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| View from the Top of Urupukapuka Island |
Today was awesome! It started out with an early morning Skype with Chelsea and then we were picked up at our apartment by the cruise company at 8:30 for our island adventure.
The catamaran left the harbor around 9am, and Joanie and I got a place outdoors and in front, which was great. (Unfortunately, this is where Joanie lost her hat, one that she has had for over 10 years). The skies today were mostly cloudy, but the sun did pop through periodically throughout the day. (Just a side note here is that even though we have had some clouds and rain, the temperature has been wonderful-mid 70’s with no humidity)
Our first stop was the town of Russell, across the bay from Paihia. Although this quick stop was just to pick up a few more passengers. We then headed out into the Bay of Islands just to cruise, site see, and look for dolphins. And even though the sun wasn’t lighting up the land and seascapes, it was still beautiful. And then all of a sudden, the naturalist on board spotted a fairly large “party pod” of dolphins. We veered towards them, slowing down, and it was great!
There were at least 30 bottlenose dolphins, which were larger than the ones we usually see in California. And they were jumping and cruising in front of the ship, as dolphins do. We spent about 30 minutes slowly cruising with them, and it was a lot of fun – even despite the fact that Joanie and I have seen our fair share of dolphins before. It was nice to find out that the average dolphin live to 60 or 70 years in the wild here, and they did seem content in their beautiful surroundings. (Check out the short video below, and watch at the begging for the "double jump"!)
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| About to Sail Through the Hole in the Rock |
The ship’s captain finally positioned the ship to go through the Hole in the Rock, and after several minutes and a bit of maneuvering, and synchronizing with the tides, he made the move and through the hole we went. It was really fun as the ship barely fit through the width of the hole. Fun stuff.
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| Another View from the Island |
On the way back to port, we stopped off at Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island for a one hour layover and island adventure. It was fun and beautiful. Joanie and I (and a lot of other passengers) walked up this trail to a high point on the island that provided beautiful views. The hills were rolling green with white sheep dotting the landscape, and the sea below was trying to display it’s full turquoise-ness, but the sun wasn’t fully cooperating at the time. Nevertheless, it was beautiful!
After a few minutes of checking out the views, it began to rain lightly, but fortunately Joanie and I were equipped with our rain jackets, and a little food. So we found some shelter under a tree, away from the other passengers and enjoyed our snack. Fortunately the rain stopped after about 10 minutes giving us a bit more time to explore. So we headed up this other ridge, closer to the sheep and hoping for even better views. As our time on the island was running out, Joanie was determined to get to the top of this hill, so she scurried up and down for an incredible view, while I mingled with the sheep and the almost-as-incredible view.
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| A Great Lunch and Dessert in Russell |
We then heard the long blast of the ship’s horn and we walked down to the harbor and boarded on time for our return trip. But we didn’t return – yet – to where we began. The ship first stopped in Russell, where Joanie and I got off. (They gave us a free ticket to take a ferry home later.) So we ended up staying on Russell for a about 2 hours. Our first stop was Sally’s Restaurant, on the waterfront, for a little lunch, and man was it yummy! Joanie and I both had a salmon, cream cheese and pesto Panini, which was very good; I also had a pretty good beer and Joanie had a nice cup of asparagus and potato soup. But the hit was the Apple Cider and Coconut cake – man was it good! And yes – we got the recipe!!! Some of you out there might even get a chance to enjoy this as well…
After lunch we walked through the cute little town, Joanie found a very similar replacement hat to buy, and then caught our ferry back to Paihia. We then walked back to our apartment, and hung out for the remainder of the afternoon and evening – doing laundry and doing some grocery shopping again in order to make a delicious dinner of pasta, salad and garlic bread, accompanied of course by some more delicious New Zealand wine!
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| A Great Day ends with a New Hat! |
And Joanie wanted me to add this – that I decided to turn my full beard back into a goatee, to her incredible happiness. She says that her “old man” went away, and her “boyfriend” reappeared. Ah, life’s simple pleasures … for Joanie at least. All in all – another great day!
