French connection charms

MICHAEL BERRY

Akaroa's French charm is compelling some cruise ship passengers. Adelaide tourist Julie Witherington couldn't wait to get ashore and tuck into a croissant and coffee. She and her husband Dave had shunned the free breakfast aboard the Dawn Princess to better savour the Banks Peninsula village's Gallic culinary delights.

Although every now and then the gimmick can confuse, as Akaroa Supply Store owner Ian Whenmouth experienced earlier in the season.

"We had this chap in. He came in and was walking round the shop with a peaked cap on and the sunglasses over the glasses and he had a face like a stunned mullet as he leant forward right in my face and said, `where am I?' "

Whenmouth told the confused cruise ship passenger he was in Akaroa and explained it was near Christchurch in New Zealand.

" `Are you sure?' he said, and I told him I was sure and showed him the map," Whenmouth says.

"Then why am I seeing all these French flags?" the passenger asks.

Whenmouth told him Akaroa had a strong history of French settlers and assured him he was in the Southern Hemisphere. He managed to keep himself from laughing until the passenger had left.

"He seemed happy with the answer and wandered off with his friends."

Strange questions aside, cruise ship passengers have been a much needed boost for Akaroa after the quakes and recession, he says.

The 40th of about 80 cruise ships for the season, Dawn Princess stopped in Akaroa on Tuesday, giving almost 2000 tourists the chance to explore the village and Canterbury. It was a busy week, with another four ships putting in, including two on Friday with a combined capacity of 4600 passengers and 1800 crew.

Some Akaroa locals see the tourists as a sort of plague, taking over the town for the day, but visitors were pumping much-needed cash into the town, Whenmouth says. That money paid to retain all the services the village enjoyed which could not otherwise be supported by a 500-strong community, he says.

His store was accepting foreign cash to make it easier for tourists to spend, however he was exchanging it to New Zealand dollars first to be fair.

"The amount of people who come in and think they can make a purchase with their own currency and you have to tell them, well actually we're a sovereign country with our own currency."

Whenmouth's wife, Deb, says some businesses were accepting foreign currencies as a dollar-for-dollar substitute for the kiwi which inflated prices for visitors.

Sailing into Akaroa is more picturesque than Lyttelton and there is more on offer in the French village, they say.

However, Akaroa's shallow harbour means ships have to anchor in the middle of Akaroa Harbour, with small boats ferrying passengers to and from shore in waves of 100.

Dawn Princess passengers Julie and Dave Witherington waited more than an hour to board their transport and say most passengers seemed to be going ashore.

The Adelaide couple are on their first visit to New Zealand and wanted to take a guided tour of the area either by foot or by bus, but all tours sold on the ship had been booked out. They wandered off to find another tour from several advertising on the welcoming wharf.

There are plenty to choose from with scores of tourism operators from Christchurch shuttle buses to boat cruises and jet boat tours.

Retired Akaroa man Ben Kennard is one of the volunteers welcoming passengers at the wharf and handing out area maps and advice.

On the whole, cruise ship visits were going smoothly, he says.

"On some weekends, with two ships in and the traffic from Christchurch as well it gets quite frenetic, but otherwise everybody loves it."

He believes it will be a couple of years before Lyttelton is ready for the cruise ships to return and he hopes they continue coming to Akaroa in the meantime. If next summer has the same number of ships it might pay to set up a hire car centre. There would probably be a debrief to look at improvements after the last ship had sailed, he said.

He found some passengers were given wrong information about Akaroa or were unaware how far they were from Christchurch.

The village's cafes and restaurants did a roaring trade out of the Dawn Princess passengers, who seem happy to forgo their pre-paid lunch aboard the ship and fill the outdoor tables along the main road.

The Trading Rooms restaurant owner and chef Stephen Gilchrist says Akaroa is having a good summer and he has taken on about a third more staff. It is difficult to prepare for the ships as some were incredibly busy while some had been quiet, he says.

"It's been a welcome boost after last year, but it's not just Akaroa that's benefiting. They are still in the Canterbury region."

Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Tim Hunter says just under half of visitors were staying in Akaroa with the rest exploring Christchurch and the mainland. Some took the TranzAlpine train through the Southern Alps or went to Waipara for wine and food tours, while others went sightseeing in the city boundaries, he says.

He estimates 106,000 passengers will come ashore during the season bringing a little under $18 million into the Canterbury economy.

Akaroa businesses tell him there are a lot of people, but they are not spending as much as some may hope, he says.

Whether the ships will return to Akaroa next year is yet to be seen and the decision would be made by the cruise companies, he says.

A large factor was whether Lyttelton would be ready for the ships by September.

The tourist influx has made Akaroa a haven for small crafts businesses displaced from the Arts Centre and Cathedral Square, which have joined the Banks Peninsula Craft Market which runs from the church grounds each cruise ship day.

Kiss My Art bone and jade jewellery maker Kerry Samuels had run his stall in the square for about 13 years and says he struggled to find another place to sell after it was cut off by the cordon.

"For my products I need tourists and there's nowhere else to sell," he says.

Akaroa is not as busy as the square used to be, but it was the best substitute, he says.

Christchurch paragliding business ParaPro has also been attracted to the peninsula.

Christchurch-based pilot Grey Hamilton says Akaroa cruise ship passengers account for more than half its business. The ships have been a lifeline as it takes too long to drive along quake-damaged roads to the usual jump spot above Taylors Mistake, he says.

"So we decided to come over here and fortunately the [Christchurch City] council agreed to us using landing here [at Jubilee Park] otherwise our business would be stuffed – well, not stuffed, but difficult."

ParaPro owner Dave Dennis says the ships gave him a chance at steady business again.

He has two pilots working for him in Akaroa – half as many as before the quakes.

The area is great for paragliding and the best advertising is soaring over the town with the first tandem flight of the day, he says. Sometimes it takes passengers a long time to disembark which eats into the number of flights they can do a day, he says.

Tandem paragliding passenger David Jackson, of Melbourne, sails above the town as pilot Hamilton brings them both in to land.

Jackson is fizzing as he steps out of the harness.

"I can't believe how this [harbour] opens up when you start to lift up and the panoramic view is just fantastic," Jackson says.

The flight is the highlight of his 13-day trip and much better than another flight above Queenstown a few years ago, he says.

His wife Dot wonders whether cruise ships will keep coming to Akaroa after Lyttelton is repaired.

"I was wondering if when Christchurch does recover, whether a lot of ships may choose to run in here, especially as the buses are heading easily into Christchurch."

- © Fairfax NZ News