Dolphins and a spontainous boat trip

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I really could have done with a lie in this morning, especially in such a nice bed, unfortunately the other 5 girls are all up at 6.30am to go on a tour. I make the most of being up early and go and sit on the beach to watch the early morning sun rise over the water. I walk into town and head to the information centre to find about a trip to Cape Reinga – the whole purpose of me coming up to Paihia. Whilst there I pick up a leaflet for the Gyunver boat and remember someone telling me along the way that is well worth a trip out on if you have time. So I decide to take the plunge, and as today are the best conditions forecast all week, I just have enough time to dart back to the hostel, grab my items, and make it back before it sails out at 10am. With a quick jog to make sure I don’t hold the boat up I make it dead on 10am. There are 8 of us and the captain on the boat, and we have the most fantastic day. On the sail out we encounter 10 bottlenose dolphins. They are absolutely huge and swim surrounding the boat for quite a while whilst we try and keep them entertained, it’s totally magical. We spend the morning sailing in the sunshine to one of the many islands which comprise the Bay of Islands. Some of us kayak ashore while those not so keen others follow in the little motorised boat. We are now free to do as we please for a few hours, and most of us go exploring, scrambling up the hill to the top, where we have been advised to try jumping and diving into the springy grass. How could I turn down an opportunity to be childish and willingly oblige to jump into the grass. And I am pleased to report it is SO much fun. The grass was about calf length and very spongy, and it was like a natural trampoline, not compacting under the weight and remaining springing. After I was all bounced out I continued a bit further along the hill where the view of the surrounding islands and water opened up, I sat for a while and soaked in the beauty. After the walk I grabbed some snorkel gear and swam around the rocks, spotting a massive sting-ray in the water and some other fish. A couple of the others and I went round to swim through the whole in the rock. It was very narrow and small, I was the first to swim through, and despite being a confident swimmer took I was a tad hesitant. However with a deep breathe I made it through in the dark, and emerged successful on the other side, spotting more large fish and sting rays.

We gathered back at the boat where we enjoyed a nice fresh lunch and lapped up some of the sunshine. The afternoon was spent with the sails up, despite the lack of wind, and inching along, spotting penguins playing in the water and onto the lava flow rocks.

We arrived back in Pahia at 4pm, after a truly lovely relaxing day. I spent a while reading before watching the sunset on the beach. The evening was spent round the dinner table relaxing and chatting away with everyone.

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