A few weeks ago Skry and I took a trip to Akaroa, about an hour and a half away from Christchurch, with a couple of friends. Here's some information about Akaroa, which I swiped from
somebody else's website and am too lazy to reword:
Akaroa Township
Akaroa is Canterbury's oldest township. As well as being a former French and British colony, it also has a colourful whaling and Maori history.
The charm of this old town, together with the incredible scenery encountered en route has assured Akaroa's popularity as a unique tourist destination.
Today the township is home to 1000 people, many of who work in the tourism industry. Akaroa has superb examples of historic homes and there are approximately fifteen gardens within twenty minutes of Akaroa open to the public. The area is unique for its heritage roses and microclimates, its herb farm, streetscapes and also its historic churches.
Akaroa has a vineyard near Barry's Bay on the way to Akaroa. French Farm winery on the eastern side of the harbour is situated within the valley where the French navy established farms and orchards in the 1840s.
Akaroa has its own swimming beach with other beautiful, deserted beaches within thirty minutes at both Okains and Le Bons Bays.
We hadn't made any particular plans, but as it turned out we arrived just in time to take a harbour cruise.The cruises take about two hours and costs $65 - well worth doing if you have any interest in wildlife and pretty views. We were told to expect to see maybe one or two dolphins if we were lucky, but I think at one point we had about ten of them around the boat. The Hector's dolphins are (I think) unique to this area, and they were very playful and mobile, constantly swimming under the
boat, popping up for air, and diving back down again to swim back under the boat to the other side. We didn't see any other wildlife apart from two fur seals and a couple of seagulls, but it was amazing to see so many wild dolphins up close. The weather was great too, which helped to make it a very enjoyable afternoon. I'd recommend this to anybody who's visiting the area.
We hadn't made any particular plans, but as it turned out we arrived just in time to take a harbour cruise.The cruises take about two hours and costs $65 - well worth doing if you have any interest in wildlife and pretty views. We were told to expect to see maybe one or two dolphins if we were lucky, but I think at one point we had about ten of them around the boat. The Hector's dolphins are (I think) unique to this area, and they were very playful and mobile, constantly swimming under the 
boat, popping up for air, and diving back down again to swim back under the boat to the other side. We didn't see any other wildlife apart from two fur seals and a couple of seagulls, but it was amazing to see so many wild dolphins up close. The weather was great too, which helped to make it a very enjoyable afternoon. I'd recommend this to anybody who's visiting the area.
