All Aboard the Dolphin Seeker

Today we took a tour around the bay containing the 144 different islands that give this region its name. With the mostly gray landscapes and the rain muddied water that we’ve been witness to of late, our expectation for the tour weren’t too high. Once we left Paihia, however, the waters cleared up, the sun shined brightly, and we were pleasantly surprised with a great day at sea!

Our captain spotted a pod of dolphins almost immediately, and we took some time to enjoy the always welcome sight of some bottlenoses playing in the surf. As we learned later, there were some Orcas prowling the bay a couple of days ago and since then, the dolphins have been understandably skittish. Without them playing in our wake, we had to settle for admiring the dolphins from a distance before moving on to examine some of the islands.

After a few short stops, we eventually made our way out to Cape Brett and the famous Hole in the Rock. We’ve been poking fun at this slightly over hyped tourist trap since we arrived. Once we saw it though, we really did appreciate our captain’s skillfully navigating us through said hole.

Having reached the Pacific, it was time to turn around and head back into the bay to Urupukapuka Island for a lunch stop. We took the short climb up to the lookout, avoiding some sheep (and sheep droppings), to find a nice spot to enjoy our standard PB&J lunch. We had about an hour to explore the island before reboarding for our return trip home.

On the way back, we made a quick stop at Russell, New Zealand’s oldest town, to drop a few passengers off. Having just visited two days ago, we learned that it was formerly known as the Hell Hole of the Pacific. We didn’t find it to be that bad, but the few craft shops and the museum didn’t require a second visit. We were treated to one relic from the town’s colorful past though as a pirate ship (apparently crewed by school children) set sail just as we were pulling in to dock.

With any luck, the weather tomorrow will defy forecasts and be good enough for our much anticipated return to Action World (or as we’ve take to calling it “Awe – Ome Land”). On Saturday, we plan on checking out the town of Whangarei (pronounced FON – Gugh- ray, just ask Sue how to pronounce Whakapapa her favorite New Zealand town) as we make our way back down south.

Have a great weekend!