Hector's dolphins in Akaroa Harbour. Photo / Supplied
Akaroa may have a reputation for honeymooners and loved-up couples, but the delightful town is just as perfect for a large family, writes Jesse Mulligan.
Charming Akaroa is around 90 minutes on the clock from central Christchurch, but you’re better enjoying the journey rather than making the trip as fast as possible. Cafes and other curiosities in the community of Little River (about halfway to your destination) are worth a stop, as are the pretty bays at the top of Akaroa Harbour, which runs north to south on the underside of Banks Peninsula (the name derives from Whaka-roa, meaning “long harbour” in the local Ngāi Tahu dialect).
We stopped at the foot of Ōnawe, a narrow strip of land that extends a long way into the harbour (look for Ōnawe Flat Rd on your right as you enter Duvauchelle Bay). If you time your visit for low tide you’ll be able to walk right out to the old pā site at the tip, a family-friendly trek with no major hills and plenty of beautiful views to enjoy along the way. It’ll take perhaps half an hour to get to the summit, where you can look out around the harbour (technically a crater, though you may not want to mention that to nervous kiddoes while you’re standing at the centre of it).
You can return to the car via a very pleasant walk through native bush, with plenty of birdsong to soundtrack your journey. Note that being a significant site for mana whenua, Ōnawe Peninsula is wāhi tapu – leave your food and drink in the car to enjoy when you get back.
From there, it’s just a 15-minute drive to Akaroa, the only real town in the area. If you haven’t yet eaten, make plans to visit A La Baguette as soon as possible. It’s one of the greatest boulangeries I’ve visited anywhere in the world, and it’s fitting that Akaroa, New Zealand’s last remnant of colonial France, also has the best croissants in the country.
Inexplicably, the bakery doesn’t serve coffee, so you’ll need to explore a little further to find a flat white to enjoy with your viennoiseries.
It’s a very compact town, and you can walk almost anywhere within a few minutes. We wandered from our accommodation to where a friendly team packed us off in a van and out to the largest little penguin colony in New Zealand. The project is a labour of love for the local family, whose parents (themselves fourth-generation Banks Peninsula farmers) live on site and have published research papers on the population of birds that call their bay home. Their daughter, Joey, drove our van the 30 minutes or so from Akaroa to the colony, pausing for a family photo at the top of a misty mountain, then descending a steep valley towards the unnervingly blue waters of Flea Bay.
Our kids were almost as excited to feed the boisterous sheep as they were to see the penguins, who will make a home wherever they find shelter, but benefit in particular from the dozens of wooden human-built “houses” scattered helpfully about the hillside. This tour is less about showing off the birds to tourists and more about letting visitors tag along with a scientific survey. It was exciting for the kids to see Joey lift the roof off a house and check for tenants, and there is plenty of time for photos and a closer look. Some of the penguins are friendly, others more nervous – Joey entering these observations into her survey app before moving on to the next nest.
As well as the penguins, Flea Bay is home to hundreds of sea lions. They’re not usually all there at once but you’ll be unlucky not to spot at least one on your visit – usually playing about in the shallow water. To get closer to these intriguing animals and the dolphins that occasionally visit the bay, book a kayaking sea safari through the same company and get out on the water.
We returned to Akaroa in time for dinner, then trekked off to our evening entertainment. Local astronomer Luca Devescovi is campaigning hard to make Banks Peninsula a Dark Sky Reserve – an international designation that would recognise the natural lack of light pollution, alongside efforts locals are making to enhance the night sky by limiting artificial light sources.
It’s a labour of love for Luca, who learnt his trade at the famous Mount John University Observatory and now runs stargazing tours for visitors to Akaroa. It’s a short drive from his ticketing office (right next to Pohatu Penguins in town) up to the observation area on a nearby hill, but sadly the cloud cover was too extensive on the night we visited so we got the indoors version – a clever piece of software that recreates the exact night sky in Luca’s office, with the advantage that he can fast-forward and rewind time to show you different constellations of interest. Our children took loads of fun facts away from his presentation, including how to pick their own star signs out of the night sky, and how to find south no matter where you are or what time of year it is.
We slept well that night and drove back to Christchurch in the morning. We heard great things about The Giant’s House, a family-friendly garden of curiosities which has won numerous awards. We’ll go next time, but as a family of foodies, we had a date at the Barry’s Bay Cheese Factory, a fun early stop on the way back to the city. Their cheese has a lot of fans including some high-profile chefs who swear it’s the best in the country; at the factory you can see it being made, try some samples and (best of all for those like us who love a bargain) take home some offcuts at a fraction of the usual price.
Long-beloved as a romantic destination for couples, Akaroa has more than enough to keep a young family busy. We had a fast-paced 24 hours, but you could always do things a little slower by including some wine tasting and a couple of the fantastic local restaurants while you’re there.
The writer stayed at Akaroa Waterfront Motels and was supported by Christchurch NZ. www.christchurchnz.com.
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