Akaroa

Akaroa is a town on the Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand. On a natural harbour, about 570 people live here, of which about one third are over 65 years old.

Since Akaroa is a popular holiday destination in New Zealand, the population numbers increase during the holiday season to over 7,000, making the water supply, which is met mainly by rain water, often scarce.

Despite British sailors who in 1840 proclaimed British sovereignty for the South Island in Akaroa, it was the French settlers, who built a kind of colony.

Today, one can still be found in the area of the French influence that one finds particularly in geographic names.

Attractions in Akaroa are the 1864-built Catholic church of St. Patrick, the Maison Langlois-Eteveneaux of 1845, the Anglican St. Peter’s Church in the Gothic Revival style of the old customs house in 1863 and 1863

There is no special feature in the Bay of Akaroa. There live about 30 Hector’s dolphins, a rare species found only here. For these sea creatures a nature reserve was established at the coast, so the dolphins are not injured by fishing nets.