Finding the End of the Rainbow

We started off a bit later today on our journey into Akaroa. The first stop was at our favorite little cafe, over in Little River. Morning tea went quite well and got us in the mood for kayaking on the open waters of Flea Bay. And on we went to meet with the Pohatu Penguins team (Ave, Ben, and Kevin). We left our vehicles behind and hopped on the tour vans. Some of us got to meet Ave's daughter as well, who likes to pretend she's a tiger (ferocious!). It was a long, winding road that led around Akaroa Bay and into Flea Bay, our kayaking destination. We got a few chances to take pictures along the way, often seeing the end of rainbows (something that was a trend today).

Akaroa Bay surrounded by fog

Akaroa to the right

On the way to the bay, Ave talked about the origins of Akaroa and how there used to be so many whales, you could use them as stepping stones to go across. Whaling greatly declined numbers until recently. These great mammals, along with other aquatic species, have been making a comeback in the last 50 years due to conservation efforts like with Pohatu. Also, the inactive volcano crater that is Akaroa was originally colonized by the French, but the English beat them to a land agreement with the Maori by only 6 days. One of the coolest things about doing the kayaking was that our "tourist activity" acts as a secondary source of income for some of the farmers in the area. These farmers are now quite involved in conservation efforts and growing back native forests. 

We finally arrived around lunchtime, only to find some friendly, yet camera-shy sheep. Once lunch was over, we prepped to go out with tons of kayaking layers and got a lesson on how to paddle. And we had a little fun with it too!

Emily enjoying the sheep

Learning how to use the kayak bibs 

Soon enough, Ben and Kevin helped us out into the bay and we took sail! Some of us forgot to grab our sea legs today but it was tons of fun and an amazing experience. We got to kayak by the Pacific while looking out for little penguins and fur seal pups. We even got to see Northern Giant Petrels at the edge of the bay. Ben explained that for a while, little penguin numbers were low, but now there are 2000 breeding pairs nesting in the area. Although, there are only two pairs of yellow-eyed penguins which we, unfortunately, did not see. This marine reserve was more beautiful than we could've imagined, especially with the rainbow on the horizon. Eventually, we had to return to shore and say goodbye to the shaky waters.

 Our journey begins!

Will we find the pot of gold at the end?

Fur seals chilling on the rocks

Primary color jackets

After landing and bringing the gear back, we got a super special surprise. Kevin went to check penguin nest boxes and we got a great look at one! We had to be super quiet and still, so we didn't stress it out too much.

Penguin Nest Box

Little Blue Penguin

We didn't have much time to waste, though. Soon enough, we were ferried off to Christchurch for a talk at Smash Palace's Tuesday Club. Although we showed up a tad bit late, it was a great talk with tons of questions. They spoke about making a global research organization focused on recovery of cities after a disaster. After the earthquakes in Christchurch a few years back, many people have tried to come together and foster creativity in a new way. They seek to bring these creative thoughts in and help create progress within disaster-affected areas. We ate dinner there and headed back to our dorms, hoping to get some rest before another long trip.

Adios for now,

Devin