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Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula

Even before we’d left the States, Akaroa was high on my New Zealand travel to-do list. I’d been captivated by a family friend’s description of this historic French village on the Banks Peninsula around 50 miles (80 km) east of Christchurch. I wondered just how a quaint and quiet European town would fit into New Zealand tourism. During our weekend visit, we explored:

1. Akaroa Town and Harbor by foot and boat
2. Banks Peninsula by driving tour
3. Barry’s Bay Cheese on the drive out
4. UPDATE: revisited in October

We had been living in New Zealand almost six months before we made it to Akaroa and our first chance was going to be at the start of Easter weekend. With family visiting we finally had the perfect excuse. We wanted to stay somewhere with two rooms and a kitchen, but even with several weeks notice, we completely struck out on finding a bach or holiday home to stay in for two nights. We began checking online hotel and motel listings but still didn’t find two consecutive nights anywhere. Only when I reverted to the Lonely Planet guide and picked up the phone did I succeed in scoring lodging. The kindly owner of La Rive Motel was reluctantly about to turn me away when he suddenly produced an opening by cleverly reshuffling guests. We’ve learned that personal contact can still help make things happen in New Zealand, much more so than in the US. (See more tips for traveling in NZ.)

1. Akaroa Town and Harbor

We arrived in Akaroa, the main town on the peninsula, at the end of a long driving day winding through the Waipara wine country and skirting Christchurch en route from our previous night in Kaikoura. As dusk fell, we pulled into the motel at the beginning of town, dumped gear into the room, then hustled into town for some groceries. (The New Zealand government, in support of workers, fines restaurants heavily for opening on holidays, so those few that do open usually pass that cost on in a surcharge. Since our two-room suite had a kitchenette, we were determined to avoid fees by cooking for the weekend.) Upon our return, we assessed with some disappointment the lodging value we’d gotten, as the rather rough 50’s, 60’s and 70’s furnishings hadn’t come cheap. But it was a holiday weekend after all and the room was clean and comfortable enough, so we shifted our attention to whipping up a nice pasta dinner.

The next morning we had time to cook breakfast and wander Akaroa a little before boarding the Akaroa Dolphins harbor wildlife cruise we’d booked from the Kaikoura I-Site office. The French history is really quite fascinating, as the French were rushing to stake claim of Akaroa before New Zealand became a British colony. Yet, the British foiled their claim by sneaking in just days ahead of them, and left the settlers to choose between becoming British or going back. We found the town to be a little French, but more notably a quiet wee town (population around 600) with just a small row of tourist businesses on the main thoroughfare. The waterfront area, though, was packed with tour companies, restaurants and gift shops. Wandering out onto the wharf, we were solicited for a cruise by the crew of the Fox II sailing ship which we will definitely consider next time.

The town didn’t exactly charm our socks off, but we appreciated that it wasn’t end-to-end French kitsch. Much of the tourism is designed for the many bus tours that come out on a day trip from Christchurch for a quick overlook, a little shopping and a harbor cruise. If you are staying longer than that, it’s a perfect kind of place for hanging out over leisurely meals in cafes, so we probably robbed ourselves a bit with our self-sufficiency campaign. And while there wasn’t a ton going on, we could see easily filling quiet days with fishing, kayaking, world renowned dolphin swims or hiking the numerous mapped trails that surround the village.

Then it was time for our cruise. We were all excited, particularly since the brochures and staff guarantee you will see dolphins, and the norm is to see large pods. Our dolphin viewing experience wasn’t all we’d been promised (our skipper blamed excess holiday boat traffic), but we were still glad we’d gone. By avoiding the larger Black Cat cruises designed for the tour buses, we were on a smaller boat with under 20 people. As we headed to the mouth of the harbor, we got a good bit of useful patter, including geology, Maori culture and European history. The harbor is beautiful and the highlights were great close-up views of seal colonies and seeing a few penguins at sea along with our two brief sightings of tiny and endangered Hector’s dolphins. The weather was good, the staff very kind and the cruise made for good photos and memories.

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This article was written on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 and is filed under Destination. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.