Akaroa Museum, Children’s Bay Walkway
Instead of exploring more of Christchurch, I got on a bus and headed over to the nearby town of Akaroa, which was suggested to me by the staff at the visitor center. Along the way the driver provided some information about places that passed through, although it was a bit difficult for me to understand him. After we made a couple of short stops, we finally made it to town, where the bus stopped by the lake. By the time we got there the weather had improved quite a bit, and I enjoyed the hot sun above my head.
Some of the attractions around town were a bit far from each other and I only had a few hours to spend there before taking the bus back to Christchurch. I started off at the Akaroa Museum, where I was hoping to learn more about the town and its people. It was a bit bigger than I thought it was, looking from the outside, although it wasn’t a complaint. The museum had quite a few items on display, mainly revolving around the maritime history of the town. The foundation of the town, the fight between the British and the French to see who would claim the land first, and the fishing and whaling industry. All of it was portrayed with items on display, portraits of people, and signs telling the stories behind them. There were also a few video displays, although I didn’t pay much attention to them. After taking a look around the main building I walked over to a little garden and then into an old French cottage. Back in the days people lived there and it had some historical significance, but now it was bare and empty without much in it. There were some signs in there, which told the history of the cottage and the people who used it, but I didn’t find it very interesting, compared to the rest of the museum.
I left the museum and made my way to Children’s Bay, which the internet recommended as a good place for a hike. After a little walk I was at the starting point of the trail. Other than some kind of rhino sculpture, I had no idea what’s waiting for me and what I would see on this trail. In handwritten letters someone added to the sign that the whole loop would take about three and a half hours. That was a bit too long, as I needed to get back to the bus in time, but I figured I can still make it to the rhino and back in the same way, which won’t take as long and might give me the chance to see a couple other things around town. The path was a bit narrow, with plants and tall grass on both sides. It wasn’t difficult to walk along, but a wider path would’ve been more comfortable. The lake quickly disappeared behind me on the bendy road, and I kept walking until I came across an unexpected sight. On the side of the road there were three sculptures of penguins. After this moment of confusion I kept walking until I came across an even more confusing split in the road. I could either go straight on what appeared to be the main trail, heading toward the rhino sculpture, or turn left and cross a bridge toward what the sign called “Moa Point”. The problem with that was that there was no trail there, only tall grass and flowers. There was a box installed there with maps and information about the area, and I took a look at it. It seems that I could either go straight to the rhino and back, do the big loop which would take me a bit too long, or do a shorter loop which passes through Moa Point. I debated with myself for a few minutes, cross the bridge toward Moa Point, walked along the grass until I got to a fence, climbed over it, wasn’t sure I’m not invading anyone’s property, got confused and a bit worried, and decided to head back to the split in the road and keep walking along the main trail.
Very quickly I found myself in the woods with the view blocked from my sight. At the entrance to the woods I came across a sculpture of an alligator (which spooked me for a moment), and that was the most interesting thing I saw there. It was cooler in the shade but there wasn’t much to look at. The road had many bends in it, and a very small incline, so overall it was pretty comfortable and didn’t require much effort. Being close to town, I was still able to hear vehicles, although there weren’t many of them. For the most part it was just me, the insects, and the birds. If there were any other animals in there, I did not see them.
Then, at last, I made it out of the woods and was back under the sun. I had a nice view of the lake and the town, and that alone was worth the walk. But the trail kept going and so did I, although I struggled to call it a trail. It seemed like it was abandoned a while ago, and there has been no maintenance done to it. I was walking between plants and tall grass, on what used to be a path, next to some fenced cows. Thankfully, there were quite a few signs along the way, telling me that I’m on the right path. At some point I was blocked by a fence, and it seemed that the only way to keep going was to climb over it, and the wooden planks that were placed there as stairs made it easy and convenient. I was confused by the whole thing, and a bit worried, but I tried not to think about it too much. Instead I just enjoyed the views that kept changing slightly as I walked along. After climbing over a few more fences and navigating a large field (and trying to avoid stepping in cow poo) I finally saw the Rhino statue. There was a good view pretty much all around it, which impressed me a lot more than the statue itself. It was an important milestone along the trail, and from there I had a choice of where to go.
As I had some time, and I was curious to see what else I can find, rather than turning around I decided to proceed with doing the short loop, approaching Moa Point from the other side. From the rhino sculpture I kept going up the very big hill until I came across another blocked fence and signs that showed me the way to go. The next part of the trail was pretty leveled and straight forward, with a constant view of the water down below, with the fence constantly by my side. At some point I was just by the fence, a touching distance from the cows. Not wanting to cause any trouble, I did my best to stay away from them. A little while later I got to a bench overlooking a cliff. It was a good spot to sit, relax, and enjoy the view. But I wasn’t feeling very tired, and on top of it I wasn’t sure how much I still have to go. At that point I started to become more aware of the time, and even though in theory I should’ve had plenty of time to go back to town, I didn’t want to be in a rush.
On and on I went, going around the cows and then away from them, starting to go downhill. I kept seeing signs every now and then indicating the right way to go, but it wasn’t until I got to another split in the road that I had an indication for the time it would take me to get back. Looking at the smartphone, I did have some time to spare, so I kept heading toward Moa Point. It was a fairly straightforward downhill path, and at the end of which I got to another cliff and another animal statue. Short of taking a look at the view and taking some pictures there wasn’t much else there. There was another path, leading to a longer loop, but I just turned back around and made my way down, this time straight to the town without any further delays.
Going up and down, dirt paths and stairs, I made it to yet another split in the road. One path, which was shorter, was marked as “low tide path”, while the other was marked “high tide path” and passed a waterfall. I started to feel tired, and worried about time, so I headed down the shorter path. A few minutes later I stopped next to the lake. It seemed like high tide, or at least, I didn’t see any way to go back to town on foot. So I turned back around and made my way along the longer path which was more suitable for low tide. After quite a while I was back in the woods, sheltered from the sun. The road became thick and confusing, and at one point I felt quite worried about being there all by myself. To say that the path was vague would be an understatement, and I really wasn’t sure if I’m heading in the right direction. Thankfully, within a couple of minutes I noticed man-made signs and started to calm down. Then I was back under the sun, and a short while later climbed one more fence before I was back at the bridge which confused me in the beginning of the day. From there it was an easy and quick way to the beginning of the trail, and all the way to the bus stop.