Not an early start today so we ambled along to the wharf to board the boat at 08:45. I was expecting the average age of the people on the trip to be in the region of 40+ but most of the passengers consisted of the local school complete with 2 teachers and a handful of parents. Apparently one of the managers of the tour company has children at the school and the trip was an end of year treat. It was the first time this had happened in 15 years.
Once clear of the jetty we headed across the bay to Russell to pickup more passengers before heading out to the islands.
While we had a planned route to see the main highlights of the Bay we were also on the lookout for dolphins that are present in the area all year round. We were in luck as another boat had found a pod and we made a beeline to their location. They are really wonderful and graceful creatures and during the time we watched them I started to think we should have booked the Swim With Dolphin trip. Oh well next time.
The whole trip can cover 40 nautical miles so we made good speed passing many of the 144 islands in the Bay on our way to the Hole in the Rock and its Grand Cathedral Cave in Motukokako island.
Once there we could appreciate the size of both the island and cave. Luckily the weather allowed the captain to sail right through the Hole in the Rock with only 2 metres to spare on each side to the cheers particularly from the children. Awesome.
With time the archway will collapse but the sea was already wearing another gap in the island. Currently only divers can get through but we did at least push the bow of the boat into the entrance this time to the accompanying start of a Haka chant from the kids while we strained to be struck by a drop of water from the ceiling (for luck).
Once clear of Cathedral Cave we headed for landfall at Otehei Bay and spent a relaxing hour climbing the nearby lookout hill and eating an ice-cream. The school kids were scattered around the beach, all well behaved without excessive adult supervision, a credit to the teachers.
Then just before re-boarding we were treated to a full Haka by the children. It was performed with gusto and enthusiasm and we felt very honoured. We were on the right trip! Luckily I captured it all and will upload ASAP.
Returning to base and determined to go for a swim despite the lack of sun we took the car across the ferry to Russell and Long Beach the best beach in the area according to the locals. It was evident that the weather had put off everyone else and we enjoyed the whole beach to ourselves. Surprisingly the water was warmer than expected although I did not see any fish!
On return to Paihia we snatched a quick shower and headed to town for our second Christmas Parade of the year. While much smaller than the extravaganza in Adelaide it boasted some great floats, the best being an Egyptian themed one pulled by slaves.
Unfortunately Father Christmas normally appears in a helicopter flying along the coast but the pilot was tragically killed in an accident last week while helping fight a fire in the North of NZ and today was the funeral. All very sad.
Instead the big man appeared in a float at the end of the parade. The end of another action packed day.