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Having driven up from Auckland late in the evening, we arrived at the Bay of Islands just as the sun was setting and managed to navigate our way to a camp site with water and electricity. We were pretty hungry by this point so we set up our new bbq and had a few beers.
In the morning we booked ourselves onto a ferry ride around the bay of islands, King's Dolphins Cruise it was called, who promised us a high chance of finding some dolphins. We spent the morning around the various islands and headed out to a place called The Hole in the Rock (see photos), which was a huge natural arc. It was so big that the boat could go all the way through with ease. They then dropped us of on a desered island for lunch. We spent the next 2 hours sunbathing and walking around the hills above the beach, it was like something out of lost. We also went snorkling around the bay. The photos are pretty amazing. After lunch, the crew set up a swimming net (see photos), which is a big net hanging over the side of the boat which you could jump in and then be dragged along while the boat moves. This was great fun, and the water was so warm.
It was now the afternoon and there was little sign of any dolphins. The crew were getting pretty worried by this point, until a big ocean going ship sent us a radio message informing us of a group of dolphins out to sea. We battered out into the ocean for around 45 minutes, riding big waves and everyone was feeling a little green. However, it was totally worth it. We came across a large group of Common Dolphins, as they are known and we managed to spend a good 45 minutes with them. They used the force from the front of the boat for a free ride. They only stayed around us for so long because of this. We also saw flying fish, which are crazy things. They literally can fly along the water for well over a 100 meters, it was very wierd to see. The day ended with myself feeling quite ill, but on a bit of a high.
In the evening we headed up to 90 mile beach - which is actually only 90k, which is around 52 miles. We really were heading for the middle of nowhere - no street lights or cars or any sign of live. We camped in a car park by the beach not knowing what was around us. In the morning, we were surrounded by huge sand dunes and the most stunning beach. It was absolutely vast and went on for as far as the eye could see in both directions. We played beach cricket and then all decided a swim was in order so we ran from the highest sand dune into the water. It was bloody freezing but we hadn't showered in days so it was worth it.
There was not a lot left to do up there so we headed back south that afternoon. We drove for 11 hours until we ended up in Rotorua, ready for the following day.
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