Akaroa

So maybe 1.5hrs outside of Christchurch is a seaside town called Akaroa, where the world famous salmon comes from! (I hadn't heard of it either).  It's on Banks Peninsular, a huge lake off the east coast, and apparently I was lucky with the weather and time of day here apparently, but it was bloody beautiful!!  The village itself has all kinds little cafés and shops, all that look over this totally stunning pool of water!  The people here was lovely too, all overly friendly and helpful, and after stopping to ask a lady where the toilets were, she would wave across the road every time she saw me, which on a different day might have been annoying.. today it was great!

I'd booked onto a boat trip and this lovely couple (and wavey old lady) got us on a little yatch, gave us complimentary food and drinks, then took us out wildlife spotting for 2 hours around the peninsular.. And honestly, my face hurt from smiling so much by the end! Haha! Geek.

The mountains and caves were totally amazing themselves, but then we saw blue and white penguins, a seal colony and loads of dolphins! Loads of them, just swimming with the boat, jumping out of the water about an arms length away from us!! 

The boat skipper was talking a guided tour and at one point said, almost disapprovingly 'Yes they are quite promiscuous too these dolphins, sometimes 20-30 times a day!' which I obviously found hilair, the rest of the people on board (mainly rich Americans) did not however.. Awkward!

Anyhoo the boat trip was feking brilliant, and half the price of the whale watching tour I'd missed earlier in the week.  Boom!  

I finished my trip with freshly caught lemon fish and chips on the water front and nearly had my eyes pecked out by seagulls