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Published: January 20th 2014
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Friday January 10th, 2014. 'Cream Trip', Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand
We woke in our cruddy backpackers and had a cup of tea for breakfast in the same mugs that we used for our wine last night. Today we are going on a boat trip. D made some sandwiches and then went into the village for a couple of bottles of water.
The Bay of Islands is exactly that - a bay full of islands (144 of them to be exact!). It therefore made perfect sense to explore the region by boat. We had booked on the 'Cream Trip'. In 1920 a launch service began to the scattered islands to pick up cream from the dairy farms. At the same time it also dropped off mail and supplies. A few tourists began to tag along for the ride. In 1927 Albert Fuller acquired 'the Cream Trip'. We were going to follow the historic path to the remote beaches and bays dropping off supplies to the local resients. The blurb also said we would learn about the region's history, see the marine life and experience boom-netting.
We strolled down to the wharf for 9.15 as instructed. There
was quite a long queue waiting for the trip. Our guide and skipper explained that before we started the tour we were going over to Russell to pick up some more trippers. We had done this yesterday on the ferry but today it looked so much nicer as the weather was better. The pick up completed we set off into the bay.
First we went to Motuarohia Island (aka Roberton Island) where we dropped off a box of something for a local resident. This was also the Island off which Captain James Cook anchored "The Eneavour". Drop off done we sailed into the bay where we encountered a large pod of Bottlenose Dolphins. Several of the passengers had paid to swim with these fantastic creatures, but the skipper announced that this pod had juveniles so it was not possible for people to get in the water. NZ has a fantastic policy of not keeping dolphins in captivity. You can swim with them (under DOC approved
supervision) so long as there are no mothers with nursing young or juveniles who may become a little boisterous. We would try to find a suitable pod later announced the skipper. The pod were
amazing. One pair of dolphins jumped out and arched towards each other about 3 metres in the air - they repeated this 5 times in a row. We din't even try to get a snap with the rubbish camera - we just enjoyed watching them. Our skipper informed us that dolphins are the only creatures other than man who are known to mate for fun. The female dolphin has one advantage over human females though, in that she can control when she ovulates! How fantastic is that! They are apparently very promiscuous so she is very selective when ovulating and will only do so if she considers the male to be a suitable sire.
Moturoa Island was the next stop where we had another drop-off. This is the second largest island in the bay and is currently farmed with sheep. We continued past the Black Rocks which are an extensive chain of unusual volcanic rocks. They are home to many bird rookeries and interesting flora grow on their surface.
We sailed past Marsden Cross which is actually on the mainland and not an island at all. This area is known as Rangihoua Bay and is where the reverend
Samuel Marsden held New Zealand's first sermon on Christmas ay 1814. It was also home to a prominent Maori Chief called "Te Pahi". Today its 80 acres are owned by the DOC.
We sailed past Moturua Island and Motukiekie Islands before docking for a lunch stop at Otehei Bay on on Urupukapuka Island. This is the largest island in the Bay (approximately 520 acres). It was a good job that D had made the sandwiches as the restaurant was closed (for the first time). We had been here before, so after eating our lunch we climbed the hill overlooking the harbour where there were amazing views back down to the tour boat, to a small bay on the other side of the hill and across the island to the camp site. We walked back down to the boat and re-boarded just as the captain sounded the horn for everyone to get back on.
After we left Urupukapuka Island we sailed between Waewaetorea and Okahuo Islands and past The Sisters and on to Bird Rock where there is a colony of nesting Gannets. The skipper explained that these birds mate for life and always return to where they were
born to breed. Then they fly off to Siberia. If one partner dies it is rare for the surviving one to find another partner - how loyal is that?! M loves all this!
We continued on to the appropriately named "Hole in the Rock" - it is exactly that. The geographers among us would call it a sea arch. It is a very impressive one indeed - absolutely huge. The captain lined the boat up and sailed us through it. It was really exciting - especially so as we hadn't been able to do it last time as the sea was too rough.
The Captain pointed out shoals of fish, including yellow fin tuna. Some of the crew cast lines from the back of the tour boat. We sailed through the shoals and around the rocks. There was one particular formation called "the lady in the rock" which looks like the profile of a lady. You could clearly see the 'lips', 'nose' and 'chin'. A rather impressive fish was realed in by one of the female crew members so D went and took a picture.
We continued towards Capr Brett where there is a lighthouse. Cape Brett
is part of the mainland and is a popular 16 km walk. The lighthouse keepers cottage is now a 'hut' to shelter trampers doing this walk. It is located above Deepwater Bay and in times of great storms the waves have been known to reach as high as the hut. Incredible, as it really is built high up on the peninsula.
The captian announced that there would be no swimming with dolphins today as the only pod in the bay was the same one we had seen this morning. Then he ordered the crew to put out the boom net. A load of people wanted to have a go at this. THe net hangs over the side of the boat and you stand in it or hold on to the front or back as the Captain increases the speed of the boat. We thought they were all mad and D remarked that the New Zealanders could invent a thrilling experience out of virtually anything! The water was obviously freezing as the poor kids teeth were chattering. Well - whatever rocks your boat.
We settled for a glass of fizz from the bar - much more sensible. We got
chatting to an American lady called Phyllis and enjoyed her company back to Paihia. D managed to cook us some steak for dinner as the kitchen was much quieter. We got chatting to an elderly guy called John and a nice girl (can't remember her name). We are moving north tomorrow.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
The beautiful Bay Islands
What a wonderful part of the world. Loved reading your blog and enjoyed your photos.