Bay of Islands

Waiting for us on the Paihia wharf at 4:00pm were the crew of The Rock, an overnight boat cruise. We were ferried out to the boat with the 30-or-so other people joining us for the next 24 hours. The vessel itself is a big red ferry-type boat with a lower deck devoted to food and entertainment, and an upper deck full of cabins.

Sunset on the boat

I felt somewhat like I was at Spring Camp at RKY, knowing that the crew does the exact same routine day after day after day to the same bunch of smiling tourists; I hope we do as good a job back at camp as these guys, because they genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves. The fun began with everyone on board taking aim at a plastic duck floating behind the boat with a paintball gun; shoot the duck and you'd win a free drink at the bar. No one managed to hit her. Trailing next to the duck was a fishing line which bobbed up when a fish bit - whoever noticed would yell "Fish on!" and a crew member would pull it in; we managed to catch a couple of fish that way. When the boat was anchored, about 15 fishing rods were pulled out and everyone took their chances at catching some snapper. I got nothing but a couple of nibbles, but wasn't too fazed. The fish contributed to the massive buffet dinner we ate at around 8, which also included steak, potato salad, greens, beets, bread, and more.


Later in the evening we went night kayaking in small groups to check out the bioluminescent plankton in the water (haven't taken oceanography? Youtube "bioluminescence" and there are plenty of cool creatures to see - this video is similar to what we were experiencing). It was pretty cool, but not as cool as when we decided to go for a night swim and suddenly the water lit up bright green with every stroke. It was chilly though so we didn't last long; we warmed up by the fire at the back of the boat before heading to bed. 

Sunrise

Kina

It was a squishy sleep - I feel bad for anyone tall considering my head and feet were both touching the walls! I got up before sunrise, and was lucky enough to see that another gorgeous day was unfolding. After a big breakfast, we went snorkeling. I didn't see too many exciting creatures apart from a school of electric blue fish, but our mission was to collect kina, a spiky type of sea urchin whose innards are popular among kiwis. When they'd been cracked open and scooped out, everyone got a taste - I can't say I'm a big fan of salty brown goo.

Next, the boat took us to a large beach we had all to ourselves on one of the many islands. We walked up to the top of the island and the view was incredible - blue water and green islands for 360 degrees. Back on the beach I played a little volleyball with some Norwegians, an Irishman and some Americans while Kelsey and Drea read. After a picnic lunch we returned to the boat and basked in the afternoon sun while we putted back to Paihia. The boat trip had gone by so quickly but was a TON of fun, I'd recommend it to anyone who is heading to the Bay of Islands!

We took the bus back to Auckland that afternoon, crashed in a hostel that night (our sweet slumber interrupted by two shuffly, angry, swearing older guys at about midnight ... not so fun) and flew back to Christchurch the next morning. It hadn't been a long trip but it was so worth it! Seeing the sub-tropical part of New Zealand really made me realize how insanely gorgeous this country is considering its size. The beauty of New Zealand was confirmed even more by our flight back to Christchurch; the skies were crystal clear so we had an amazing view of the Southern Alps and hills of Canterbury.

View from the plane