New Zealand Cruise - Majestic Princess - Day 8 Wednesday 13 February - Akaroa

This port is always a tender port; cruise ships can't get anywhere near a dock - in fact, even where we were stopped there was apparently only about 4 metres of water under the ship.  This port is the "temporary" replacement for cruise ship calls at Christchurch - actually at the port at Lyttleton - which was destroyed in the earthquake back in 2011.  They are building a whole new cruise ship terminal at Lyttleton but it has taken a long time (not surprising; there were a lot of far more important things that needed to be rebuilt in Christchurch) but it has been delayed further - it was originally going to be ready for the 2019-20 summer season but now they're saying 2020-21.  And poor old Akaroa is buckling a little under the strain.
Disappointingly, the shore excursion I was going to do in Akaroa was cancelled, so we had no plans.  In the end Paul and I decided to just go ashore and look around Akaroa itself.  We have been there once before, and found a bistro where we got an excellent lunch on our earlier trip, so we went back there again.  And, happy to report that it was just as good second time around.  Our dinner companions tell us that we really should go and see the Giant's House next time - it sounds a bit uninspiring but is apparently well worth a look.
This is the first time we've left the Majestic Princess via a tender, and it was definitely a more comfortable trip than we've had with some other ships.  It was no more comfortable, but it seemed a little smoother and most importantly, it's the first time I've travelled on a tender and not been made to feel a little sick from the diesel fumes.