2nd November 2009
Apparently the best way to see and experience the Bay of Islands is from the water, so this morning we were up early to catch a 50 foot catamaran from Paihia for a days sailing and dolphin spotting. The weather this morning was quite chilly and overcast when we reached Paihia, so we were wrapped up warmly for the first part of our sail.
First we headed over to historic Russell, to pick up a few more passengers, then with our small tour of 15 people we headed off into the Bay in search of dolphins. We didn’t have to wait long, we soon spotted a large pod of dolphins, including some babies travelling across the Bay. The boat slowed and the dolphins began to weave in and out between the two hulls and leap by the side of the boat, spectacular. These were bottle nose dolphins, the most common variety in the Bay of Islands. Some of them were massive, easily 5 foot long at least, then there were some smaller baby dolphins who kept leaping out of the water. Such an amazing experience.
The boat we were on does offer the opportunity to swim with the dophins in the wild, but there are many rules and regulations associated with this including not swimming with them if they have young, are travelling or eating or sleeping. However, with the water not exactly balmy at this time of year I doubt we would have got in even if we had been able!
Leaving the dolphins to carry on their way, we headed further out past some more islands, some of which had lovely holiday homes on (some of the islands are private). We reached Motorua Island, where a sheltered bay was to be a spot for lunch. Everyone opted for the dry option of getting to the beach in the boat while a BBQ lunch was prepared on board. We took one of the paths off the beach and followed it up to the top of the headland where we had some stunning views over the bay and the boat.
Back on board, things were getting very warm and the sun was very pleasant during lunch. After lunch we set sail again around the islands looking out for seabirds and spotting one of the very smallest penguins, a Blue Penguin, but no more dolphins unfortunately.
A thoroughly exhilarating sail which also involved helping the crew of two to hoist the sails and change direction and plenty of information about the dolphins and birds we came across. The fresh air certainly had a major effect and we slept like babies that night, so it was lucky the hostel we were staying in was in the middle of a lovely orange grove with a wonderful cosy lounge area with a log fire where we could relax.
