← Christchurch Marathon·Day trip

Akaroa: A French Harbour in a Volcano

A harbour village inside the crater of an old volcano, with French street names, a flat waterfront and boats that go looking for the world's smallest dolphins.

DurationDay trip
TransitAbout 1 hour 30 minutes by car or shuttle over Banks Peninsula
DepartsChristchurch

After the Christchurch Marathon: Akaroa

The Route: Christchurch → Hilltop → Akaroa → Christchurch Logistics: Hire car or daily shuttle bus, about 1 hour 30 minutes each way on a winding road over Banks Peninsula. Marathon Month: April Duration: Day trip

Christchurch ──(approx. 1 hr 30 mins by car, SH75 over Hilltop)──> Akaroa
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      └──────────────────(approx. 1 hr 30 mins)─────────────────────┘

The Christchurch Marathon is two flat laps of the central city in mid-April. Akaroa, 80 km away on Banks Peninsula, is the opposite in shape: a village strung along the shore of a harbour that was once the crater of a volcano, with steep green hills rising on every side. The day asks nothing of the legs except a stroll along the water.

April in Akaroa is autumn. Days are mild and often calm in the sheltered harbour, and evenings cool. The summer crowds have gone. Hector's dolphins, the smallest dolphins in the world and found only in New Zealand waters, spend much of the warmer months in the harbour; by April numbers are usually lower than in midsummer, though the harbour cruises still see them on many trips. Sightings are not guaranteed.

Drive south-east from Christchurch on State Highway 75 through Little River, then up over the crater rim at Hilltop, where the road looks straight down into the harbour, and down the winding descent to Akaroa. Allow about an hour and a half. Shuttle buses run from Christchurch daily; book ahead.

The Waterfront

Banks Peninsula was formed by two huge volcanoes that erupted between about 11 and 6 million years ago; the sea later flooded their craters to make Akaroa and Lyttelton harbours. Captain Cook mistook the peninsula for an island in 1770. In 1840, a party of French settlers arrived here hoping to found a colony, only to find the British had just claimed New Zealand. They stayed anyway, and the French street names, Rue Lavaud and Rue Jolie among them, remain.

The waterfront along Beach Road is the recovery walk: flat, sealed and lined with cafés, benches and wooden cottages, running past the main wharf to the small white lighthouse at Cemetery Point. At a slow pace the length of it takes 30 to 40 minutes.

A Harbour Cruise

Nature cruises leave the main wharf several times a day for about two hours around the harbour and out towards the heads, looking for Hector's dolphins, New Zealand fur seals and seabirds, with the crater walls rising above. It is the best way to see the harbour and requires only a seat. Check times and prices with the operators on the wharf, and book ahead in fine weather.

For lunch, the cafés and restaurants on the waterfront serve fish, including local salmon and blue cod. Bully Hayes, on Beach Road, is one of the longest-standing, with tables looking over the water.

Getting Back

Christchurch is about 1 hour 30 minutes away. The climb back up to Hilltop is steep and winding, and the evening light over the harbour from the top is the day's last view. Leave before dark; the road has sharp bends and farm traffic.