Keeping up with the Aitchisons: Hector Dolphins

As his birthday treat Cameron and I went to Akaroa for the day to see the Hector Dolphins. Last term at school he was learning all about the ocean and one of his favourite topics was the Dolphins. The Hector Dolphin is the worlds smallest dolphin and is only found around the coast of NZ ... quite handy really!!

After dropping the other two boys off we set off for the drive ... it was a beautiful day!!! We arrived just in time for lunch so went to a lovely cafe where we had a yummy lunch before we headed off to the wharf to get the boat.

The 2 hour harbour nature cruise is a chance to see lots of NZ wildlife including the rare, NZ native dolphin - the Hector's Dolphin, as well as penguins and other sea birds. We saw giant volcanic sea cliffs and heard about Akaroa's fascinating past. Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip, for both Cameron and I was the sighting of one of the world's smallest and rarest dolphins, the Hector's or New Zealand Dolphin. We came across a few pods who swam alongside the boat and came up to say hello ... it really was an amazing sight!!! We also caught sight of a White Flippered Blue Penguin, the smallest penguin in the world .... only one but it was very cute!! There were many different bird species in the harbour, including five different cormorant (shag) species and the endangered yellow-eyed penguin. Further along we also saw New Zealand Fur Seals sunning themselves on the rocks near Seal Bay. It was just a fantastic day - in fact Cameron couldn't help shouting about how 'awesome' it was!!!!