Akaroa & The Bays

Visit the Museum at the heart of historic Okains Bay, just over the hill from Akaroa.

 Enjoy the relaxed environment and open spaces as you learn about life on Banks Peninsula in former times. Significant taonga Māori and early Pākehā items are among the exciting range of treasures on display in the museum’s diverse complex of heritage buildings. 

Winter Opening Hours: May - September 

Saturday & Sunday Only 10am - 4pm

The Abditory invites you for a sensory degustation in the heart of Akaroa. 

Inside you’ll find stories that link up and come full circle. Artist and alchemist Rewa Rendall exhibits her brilliant photographs from her expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula. Inspired by Frank Hurley’s wet plate photography of the Antarctic on his adventure with Shackleton and Worsley, Rewa has taken up wet plate photography and invites you to take a seat in history and have your silver portrait taken. 

The Abditory is also home to Meniscus Wines, owned by Rewa’s parents, Gay and David. We offer wine tastings, or if you’d like to go up to the vineyard and enjoy the stunning Akaroa views, you can book a hamper with us and enjoy a lovely afternoon in the vines. 

Immerse yourself inside the Abditory; there is always more to find in the place of hidden things. 

Open Friday—Sunday 10AM – 4 PM 

The Akaroa Civic Trust has developed a database of all the historic buildings and sites in the Akaroa historic area. If you would like to find the location of the cottage that used to be in your family way back or find the name of the person that build your family bach, the database is a great place to start. The database is fully searchable from the Akaroa Civic Trust website.

The Akaroa Community Arts Council is a dynamic group of Peninsula volunteers who promote and encourage creativity in the communities of Akaroa and the Bays.

We aim to enable and provide subsidised opportunities for participation in arts activities across a wide range of disciplines. We do this through workshops, classes, creative events and local art exhibitions.

Please contact us if you would like to be included on our mailing list of upcoming events or join our membership.

For More details go to our website 

Ethels Cinema, Café and Bar is Akaroa’s twin screen movie experience featuring the latest blockbuster, documentary, foreign and arthouse films. Each cinema features plush seating with a table for your snacks, coffee or glass of wine. As well as the latest movies, Ethels offers delicious dine-in and takeaway handcrafted hot and cold food including daily baked savoury and sweet treats.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Ethels is the place to be for Akaroa's best Italian Pizza, fresh salads, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

 The fully licenced bar offers boutique wines, craft beer, Vivace Espresso, t leaf T, milkshakes, ice creams, popcorn, Karma sodas and organic juices. You can dine in Ethels garden patio or settle inside for a relaxing meal.

 Ethels is available for corporate events, private screenings, group bookings, Christmas functions, adult and children's birthday parties. Our in-house chef would love to cater your next function and can provide tasty finger food or a tailored sit-down dinner menu.

We generally take cinema bookings for groups between 17 and 36 people on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Event bookings for Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights are available by negotiation.

 For the latest screening times and to book tickets online visit the Ethels website, call into the cinema or call the ticket office on 03 304 7777. We’re here to make your experience a memorable one, it's Your Place...so pop in soon.

Following a programme of earthquake strengthening and repair, Akaroa Museum has created three new long term exhibitions about the history of Bank Peninsula: Ngā Taenga mai Arrivals, Land & Sea, and Tales of Banks Peninsula. These have been produced in collaboration with Ōnuku rūnanga and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.

Open:
The Museum is open 7 days a week. 10.30am until 4pm. Entrance is FREE. 

A Peninsula landmark. Enjoy delicious food and coffee in a peaceful sculpture garden. Fantastic giftshop with quality, unique and original New Zealand art. We have regular exhibitions in our Gallery exhibiting contemporary NZ sculpture, painting and jewellery. Check out our web site for our present and up and coming exhibitions. Live viewing of our art on our web site.

The Akaroa Art Gallery comes to life in the warmer months when Akaroa is full of visitors and holiday-makers. The gallery hosts exhibitions featuring the work of artists from Banks Peninsula and beyond, many of whom enjoy national and international recognition. It also provides a wonderful venue for intimate musical events and varied workshops throughout the year.

The Akaroa Library offers free membership for ratepayers and residents. Visitors welcome. Free wifi, email and internet access. Hours  10.00 - 4.30  Weekdays,  10.00 - 1.00 Saturdays. Akaroa Library is a joint use school and community library and is part of the Christchurch City Libraries network. Visitors in the library are welcome to browse the Christchurch City Libraries online databases. Printing/photocopying/scanning/laminating and book sales are also available. Web page HERE.

Akaroa has Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian Churches.

Akaroa Craft Market is on the grounds of the Presbyterian Trinity Church (1886). It is held on weekends and on cruise ship days over the summer months.