Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula

Date: 31/05/15 Position: Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula

Well we were finally able to leave the clutches of Otago Harbour! Before leaving Otago Harbour we experienced another two bouts of storm force winds. One lasting for three days before it abated. The wind was recorded at 75 knots and the port was closed for three days. Once due to the strong winds and the other time due to a 7m swell breaking over the entrance sandbar. One morning we woke up to find snow on Ambler's deck and the beach and hillsides around us were white with snow. At the height of the second storm we dragged anchor with the strong winds during the night but luckily the anchor reset itself each time. The strong wind gusts ripping down the hillside caused Ambler to tack back and forth on its anchor which was very uncomfortable and felt like we were on a ride at a theme park. As you can imagine we had a few wild days and sleepless nights. There was a guy and his dog on a yacht anchored nearby but in the morning he was half way across the bay because his anchor hadn't reset itself like ours had. During a lull in the wind we went out to see if he was ok and found out that his engine didn't work, so we towed him back to a more sheltered position.

At last the opportunity arrived with a good weather window and the rough seas easing enough to make our escape and sail up the coast to Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula. We covered 154 nm in 36 hours. 24 hours of that was motor assisted, sailing against a light northerly headwind. At sea we had two glorious days of sunshine in the company of many varieties of sea birds including lots of large Southern and Northern Royal Albatrosses. On the first day we were kept busy avoiding large rafts of seaweed obviously dislodged by the storms. We arrived in Akaroa Harbour at 8.30pm on Friday evening dropping the anchor in French Bay, just in time to sign off with Bluff Fisherman's Radio as it was the evening sched time.

Akaroa Harbour is the centre of an old volcano. The entrance is on the southern side of the peninsula. The water around us is jade green in colour and the green hills covered in farmland rise up to around 800m around the harbour creating a high, impressive circular skyline. The town of Akaroa is small and quaint with many old weather board cottages. It is a popular place for tourists and happens to be very busy this weekend as it is the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

Today was a beautiful sunny day so we went for a 'Country Walk' as they call it here. We walked from the town up through farmland following old stock routes to Stony Peak which is 860m high. It was a lovely walk with exceptional views from the peak of both the ocean and the snow clad southern alps in the distance. After descending 860m back to sea level we enjoyed another fantastic New Zealand ice cream which unfortunately was half the normal size because it was a tourist cafe.

All is wonderfully calm and still on board. Kathy and Wayne

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