Crab Cove North Island

... took the bus back into town & checked into a hostel before having a quiet day around town.

My mum's friend's daughter, Joanna, who is from Cardiff but had moved to Hamilton with her partner, had arranged to come up to meet up in Auckland on our last night there. We hadn't seen her for about two years, so it was fun catching up with her. We went to a restaurant called Euro in the harbour & had a really lovely meal there & had ...

... say. I couldnt have been picked up by any one more nice then them. First thing they said was we are going here, here and here, gonna stop here for lunch than continue up the coast and drop you where ever you want to go. So I got a free tour of the coastline and a free lunch on top of all that. Then they dropped me off right at the Information center in Kaitaia, where my first Wwoofing experience would begin, that will be in the next entry.

... as quaint and far more commercial. We booked to go out fishing and for only 63 pounds per person, you could get a 4 hour charter boat complete with with our captain, Phil (who was a typical looking fisherman, all weathered with tatoos and had no problem gutting fish), beginners rods and all the bait necessary. We headed out to a depth of 50m, the standard depth you can catch snapper and trevally. Just the day before, we saw some people ...

... there. In fact the whole surrounding area appeared to be without much of anything at all. We had, however, been advised that it was a very nice place so we had no idea what to expect. The drive wasn't a particularly long one up the East Coast through Northland and our destination was on a wee peninsula sticking out the north east of the island. The weather was extremely changeable with rain and blistering sun coming in equal measure. It was however ...

... by Magic. Which means tomorrow we are doing the day cruise around the islands. Just hope the weather is good enough to go right out to the final point - the Hole in the Rock. Also that the clouds lift so we can see the islands. If dolphins are spotted there may be the option to swim with them if the conditions and circumstances suit. So with our schedule sorted the four of us headed around the bay to the Waitangi treaty grounds to have a look. The grounds and area are ...

... wir vor Anker und werden mit einem kleinen Motorboot an Land gebracht, wo wir auf einen Aussichtshuegel laufen. Von hier hat man eine tolle Aussicht auf die Bay of Island. Und jetzt kommt auch die Sonne raus und der Wind frischt ein wenig auf. Zurueck an Bord gibt es ein leckeres Sandwich und jetzt strahlt die Sonne vom Himmel. Wir lichten den Anker und setzen die Segel...Wie im Paradies!! Blauer Himmel, strahlende Sonne, kleine Inseln im Wasser und wir ...

... or not. Though the weather had been beautiful the day before it had changed suddenly and now it was windy and overcast. We headed out into the harbour and almost immediately we caught our first glimpse of wild dolphins. There were around 20-30 in the shoal and they swam at the bow of the boat for around 30 mintues before we left them alone and tried to find another shoal that contained only adults. Seeing a group this large was truly amazing but ...

... in the Rock itself was a giant arch through Piercy Island which was big enough to fit the boat through. We cruised through slowly, looked at the Princess of the Sea rock formation, then went back through at half speed (which felt pretty fast and worryingly tight). The whole trip took only 1 1/2 hours and so we were back by twelve for an early lunch before setting off north once more. From the Bay of Islands, we drove north and west across the ...

... money :-) BUT we did see them, after 15 mins we saw a pod of at least 30 dolphns and we could get really close to them. We couldnt swim with them as they had their young and apparently when the little dolphns are at this stage the mothers are extremely protective. The trip was in beautiful weather and was a really nice couple of hours. After our cool boat trip we ...

... by the confines of her 'sleeping' area. Basically I'd be getting into bed with Lee for the next 42 nights, and waking up next to him every morning. Lucky me. So off we went, across the famous Auckland harbour bridge, setting course for the Northland. Our first stop off was a toilet. But not just any toilet though. It was the famous ornate toilets of Kawakawa and very nice they were too. From there we travelled to Ponsonby, and then decided to ...