Dolphins and the Bay of Islands

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Hi all

Well the day after i last updated I went round Auckland for the day trying to get myself sorted and organised which I just about did. Nothing else really happened during the day. That evening I went out with the people in my dorm to an Ice Bar which was -8'C when we went in. We were told we weren't allowed to take photos but then they left us alone so of course we did. There was one Irish guy (who I couldn't work out if he was Irish or Scottish for ages until he told me he was born in Ireland but lives in Scotland), one German and one Brasillian who came out with me. Then after our 30 minute slot in the Ice Bar we headed to our hostel bar and Tom and Rachel came along then.

The next day I left early up to the Bay of Islands. There was 4 of us on the bus up there which was apparently 3 more then the bus drivers previous trip. We stopped at a few places along the way, like a town to get a tea and then some waterfalls which were pretty good. It was early afternoon when we got to Pahia so I had lunch and then walked along the beach to where New Zealands indpendence treaty was signed, realised it would cost to get in there and so walked back. (I don't know why I was feeling so stingy). That evening was quite a quiet one but that was fine as again was up at 8 the next morning to go on a boat around the bay of islands.

The Boat trip was alright it started really well when we found a pod of Dolphins must have been about 10 of them and when they saw us they started showing off, jumping out of the water etc. As there was no babys with them it meant we were allowed to attempt to swim with them. We donned all of our equipment (snorkels, fins) and dove in. I got about 50 metres before I realised I wasn't a strong enough swimmer for it (along with a few others I must add) and headed back to the boat. The others carried on but the dolphins decided they didn't want to swim with them and headed away so everyone else came back to the boat, we then followed the dolphins and everyone had another go and the same thing happened. Then there was one more attempt and it happened again so they left it at that. It was all kind of awkard really. Then after that we took the boat through the bay and up to the hole in the rock, which was pretty much a hole in a rock and they took the boat through, following a jet boat. Then it was back through the Bay of Islands and back to Pahia just in time for lunch. The sceneary was stunning there but I was left a bit disapointed by the trip and I don't know why.

That afternoon I did something for the first time on this trip. I got my haircut. Then I got back on the bus with 1 other and headed back to Auckland. 15 minutes down the road the driver got a call to say theymissed one person so we waited for the Kiwi Experience to bring them up. We got back to Auckland about 5. I was out with Tom and Rachel about 9 for a few farewell drinks where Rachel wasn't feeling to great so headed back fairly early and me and Tom did some reminising about our trip over the past 2 months.

This morning I started on the Kiwi experience heading south. We stopped just 15 minutes down the road out of Auckland at the top of Mount Eden to get some good views over Auckland and there I spotted Katherine who was in my dorm in Sydney who turns out is on the same Kiwi bus as me. Half way down to Mercury Bay and Whittianga (Wh pronounced like in a ph if you were wondering) the bus driver "Guido" was explaining something to us and I just kindof switched of and was just starring out of the window amazed by how good the sceneary is here. We then went to Catheadal (spelt wrong) cove and walked down from where the bus parked to the beach (about 30 minutes) with Katherine and some guy (I should really ask his name) and then when we got down there I went for a swim in the cold (or refreshing depending how you see it) sea. The waves were massive and someone else had got the lifeguards float and was using it as a bodyboard. Then it was down to Whitianga and thats where I am now

Bye for now

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