Today I’ve decided to visit the Giant’s House in Akaroa while waiting to board Le Soleal in the late afternoon. Le Soleal has arrived in Akaroa harbour early this morning, along with the Golden Princess cruise ship. Le Soleal carries an absolute maximum of 264 passengers, assuming two passengers in each cabin, and the Golden Princess has 3000. Thankfully many of the passengers on the Golden Princess leave for excursions to Christchurch or elsewhere on the Banks Peninsula, otherwise Akaroa would be over-run. As it is, the local shopkeepers seem quite overwhelmed.
In the morning, I walk as far as the road goes beyond the relocated lighthouse, and then back to the main village area and up the hill to The Giant’s House. Created by artist and sculptor Josie Martin over the last 20 years, it is quite Gaudi-esque in influence with a garden full of sculptures covered in mosaics.
A trained horticulturalist, the gardens are a beautiful mix of roses, other flowers and vegetables. Entry is not cheap at $NZD20, but worth it for the meander around her sculpture garden.
Akaroa harbour is too shallow for either of the ships to dock alongside the main wharf, so both vessels are busy running tenders (using the lifeboats) to ferry passengers (and in the case of Le Soleal, luggage) to the ships. The Golden Princess is heading south to Dunedin, and leaves a couple of hours before Le Soleal.
Departing at 7pm, the headwinds blowing into the harbour are 100 kmph, so whilst we see Hector’s Dolphins, little penguins, and a single seal as we head out through the heads, it is too dark and windy for any decent images. bound for the Bounty Island group on 31 December 2015.
