Dolphin in Zoom

Dolphin in Zoom, originally uploaded by davisonja.

Aren't camera's great? We went on a day trip to Akaroa yesterday. A very last minute decision, we'd planned on a picnic at Orton Bradley Park, but other co-conspiritors weren't available, so we postponed that until Saturday, climbed in the car, and went to Akaroa.
Tanya had a trip a few weeks back with her work, where they went on a dolphin watching cruise. After some great pics and a cool story, we thought we'd give it a go with me in tow :)
Dicey wind and the late-minute-ness of it all meant our chances of being able to go on the 12:45 excursion were fairly low. We turned up at the Akaroa Dolphins cruise store at 11:45 to discover that the boat was already full (for the conditions) but we could be wait-listed for the 12:45, or opt for the 3:15. We took a chance and went for the wait-list, hoping the conditions would improve favourably so we could safely join the lucky 14 or so who'd got in at a sensible time. A few visits later and some prayers to the weather gods saw us signed on and going! The staff at the store were really friendly and helpful, doing what they could to help us get out on the water - within the realms of what they could do, of course, safety on the boat was always the primary concern.
The trip around the harbour took about 90 minutes (their brochure quotes 80, I think, but by the time you've boarded, toured, docked and un-boarded...) stopping off at various interesting sites on the way to the heads. (You can see more pics from the trip in my pictures on Flickr :)
Once we'd reached the heads, and pottered around for a few minutes, hoping to spot some dolphins, a bunch turned up and started playing around the boat. We got to watch them for what felt like ages, and take lots of pics - digital camera's are great! Eventually someone on board decided they were feeling ill, so we had to head back into the harbour and leave our new friends behind. The trip back had similarly interesting sights, including the salmon farm where we found a few seagulls competing with another dolphin for food. No idea what it was they were eating, but the dolphin was swimming about and the seagulls were diving at the water.
The trip included a complimentary drink as we left port and a very nicely timed biscuit on the way back (which sounds a lot cheaper than it is :) great commentary and one of the best excursions we've been on in a long time. I'd defintely recommend anyone in the Christchurch area go and do one of these tours with this company - the boat was comfortable and not overly populated (unlike some of the other options who seem to pack people in with no where to sit!), the staff were excellent and the sights worth far more than the mere 55$ each we paid.