Banks Peninsula Trip, Christchurch

Stunning view from Summit Road looking east towards the small holiday township of Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula, one and a half hour's drive from Christchurch.

Natalie with Wilbur, the apprentice Dolphin Doggie assigned to our boat! He spent two hours being smooched by various passengers and did not spot a single dolphin. But we loved him anyway.

The real reason for being on the 2 hour boat trip was to see the rare Hector's Dolphin - we did indeed see several small pods of three or four dolphins - they might well have been the same ones just appearing and disappearing, it was hard to tell! Unlike other dolphins we have seen, these endemic marine mammals are very small - the smallest dolphin species in fact - measuring only 1.2 - 1.6 metres depending on age and sex. It has a unique round dorsal fin making it easy to identify.

This is the Giant Petrel, a large and (so I read) very aggressive seabird. Close up it looks a bit like a grumpy Dodo. It weighs up to 8kg with a 2 metre wingspan that's nearly as large as the Albatross. I read that this Petrel will attack other seabirds, including penguins, by either battering them to death or drowning them. Nice.

A New Zealand fur seal waving its flippers at the boat.

Nesting seabirds along the cliffs

Long exposure taken from the back of the boat.

A few photos of downtown Akaroa. It's a charming little village with a small population of 700 odd residents - this expands to 5000 in the summer as tourists and locals arrive.