Day Five … a cruise on the bay and then on to Auckland

Well I’m sure that it will be no surprise to everyone to hear that we have had another busy, jam packed day! Today was our last day in Northland and this morning we said goodbye to our lovely accomodation as we headed off to board our 4 and a half hour cruise around the Bay of Islands. The day began very foggy, which is apparently due to the warmth of the water, but we were reassured by the lady who runs the hotel we stayed at that it would burn off quickly and the day would be beautiful.

The boat, named the Dolphin Seeker, was packed with over 160 people of all nationalities on board. This trip is reminding me of how fabulous our world is when we can travel, meet new people and be free of lockdowns and restrictions. We headed off on the cruise with our guide and skipper providing commentary as we travelled, pointing out islands and letting us know about the history of the area. We spotted a pod of dolphins but unfortunately we were not able to get closer to view them as they were bottle nosed dolphins and due to conservation reasons they can only be viewed between 12 - 4 pm! After about an hour however our skipper received a phone call that had us racing across the bay in search of a sighted pod of Killer Whales. Let me tell you that this was way more exciting than any dolphins!

After watching the whales for a while we headed to the Hole in the Rock - located out at Cape Brett. We saw the old lighthouse and lighthouse keeper’s lodge located on the Cape before slowly moving past the hole. The hole has been created by erosion and is 18 metres in size. Because of the swells we were not able to sail through today … which didn’t bother me because if we had tried I imagine our boat would have been smashed up against the wall of the hole.

We then headed back to Otehei Bay on the island known as Urupukapuka. Here we had a break of about an hour or so to enjoy the island. We wandered along some of the walking tracks, found a couple of geocaches, communed with the many sheep on the island before heading back down to the bay for Ian to brave a swim in the very, very cold water whilst I enjoyed a coffee and paddled my feet. The water was so clear you could see fish swimming around and the sand at your feet.

Back on the boat we headed back to Paihia wharf where we bid farewell to this gorgeous little town. We grabbed some lunch to have on the drive from a lovely little bakery and then we were off to Kawakawa to visit what has to be the most bizarre toilets I have ever seen and the local public library. The toilets are a sight to see and we’re designed by Austrian architect Frederick Hundertwasser. He has to have been some really quirky dude because these toilets were pretty incredible. We grabbed a quick cache there which involved us going into the local library … so of course we stopped for a peruse of their space and were very impressed.

Then on to Whangarei where we stopped and did the circuit walk of the Whangarei Falls. The falls were lovely and again with the rain that has been had here in the last few weeks were full and noisy. I was blessed to have captured one photo that had a beautiful rainbow … so I know my Mumma is with me on this trip. After the falls we headed to do two Ad Labs at the Whangarei Art Centre. We didn’t actually go into the museum as this building was also designed by Hundertwasser and so for more than an hour we marvelled at this incredible and very whacky building. This man must have been very creative as the mosaics, lack of straight lines, hidden messages and oddities that make up the outside of the building were a sight to see. We did pop in to use the toilets and discovered that there are no straight lines in the building and even the floor is wavy and uneven!

And so, we said farewell to Northland and made our way back down to Auckland where we will be based for the next two days. We are settled into our hotel room in Sky City (beneath the Sky Tower). We feasted on Korean BBQ at a fabulous little restaurant called Dae Bak where you cook your own food that you have been able to select from the massive buffet. Delicious marinated meats, chicken wings, multiple forms of kimchi and vegetables to also cook.