D40 -- Sailing the Bay of Islands

Today was a good day. Lesley (the very nice B&B owner) made us a fabulous breakfast this morning complete with eggs from her chicken coop. We headed to the harbor to catch our ride for the day, an enormous catamaran that is the fastest commercial sailboat in New Zealand. We boarded with about 18 other passengers for a six-hour tour of the Bay of Islands. It was wonderful! There was plenty of room to lay out and just enjoy the breeze and the views of passing islands, and we enjoyed talking to other couples on the boat. The three crew members were really laid-back; they truly had the “no worries” attitude.

We took a dingy (small powered raft) to Robberton Island, where we walked up to a lookout point that afforded beautiful views of the Bay with its turquoise and cobalt blue waters.

On the way up one of the crew showed us a hidden spot where we could go down to a sinkhole and see a view of the water through an opening in the rock. It was beautiful, but the climb down (and up) was difficult. Luckily there were tree roots that formed natural grips for our feet and hands. At the bottom, though, there was nothing to hold on to and everyone just kind of slid on their butts. Some man (German, I think) was kind enough to catch me when I slid a little too fast!

We stopped at another island to swim. The only snorkeling gear left when we got to it was kiddie-sized. I wore flippers that were for size 5-7. Those of you who’ve seen my enormous feet can imagine the entirety of my long toes sticking out the front of the flippers. But at least I had some - Thomas couldn’t get his feet in the other 5-7 pair so he had to go without. There weren’t too many fish, but we did see a big purple octopus. It was pretty scary, actually, especially when it moved.

They fed us lunch and then gave us the opportunity to participate in something called the halyard toss. Basically, a rope runs down from the top of the mast of the boat to a dingy in the water. The rope has a loop on it that someone in the water holds onto while a guy in the dingy accelerates away from the boat. This causes the rope to get taught and the person holding on to it to raises into the air. When the rope is completely taught they can’t go any higher, and drop into the water. Thomas did it three times and loved it.

The next 2 hours were spent sailing back to port. It was great – we had speeds of up to 11 knots, which is fast for a sailboat. The highlight of the return trip was when we came upon a school of dolphins. There were about 15 and they swam directly under out boat. We have never been so close to wild dolphins. It was really beautiful. We got to see several of them jump completely out of the water and a few others swam with us, staying just under or next to the twin hulls of the catamaran, as if they were racing us.

The lodge where we are staying is actually a home with two guest rooms run by Connie, a Maori woman, and her husband Ron, a fifth-generation kiwi (New Zealander). It’s truly one of the most picturesque places we’ve ever stayed. The house sits on 90-Mile Beach (which is actually 64 miles long – go figure). It’s about 50 meters from the ocean, and is almost completely isolated. We could see only two other houses for miles and miles in either direction. When we arrived we were treated to a unique sunset

and a delicious gourmet dinner prepared by Ron. We had chowder with some fresh snapper that Ron had caught earlier in the day, and lamb rump. During dinner Connie and Ron took turns sitting with us and chatting, telling us about New Zealand and Maori culture. We ended the night with a brief soak in the hot tub (more of a warm tub, really) and some stargazing.

-Elva