Miserable Weather Continues in Akaroa

18^thOctober 2019

Fortunately the weather forecasters got it terribly wrong with regard to the expected strong winds. However, instead of the wind, we have relentless rain, making it a pretty unpleasant day at Akaroa. The temperature has dropped to 8 C adding to the discomfort.

 Arrival at Akaroa

Arrival was a little ahead of plan and the anchor was set and tenders in the water prior to 9am. Getting ashore in a timely manner was another issue. We headed downstairs at 9 am to join the line up to get tenders ashore. It took 2 hours before our turn to get a seat on a tender and it was another 20 minutes ride to the wharf. We were ticket number 782 and 783, so there was probably almost the same number of people still waiting when we departed. It was a bit of a disaster from a planning viewpoint and there were a lot of unhappy people.

Akaroa is located in the crater of an extinct volcano and the harbour was formed by the ocean breaking through the Oceanside wall of the crater. Under sunny conditions entrance to the harbour and the town coming into view would have been quite a spectacular site. Today, however, it is very spooky.

By the time we were ashore it was lunchtime, so we wandered off in the rain looking for both shelter and somewhere to eat. Highly recommended was Murphys on the corner, a fresh seafood café run by a fisherman who claims to catch what he sells. It was a popular choice, and with only 4 seats in the place, most people took there fish and chips across the road to the library, which had an undercover area that also served hot drinks. We were lucky enough to score 2 of the available seats and very much enjoyed and fish and chips and whitebait fritter.  It was very fresh and cooked perfectly.

Akaroa has a strong French history which is reflected in the street names, some architecture and most cafes and shops have a French theme. A small group of French settlers built the town in a British controlled colony, having left France with a belief that this area had been annexed for France only to see the Union Jack flying when they arrived.

Lovely old wooden houses line the streets

Shopping area near the tender wharf

Next we needed coffee. You can imagine what it is like when thousands of people descend on a little town in miserable weather looking for somewhere to shelter and get a warm drink. Anything near the tender wharf was out of the question. After walking around in the rain for a while we found a Thai restaurant that seemed to be mainly frequented by the ships crew on shore leave. They had expresso coffee and a spare table, so we settled in there.

Thai restaurant where we sought refuge

Refreshed and warmed up, a bit, we decided there must be more to the town than a few shops gathered around a wharf, so after a quick discussion with some locals we headed further down the road to what is the main part of town. Located there are all of the amenities, supermarket, post office, accommodation etc and a very good museum. We spent some time in the museum keeping dry and learning about the history of Akaroa which included and excellent 20 minute film being screened in the old courthouse which traced the history of the town from it’s volcanic origin till the present.

Local Theatre

Passengers flooding the town

Akaroa waterfront

War Memorial

French Butcher

The Beach

After a quick stop at the supermarket to get a few essentials we decided to head back to the ship. We have been ashore for 3 hours and have seen much of what is on offer. Had the weather been more hospitable, we would have wandered to some of the more distant attractions but we are keen to get out of the rain and back to the warmth of the ship.

Tender wharf

Departure is delayed for some time as whilst the last tender to leave shore was scheduled for 5.30 pm, they were still arriving back at the ship at 7 pm. It is only a short voyage overnight to our next destination, Port Chalmers, so I guess there is no hurry. 

Departure in pretty much the same conditions as we arrived