins – the Hector’s Dolphin. We had heard about a dolphin spotting dog called Buster and had particularly chosen him as our guide. We joined a group of others on his very comfortable boat. Buster was adorable but his dolphin spotting skills slightly questionable!

His Captain however was very good at it and we had the most wonderful time seeing many dolphins and quite a number with their calves. Hector’s dolphins are only found in New Zealand waters, they are very small and distinguishable by their rounded dorsal fins a bit like a Micky Mouse ear. They were very playful and seemed to love the boat and surfing on its wake. We also saw fur seals with their tiny pups which was a bit of a treat.

Akaroa harbour is completely beautiful with its turquoise water and rugged shoreline going out into the pacific. Sitting in an extinct volcanic crater there are incredible rock structures around the bay including the Elephant Head and Cathedral Cave.

We returned to Philip and Fenella’s beautiful garden for a lovely dinner joined by Rosie and Julian Holderness.