PaihiaMar 29, 2004
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The Bay of Islands (1)
Our boat and our stop for lunch
The Bay of Islands (2)
| Able to sleep in today, as our sailing adventure didn't start until 10:00. Grabbed breakfast and headed to the boat. Took off, in the calm but none to warm weather, out into the bay. The scenery was great and reminded me of the Whitsundays without the humidity or the warmth. We stopped in a protected bay for a little over an hour while the crew cooked lunch and we spent time on land. Took the little zodiac back and forth and, once we were all on board, had lunch and headed off back toward port. The wind was pretty strong, but in the wrong direction so they started up the engines and got the little catamaran back to Paihia by 4:00. No dolphins (which are one of the area's claims to fame) but we did catch a glimpse of a little blue penguin cruising around. We arrived back on the wharf, after catching considerably more sun than we had anticipated, given the temperature, and I went in search of the shaved ice lady. I finally found her and she was more than happy to open her shop back up. Turns out she's a South African who married a Kiwi she met on a Contiki tour in Europe 15 years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed my bubble gum shaved ice. Headed back to the hotel with Sam where we relaxed for a couple hours. Met up with most of the group to head to town in search of dinner. Not exactly sure why we went together; between the ten of us we ended up eating at five different restaurants. Regardless, mine was good and we headed back to the hotel. Some of us stayed in and some went out. I packed my bag, watched a little tv, and went to bed about 11:00. |
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