South Island's French Port

January 28, 2013 at anchor Akaroa, New Zealand – Where the Passengers Outnumber the Locals

J had just started his morning walk when the Silver Whisper passed the heads of Akaroa harbor; then we began a one-hour transit up the “Long Harbor,” as it was called by the Maoris.  The ship anchored off the village of Akaroa at 8:00am, joining two other cruise ships in the harbor.  Akaroa is a village of about 500 full-time residents and normally, another 500 tourists in the summer season.  It was about to be invaded by approximately 3,000 cruise-ship passengers, mostly from a 2,000 plus Princess cruise ship.  Disaster in the making!

Sunrise over the Heads, Akaroa Harbor

The Banks Peninsula forms the left head.

Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here

Just what you always wanted to attend -- a cruise ship convention.

Use of Akaroa as a cruise-ship port was caused by the Christchurch earthquakes, which have made Christchurch’s port, Littleton, unusable.  The story that we were told:  the seafloor on the north side of the Banks peninsula rose during the earthquake, making the port too shallow for large-draft vessels.  Also, Christchurch is reportedly not “ready” to accept tourists.  Consequently, Akaroa is the only substitute port for cruise ships on the South Island’s east coast, north of Port Chalmers (Dunedin).

The village of Akaroa has an interesting history.  It was originally settled by French colonists in 1840.  The French wanted to establish a presence in New Zealand to balance the growing British influence in the southwest Pacific.  However, belatedly, they landed colonists at Akaroa just after the British had claimed sovereignty of all New Zealand and signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the Maori.  Those French colonists remained and were gradually assimilated with British settlers.  Today, most of the “Frenchness” of Akaroa is nothing more than a tourist hook.

Finishing breakfast, we prepared ourselves for the tender ride into the Akaroa pier.  We had been warned by Fernando, the cruise director, that there might be some “congestion” at the pier.  Theoretically, the long tender run into the pier takes about 30 minutes.  With congestion, it was about 45 minutes before we were “feet dry” on the pier.  There were tourists everywhere.  It was like a plague of locusts!

Relocated Akaroa Lighthouse from 1879

This peaceful scene will shortly turn to passenger chaos!

Slogging our way through the mass of passengers on the pier, we finally made Akaroa’s main street, Beach Road, and began our walk.  It was like facing the sidewalks of mid-town Manhattan, so we took the first side street and found that Akaroa without cruise-ship passengers was a quaint village with a number of interesting public buildings and private homes.  Many houses were B&B’s, home stays, or specialty shops.

Houses

Quaint houses, now home stays, B&Bs, or specialty shops.

Civic and Commercial Buildings

Dating back to the 19^th Century, many are still in use.

Sometimes, walking gives you access to little tableaus that are worth reporting:

The following sign was seen at a local al fresco restaurant:

OK, As Long As It Is ONLY Food

Question:  Is admitting the possibility of food theft a good marketing strategy?

Just across the street on the beach was this hungry-looking flock.

Call the Cops!  We have found the food thieves.

Question:  Does your lunch take precedent over survival of the species?

By 1:00pm, most of the cruise-ship passengers had disappeared, either into the local food factories or back to their ships – floating food factories.   Meandering at a leisurely pace along the beach front was a relaxing change.  Not once were we subjected to shoving by an overweight American woman, who just had to have that refrigerator magnet.

Where Have All the Passengers Gone?

To find the passengers, follow the trail of food particles, if you can get to them before the birds.

After watching another game of tender congestion at the pier, we boarded the Silver Whisper’s tender for the 30-minute run back to the ship.  On board, it was lunch on the pool deck, reading, cards, and afternoon nap before trivia.  Note:  no birds joined us for lunch.  We guess that they don’t like “seafood.”  At 6:00pm, the ship upped anchor and set course for Port Chalmers.  We all gave a sigh of relief as the other two cruise ships set course in the opposite direction toward the North Island.  Are there more refrigerator magnets in that direction?