Akaroa- stay at Onuku Farm Hostel, Dolphin Swimming, and Banks Peninsula Hiking
Onuku Farm Hostel- recommended by Mark the warden at Mt. Cook- great place to stay! We opted for the "stargazer huts" (seen above)- fits a double mattress, and has skylights on one end to see the stars at night.
Resident sheep at Onuku.
Now for the dolphin swim!
Hector dolphins- smallest in the world! And quite rare. Up to 1 meter long.
They loved to come along with us at the bow of the boat.
Mike got some great pictures underwater. He was the first one in, and he was swarmed by them!
Here we all are in the water; there is the boat.
Wetsuit was wonderful- made the water much more comfortable---
When I was getting out of the water, a bunch of dolphins started coming right towards me!
Highly recommend the dolphin swimming trip; we went with the boat from the hostel (maximum of 6 swimmers)- awesome with such a small boat.
We saw a blue penguin as well, and had delicious tea on the boat.
Here is the common area at the hostel- really peaceful, and lots of birds.
Hiking from the hostel-
The Ridge Walk.
These fanciful trees are called Cabbage Trees.
Most of the walking trails were really sheep trails- somehow they always seemed surprised to see us!
Mike on the Lookout Rock.
View over Akaroa from the Scenic Route.
EDF
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