40 – Whale watching at Kaikura to Sailing at Akaroa - 19th to 25th March

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Rick's blog....

6 sperm whales, 200 Dusky dolphins, dozens of fur seals, 12 Hectors dolphins, a handful of yellow eyed penguins and one fantail that decided to join us in the campervan....our current tally of wildlife that we’ve seen over the past week in Canterbury (apart from flattened possums).

Walking the Kaikura peninsula we zigzagged though dozens of very dozy basking seals on the beach, with lots of pups dashing around in the water, then joined the whale watching trip which Rosi had been so looking forward to since we arrived in NZ. From the powerful catamaran we got really close to 6 huge sperm whales who were feeding in the 960 metre deep water canyon. Zooming off across the bay we then came across hundreds of Dusky dolphins, with several jumping clear of the water next to the boat, a great trip which Rosi enjoyed despite not having any sea legs.

Despite Easter we managed to camp in Christchurch and spent a day exploring the centre, including the old trams which I thought were great and the Arts Centre / market, which had Rosi spending all our ready cash. The Centre is housed in old University buildings modelled on Cambridge University (they even have punting on the local river) and is evidently a great place to have a studio. On market days they also have continental food stalls, where I tried the spiciest sausage I’ve ever eaten and Rosi had her first taste of Souvlaki. We saw some excellent paintings, including this one, which looks just like our friend Chris Rogers!

Our route east took us on to the Banks Peninsula, which Captain Cook mistakenly thought was an island, and we set up camp for a few days on the Banks of Arakoa Harbour at French Farm. At this delightful free camping spot we met several travellers, notably including Heide and Helmut from the Emscher Valley in Germany with whom we nattered for ages...at least Rosi did to Heide as she was also a teacher! Neighbouring Farmer Verne (75 years old) also zoomed round on his quad bike with a gift of peaches from his orchard.

We also had lengthy chats with Gavin and Tanya from Cromwell who are travelling in their newly acquired ‘Housetruck’... We were spellbound by one of these trucks in the ferry queue at Wellington and were full of speculation as to what they might look like inside....So you can image how excited we were to be invited in for a guided tour! Beyond the drawbridge and porch are two double bedrooms (both upstairs), a fully fitted kitchen with woodburning stove (and back boiler) and a washing machine, a bathroom (even with a tiny zinc bath) a dining area, and lots of very neatly fitted storage cupboards. All had been lovingly put together by the previous owner using local timber with solid brass fittings and nice touches like stained glass windows (all double glazed with safety glass).

A short trip around the bay took us to Arakoa, New Zealands first French settlement (although the English staked a legal claim first!). A very pretty village full of French road names, millionaires bungalows and lots of Easter visitors. The fish and chip lunch was a bit steep at £6.50 but it did include a Bundaberg ginger beer which is now a firm favourite (and about the only soft drink here not made by the wretched Coca Cola company).

After lunch we boarded the sailing ketch Fox II to sail round the harbour in search of more sea and birdlife. We saw Hectors dolphins...the smallest and rarest in the world and unique with their rounded fin, and in the distance some very shy Yellow Eyed penguins who were being mobbed by Cormorants (Shags in NZ). The Captain (a New Yorker) gave an interesting running commentary in between nattering to Rosi as he has plans to tour Europe this summer in a campervan.

Next stop Mount Cook, and the Hooker Glacier.