March 9, 2017

The ship anchored at Akaroa, New Zealand, which is on the eastern coast of South Island on the Pacific Ocean.  It is located in the sheltered harbour where the ship is anchored. The name Akaroa means Long Harbour. 

   We went to the Windjammer Buffet for breakfast and found cards on the tables advertising dinners at the Specialty restaurants on the ship for $20 US per person. The Specialty restaurants were advertising three Specialty dinners for $75 US per person at the start of the cruise in Perth.  Another price difference was that the martini of the day and alcoholic cocktail of the day on the Sydney to Perth cruise was $12 US, but the exact same daily specials are only $8 US on this cruise.

   Passengers were tendered, using the ship’s four 120 person capacity lifeboats, to shore fairly quickly in less than 20 minutes. But passengers were still required to meet about an hour before our tour number was called so they would be available as soon as a tender boat was ready.

    The day was sunny with only a light wind and morning temperature was 12 C.  The water was almost calm making entering the tenders fairly easy, but you needed to watch your balance as you stepped from the ships tender platform onto the gently rocking tender boat.

    The Banks Peninsula, named after Captain James Cook’s ship (the Endeavour) botanist, Joseph Banks, was created by a series of erupting volcanoes many thousands of years ago. There are remnants of two large volcanic cones which formed an island, but with the partial collapse of parts of the craters the harbours at Lyttelton and Akaroa were created.  Until shortly before the September 2010, a 7.2 on the Reichter Scale earthquake nearby, Lyttelton was the harbour where the cruise ships anchored.  However, the anchorage was switched to the old French settlement town of Akaroa and has remained the location for the ships.  Akaroa is about an hour’s drive further down the coast from Lyttelton. The drive to Christchurch was almost 85 minutes.

    We chose the same tour as Maureen and Bob and arranged to go on the same bus. The drive is breathtaking along winding hilly highway with views of the long Akaroa harbour, Lake Forsyth and the steep peaks and valleys, the highest point on our route was 476 meters above sea level in the old crater rim and the lowest was close to sea level on the flat Canterbury Plains and its farmland.  Along the way herds of cattle and sheep are visible and even some horses can be seen grazing with the cows.  We passed olive tree groves and vineyards, too.

    Once in Christchurch we had a city tour of the old city center gradually being revitalized after the devastating February 2011 6.3 on the Reichter Scale, earthquake which had the epicenter a few kilometers away.  It was a shallow quake only five kilometers form the surface and shook the residents up, down and sideways early in the afternoon.  Many historic building were damaged needing many to be demolished and others still undergoing slow restoration.

    Christchurch has a population of 400,000 people and is known as the garden city.  There are parking lots where buildings used to stand. In all 130 people lost their lives in the February 2011 earthquake, over 100 in one tall building housing a medical center.   There is a memorial to the dead victims of the earthquake near the Canterbury Museum which has 130 white chairs of different styles gathered to commemorate the people and there is a memorial wall not far away.

    One suburb of 15,000 homes has been abandoned because the earthquake caused a mixture of sand, soil and water to bubble up from below and tilt the houses so badly that the land was no longer stable enough for the houses to be viable.  The area is planned to be turned into parkland. The majestic old Roman Catholic Basilica is slowly being repaired, but the scars of the toppled walls and towers are clearly visible.  The Ami Stadium where cricket and soccer games were played is now being demolished.  Several of the larger damaged buildings like the police station were imploded in order to demolish them.  Some older buildings now have murals on the common walls where another building once stood.

    The new building codes are limiting new construction to nine storeys high.  There are new modern glass and steel buildings and even a temporary structure, made of shipping containers, to accommodate cafés and small businesses.  We passed the Cardboard Cathedral made from heavy duty cardboard which has a life expectancy of about ten years. It cost $10 million to build.  The Isaac Theater Royal has been rebuilt to a beautiful replica of the old structure.

   At Cashell Street and Rolleston Street, the bus parked for an hour for us to to explore the Christchurch Botanic Garden, the Canterbury Museum, the university buildings or take a tram tour along Worcester Street down to the Basilica.  One woman was left behind after a 10 minute wait since the next stop was to be the Manderley Sheep Farm and we needed to be there on time.  There were other tour buses from the ship that would be staying a little longer.  We never found out the fate of the woman.

    The Christchurch Botanic Garden is an 80 hectare park of lovely gardens including a rock garden, a hydrangea garden, a rhododendron garden, a glass enclosed conservatory and a colourful rose garden at its center.  We bought a Pumpkin and Quinoa wrap to share as we walked along the Botanic Garden paths and admired the trees, flowers and the flowing the Avon River, where people could have a gondola ride in a colourful little boat.

   When the bus left Christchurch the noon temperature was a pleasant 20 C under sunny skies. As we left Christchurch we could see the burned hillsides about the city where a forest fire raged only three weeks ago.  The wind was strong at the Manderley Sheep Farm, so some people wore their light jackets to watch the dogs herding sheep, the shearing of some sheep and the outdoor snack of a delicious lamb sausage roll, shortbread cookie and tea or coffee about 2 pm in the garden of the farm home. One merino sheep pelt is worth $8 New Zealand or about $7.90 Canadian.  The wool is shipped in 500 pound bales, just like cotton. Merino wool is the finest and used to make quality men’s suits. The less valuable wool is used to make carpets. The farm is across the highway from Caton Bay which is a lake where black swans live.  There were over a dozen spotted floating on the lake.

   It was time to return to Akaroa with a photo stop at Hilltop Tavern for a great vista of the harbour and our distant ship.  Further on from the bus window there was an opportunity to capture a picture of the Maori’s Sacred Island, which is now a peninsula that is held sacred by the Maori people.

    As the bus approached the outskirts of the summer resort village of Akaroa, the driver dropped off those of us who wished to walk the 1.5 kilometers through the village back to the pier to catch the tender boat.  It was a great opportunity to stretch our legs.  We explored the wooden St. Patrick’s church built in 1865 as we walked the picturesque harbour side main street.  The Maroi name for the Banks Peninsula, Te Pataku o Rakaihautu, is named after an early Maori explorer, Rakaihautu, who settled the area over five centuries ago.  We browsed in a few shops and found a Wi-Fi hot spot to check emails and the scores in the Canadian Men’s Curling championship bonspiel, The Brier.  We gradually reached the waterfront shops and stopped to buy a pair of Abalone shell cuff links and cough drops before ordering milkshakes a little further down the street.  Our wait for the tender boat was short as we timed our arrival in time for the tender which was loading.  We returned to the ship almost eight hours after leaving in the morning.

     We joined Bob and Maureen for dinner.  Tonight’s menu choices were: Mozzarella & Tomato slice salad, Tomato Seafood Risotto and Bouillabaisse as appetizers.  The main was Coq au Vin with mushrooms and bacon and mashed potato. The dessert was Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle Mousse.

    The tango shows tonight were at 8:30 and 10:15 so we read our books before the early show started.  The same Tango Argentina troupe sang and danced as on the last cruise which we had attended.  We found no time for dancing tonight.

Steps 11,948    Flights of stairs  44