Dolphins in Paihia

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After a day in Auckland I headed up north to the Bay of Islands, Paihia to spend a few days- and what a FANTASTIC start to my travels. On the way up to Paihia (about a 5 hour bus ride with the detours) i made some friends with 2 guys from Argentina guys, which helped make the bus ride go faster and had some friends to hit the town with my first night in the town.

The next day I went sailing and swimming with the dolphins! It was such a fantastic day! We got on the boat at 9:30, and there were only about 15-20 people on the boat which was nice that they didn't pack everyone in. And first thing, we went and saw some dolphins! They were so beautiful frolicking in the ocean- a bunch of them. We dipped into the water from the back of the boat and all of a sudden I found myself in the middle of a pod of dolphins, probably about 6 dolphins all around me. It was by far one of the most special moments I have experienced in nature. One dolphin kind of turned his little head to check me out, and I'm pretty sure we made eye contact- and then they were off. Swimming with the dolphins is really SWIMMING with the dolphins. I was under the impression they came up to you and played and hung around- but it wasn't really like that. You are swimming hard to where they are, and sometimes you happen to be lucky that you catch up or they swim by you and it's just for a fleeting moment that you are swimming with them- very special though- exilerating! Here is a link to a video I took of the dolphins- I just love this video it just takes me back to the moment.... http://fliqz.com/FliqzWebPublic/Dynamic/proxy.aspx?IsInPlayer=true&VID=7888&ORIVID=7888&fliqzster=true&from=perma

After that we went to an island and were able to hike to the top of the island and look 360 degrees all around- a beautiful sight- and it became quite clear why they call the area the "Bay of Islands". Did a little snorkling and headed back to the boat for a BBQ. We then went and just sailed around the bay/ocean for a few hours- just an awesome day. While on the boat I met some amazing people. Three people from Holland- so I was able to say my two lines of Flemish to them ("I have smoke in my eye" and "I am here with my bike"- thanks lode and britt!), a woman with her toddler from Austria, and another world travler from Austria. After the day on the boat we went for some beers, and I ended up hanging out with the Holland group for the whole night. Great conversation, a lot of laughs and a real connection.

It was on this day that I really began to think of all that lies ahead. I had such an awesome day that day and I just began to realize that I have close to a whole year of adventures and meeting new people and discovering new things. I saw my very first cricket game on tv- and I was fascinated- I have never actually watched the sport and understood it.

Before I knew it I had speant almost 20 hours with some of the people I met- while traveling when you really don't have a schedule or anything to get back to- it's great to realize if you're having a good time and enjoying someone's company you can keep on doing it as long as you'd like.

So I went to bed that night with a big smile on my heart!

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Photos

First night in Pahia
Julian and Leon from Argentina were fun guys to start my adventure off in Pahia with.

Island
me on top of the Island we stopped for lunch

Island
Another view on top of the island

Holland crew
Sanna, Daan, and Martin