New Zealand / Australia Trip

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3/1/2012

Rise and shine ‘crew’ …… breakfast at our gracious host’s ‘ table with a WOW factor view’ over the water. Then followed a (5) minute ride to the local marina to take the row boat “Sun Dancer’ out to the deluxe yacht, Sunbird’,for a ‘feet on the deck’ experience.

Enroute home we paused to take a ‘squiz’ (Kiwi slang for look) at the local fishermen reeling in a fishing catch to’ die for, a Kingfish.



In the afternoon, Margaret and Graeme offered us a tour of their local coastline. We started at Whangaroa Bay. We made our way around the coast to Tauranga Bay where we stopped to look at the beach, and across to Stevens Island. Making our way, our next stop was an overlook to view Cavalli Islands.

The Cavalli Islands are the resting place of the former Green Peace vessel the ‘Rainbow Warrior’. This protest vessel was towed here in 1985 and laid to rest several months after being bombed by French agents in Auckland with the loss of one man’s life.

The protest issue centred on the French government’s persistence in testing nuclear bombs at Muraroa atol in the vicinity of Tahiti, South Pacific. Diplomatic relations were severely strained between the 2 nations following the incident.

It is now a local dive site. You could say that we cruised the Bays all very scenic and apparently unpolluted.

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Photos

Mangonui
The harbour

Mangonui
The harbour entrance

Mangonui
The entrance to Doubtless Bay

Mangonui
Sun set over Doubtless Bay

Mangonui
Sunbird

Cavelli Islands
Resting place of The Rainbow Warrior