Akaroa, New Zealand... The Fox II Sailboat

Akaroa, New Zealand is a little town out on the peninsula below Christchurch.  They also call this area the Banks Peninsula.  On the map below, the yellow area is Akaroa and Christchurch is above that.  It takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get there.  The roads here are narrow and windy so it takes longer to get places than you would think by just looking on a map.  For reference, we have been as far north and west as Westport and down the West Coast side during our Southern Tour.  The most recent earthquake in November 2016 was in Kaikoura, which is the furthest large town (but really not very large) on the Eastern side of this map.  The road along the east coast up to the tip of the South Island (Highway 1) has been closed until the end of 2017 due to the recent earthquake.  The road has disappeared or been damaged along this stretch and a much longer, inland route to the top has to be taken.

We had been looking forward to going out to Akaroa since we had gotten to Christchurch.  We told the girls we had a surprise for them on Saturday so they needed to do school work on Saturday so they could have Monday off.  Our surprise was a ride on this cool sailboat called the Fox II.  Kayla had been so jealous and obsessed with a large sailboat in Mildford Sound we wanted to go on this boat that was a smaller version of the one we had seen that day.  It was great because it was smaller and more personal.  Halfway through we even got some great hot chocolate and biscuits (cookies) and the man that owned the boat was American so we had NO trouble understanding all of his commentary on our tour and he gave great history and information on the area.  He made you feel like an old friend and the boat crew was so nice.  Highly recommend the Fox II if you ever find yourself in Akaroa.

 

The Fox II

The water was so blue and beautiful.  It was a beautiful day to be on the ocean.

LOOK AT HOW BLUE THE WATER IS!!!

Link to Sailing on the Fox II Video 1

It wasn't long before we spotted a few dolphins.  He stopped when we spotted them and he turned on this soft pretty music.  They loved the music and more came swimming up to the boat.  You could tell they loved the music and the sound/vibrations in the water because it was like they came to dance.

They stuck around for a long time.  We probably sat there for 20 minutes and eventually he drove along and they followed us for a while.  They are such beautiful and curious creatures.

Link to Dolphins on the Fox II Video 1

Not much further, we spotted a big seal on the rocks.  Can you spot him?  He has his nose in the air.  Mostly, you see them lounging and laying down so it was fun to see this one with his nose up high and moving his head around.

Link to Swimming Seals Video

The girls were loving the sailboat and the beautiful water and scenery

Link to Dolphins on the Fox II Video 2

Link to Sailing on the Fox II Video 2

We drove into this cove that was kind of a cave.  It was called Cathedral Cave.  As we got inside (I almost felt like the top of the sails would hit the upper wall) he turned on his music again and you could her and feel the amazing acoustics.  It was beautiful.

Link to Cathedral Cave Video 1

Link to Cathedral Cave Video 2

This is called Elephant rock (above)..  Can you see how it looks like an Elephant?  The trunk is in the water...

Ava is wayfinding!!

Link to Ava's Haka Dance Video

Loved our day on the Fox II.  It was a great way to spend 3 hours in Akaroa Bay

Seals at Tauranga Bay

After our adventure at the Pancake Rocks we were told by a clerk in the tourist shop to check out the seal colony at Taurnaga Bay that was about 45 minutes north of where we were.  We decided it was worth a trip north so we headed that way.  It was a windy road.  Roads in New Zealand are extremely narrow compared to the States and there is absolutely no shoulder.  We found them to be especially narrow along the Western Coastline where there was a sheer wall on one side of the road and a drop off to the ocean on the other.... or two dense forests on either side of the road.... there is no pulling off the side of the road.  And, it gets especially hairy when you come up on a bike in your lane.  Not to mention that all of the bridges that we crossed on our whole trip were one lane bridges and you just had to watch ahead of you to see if anyone coming in your direction was already on the bridge so you had to wait your turn.  

There was definitely a Seal Colony on the rock at the the Bay.  There were quite a few of them.  Lots of babies running around while their parents slept like logs on the big rocks.  The little ones were so cute.

Two cute babies on the rocks

Ilam Gardens and Baby Ducks and Chinese Food...

We were on our own for Thursday because Brady was going into his office.  We started our "homeschool", which is a difficult thing to do when you've been in a new place for only 1 full day.  No better day to start then today.  We worked for a few hours and when the girls needed a break, Brady suggested we walk over to the Ilam Fields and Garden. All we needed to do was cross the street and walk the alley way for a short ways.  Ilam Fields is a giant University field for Cricket and a running track.  Along one side it has a beautiful garden with some trails, trees to climb and our favorite find, ducks.  We were lucky enough to spot a momma duck and 10 babies.  They were so adorable.  We couldn't get enough of their furry small bodies.  They wanted so much to try and hold one but I told them they couldn't touch them.

We also found these plants with GIANT leaves.  The girls said if we picked one, we could use it as an umbrella. 

We looked closer at them and their stems had giant pokey thorns on them.  Ouch!  We would definitely not be picking one for an umbrella.  Not to mention, Dad has told us not to pick anything here.  He said that NZers are very protective of their country and green space.  Leave it as it is....

On Friday we did homeschool again as Brady was preparing for his class.  Still having not driven, we were forced to stay home and venture only as far as Ilam fields.  They were happy to do that as we had found some great trees to climb, fun trails, and definitely had to check on the cute baby ducks.  Kayla stayed home this day to keep working on her school work.  

After some tree climbing we found our ducks.  We were surprised and sad to find that only 9 babies were with mamma duck.  There was another duck and "teenage" duck around but we couldn't find #10.  The mamma duck chased off these two other ducks while we were standing on the bank but she didn't seem to mind us being there.  We eventurally saw the lost baby emerge from the bank but it ran up the wrong way.  After searching, we saw it again only to loose it again.  After a while we decided to leave and hope that the mamma would eventually find it.  We were supposed to meet up with Dad anyways and go to the Faculty house soon anyways.

Every Friday the faculty is invited to go to the faculty house for mingling.  We were reluctant to go (the girls were) but went anyways.  We eventually met a family there that has 4 daughters too.  Its a rare thing to find a family with only 4 daughters so we instantly had a connection with them.  It was fun to find out that their ages were so close to our girls ages.  They had a 14, 12, 10 and 7 year old.  They took them into the Ilam Gardens to show them some hideouts they had.  They were gone for nearly an hour or more.  I visited with the mother and enjoyed getting to know her.  She was from England and her husband was from France.  It is so interesting; the people we have met; they are so global.  They have lived all over the world with their families.  They speak many languages.  It is so different than America.  We hardly go beyond our state borders, let alone span the globe and speak many languages.

After our long visit it was very late and we hadn't eaten dinner.  We went to a Chinese restaurant with Engineering friends.  This was a new experience for the girls.  They eaten Chinese take out, but not at a Chinese restaurant before.  They were so intrigued by the tank of live lobsters.

Our large table with a round spinner in the middle to share the food.  Kayla's face in this picture is evident of her feelings toward Brady by the end of the night.  The first thing to be brought to the table was Calamari.  Brady told them it was chicken and they were like skinny chicken nuggets.  They all ate one.  I was forced to as well as to not look suspicious even though I know quite well what calamari is.  After a while Brady admitted to them that it was squid and that the were eating tentacles.  At least that's better than another "T" body part they could have been eating. he he

Kayla was super mad and told him that she was never going to trust him again.  After lying about the lamb meat and then squid she was done with him.  Although, she really liked the lamb and has eaten it again since.