February 6, 2012

New Zealand Cruise . Day 9 . Akaroa



The South Island!  By this time, the kids were becoming addicted to the fun activities on the ship (Adventure Ocean was calling them constantly).  We took the ferry over to Akaroa and went walking up to an old lighthouse.  The people there were super nice (have you noticed the theme of everything being beautiful and the people super nice?)  They showed the kids how everything worked and let them ring the old school phone.  After that, a quick walk in the woods and some fun at another playground (another super tall slide and some swinging).  After the morning, we took the kids back to the ship so they could play and we came back to the town.



Akaroa is pretty small, but we decided to go out into the bay on a little charter boat.  The captain was a super nice guy who had been going on little expeditions for most of his life.  We were the only ones signed up to go, so he didn't want to go out, but then after chatting with him for a while, he decided we were a fun couple and off we went on our private tour of the bay and the ocean.  He was a hoot.  He reminded me of my grandfather, only saltier.  He had all kinds of crazy stories about fishing, scuba diving, and of course the big earthquake that destroyed much of Christchurch.  He showed us where the cliffs had collapsed into the ocean and almost killed another tour group (which made me think it was time to back away from the cliffs!)  He was really into photography, so Sara and him chatted at length about cameras and such.  We got to see the beautiful cliffs, sea caves, penguins, dolphins, and enjoy the beautiful weather.  By the end of the afternoon, you felt like you had been friends with the Captain your whole life.  It was an afternoon to remember.

w r i t t e n   b y   m i k e

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