Wednesday -on the water!

Wednesday 


Up and out early … it’s a bit grey and breezy. 


Skipper Pete was on duty for the boat trip round the Bay of Islands and hopefully through the hole in the rock. Pete explained the weather was a bit iffy and the previous day’s storm will have left an unknown legacy. 

We were a party of 12 and we set off slowly and then skipper Pete said, Ready, and I blithely chorus yes with the others. Oh my goodness we took off at such speed which I adjusted to quite quickly having every confidence in my life jacket! We slowed and stopped at different islands and learnt a bit about the history of the bay. We pulled up in the exact spot where Captain Cook weighed anchor! All was going well til we hit the open waters where the ocean was heaving and sighing and the boat was leaping and splashing down. We had to lower the waterproof sides having been drenched by a side swipe. We got out far enough to look at the hole in the rock but the swell was too severe for us to sail through. Pete stated, There it is and now let’s get you back to calmer waters’… music to my ears! 


Headed for an island cove where we tied up and Pete opened the floor of the boat to reveal the fish beneath the glass bottom … amazing to see. 


Headed back to the harbour in calmer waters stopping every now and then for more interesting facts and more dissing of the weather forecast.

It was an exhilarating if somewhat alarming, experience. 


Into town to a great little coffee shop to regroup before leaving Paihia to head to Rotorua. 


The scenery en route was awesome…wide open spaces and lumps of hills and mountains all shapes. 

Stopped at Hatfields beach, where the water was a most extraordinary colour, for a break. All was going smoothly until the outskirts of Auckland where the traffic crawled for the next 20km. 

The evening drive was beautiful in the fading light. 

Arrived at another motel to keep up the retro feel of the trip! 



Our vessel for the trip 


Fast





Fish



Great coffee and a cheese and greens savoury muffin

Hatfield bay



Comments

  1. JanetJanuary 23, 2025 at 5:46 AM

    What an exciting time you’re having and having different temperatures as well . food is still looking good And all those memories,

    ReplyDelete

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