Banks Peninsula - Part 1

Banks Peninsula – Part 1

We arrived in Christchurch on Sunday evening, after a rough, weather related journey. Then we made the hour drive to Akaroa – well worth it.

The Cottage and Akaroa Bay

Akaroa was the region’s first European settlement.  Akaroa harbor is the crater of an ancient volcano, so the hills surrounding the bay are very steep.  It is now a beautiful little town that offers guided land and sea tours.  Our cottage sits on a steep forest and bush covered hill with views overlooking the harbor.  Sylvester and Figaro’s (our resident donkeys) paddock is just beside our cottage. 

View of our cottage from the Fox II (see below)

The bird life here keeps your senses busy.  We have a dawn chorus of bellbirds, fantails, and song thrushes.   Joseph Banks, Captain Cook’s biologist (Banks Peninsula), when first woken by the singing of bellbirds wrote in 1770, “the most melodious wild music…imitating small bells…the most tuneful, silver sound imaginable.” 

Blackbirds, New Zealand pigeons, NZ goldfinch, quails, yellowhammer, and silvereye can be seen flying and flitting among the trees, fields and bush. On the shore just below the cottage, we can watch spotted shags diving for fish, and gulls and terns searching for food. 

Lake Ellesmere

At Lake Ellesmere, a coastal lake and DOC site, is abundant with water birds.  We saw literally thousands of black swans swimming in groups of two adults with 4 to 6 signets.  There were also thousands of Canada geese on the shore beside the lake.  We saw a variety of ducks, stilts, and coots.

Fox II

We took an amazing 3 hour cruise on New Zealand’s oldest gaff-rigged ketch, Fox II.  We sailed out of Akaroa Harbor and into the open rolling seas of the Pacific (we are landlubbers).  We didn’t get sick, but we were thinking about it.  We were very excited to see hector dolphins swimming and jumping along side the boat (30-40 sightings).  Hector dolphins are the world’s smallest and rarest dolphin, a true endangered specie. They were attracted to the boat when the captain played musical recordings - Rod Stewart was a hit with the dolphins.  While out at sea, we saw two blue penguins, New Zealand fur seals, albatross flying off in the distance, spotted shags, white-fronted terns, white-faced storm petrels, and numerous types of gulls.  It was truly a memorable trip.

View of Banks Peninsula from the Pacific Ocean.