Oooooh.... A flippy flippy Dolphin!

  Paihia, North Island, New Zealand
Saturday, January 31, 2009

06. Just past Tutukaka

Our trip out of Auckland saw us crossing the harbour bridge before taking a long, but rather spectacular detour towards Cape Reinga.   Realising as we drove along, stopping often to admire the view, just how short our time on the North Island was, in conjunction with what we wanted to see, we decided to reroute directly to The Bay of Islands.
 
Exhausted in the early evening, we arrived in Whangerai to our first proper experience of backpackers, New Zealand style. We toyed with the idea of diving but as our great barrier experience had been difficult one way or

05. Whangerei Falls from downriver

the other for both of us we decided to give it a skip. Instead the next morning we went on a beautiful walk to Whangerai Falls, and then a tree top walk to see the magnificent, huge Kauri glade. We continued our meandering way on a two hour coastal scenic drive along the Tutukaka coast, and with a short pit stop at the Hundertwasser Loo

07. Toilet Found

(a famous Austrian born artist and eco-architect, and his toilet - in Kawakawa -  is the most photographed toilet in New Zealand!) made it to our base for the next two days, in Pahia.
 
Our backpackers had a nautical theme right down to the name, Cap'n Bob and we managed to secure the prime room looking out to sea. Exploring the town we heard the call of approaching triumphant fishing vessels. Much to our horror during the course of the evening four massive Marlins where brought in to harbour (rather than released on a tagging scheme). The fish ranged in weights from 76 to 210kg's! It is the start of the off season and we really did worry that this fishing is not sustainable.
 
The next morning we were greeted by the sight of two massive liners ready to flood the town with their elderly

09. Our day sailing cat.

guests. Luckily we managed to escape them all by going on a day's sailing trip in a catamaran. The trip was fantastic, seeing various coastlines and islands under the power of the sails. We stopped for a refreshing swim in a gorgeous bay just off one of the islands. We took a walk up the hill to get more of the spectacular vistas. Re-boarding the boat we were treated to lunch of barbequed hot dogs - some of us getting invited back for fourths!!!
 
Setting out again, we caught sight of a pod of dolphins and then spent the next hour or more watching them, and then a second pod, frolicking in the waters around us.

11. Dolphin Acrobatics

A number gave us various free acrobatic displays, while others eye-balled us while racing alongside or even between the two keels of the cat. Unfortunately we were not allowed to swim with them, as they appeared to be feeding, playing and, in the second pod, had young calves. It was still an unforgettable experience, especially as we had such a long time with them, while all the actual dolphin cruisers were still in port loading their sardined passengers on. Like all good things though it had to come to an end, as we set off back to port ourselves.
 
That night we had a lovely meal, sitting on the balcony overlooking the bay - luckily minus the two cruise ships that had set sail for Auckland at seven, with Rob and Iona who were on their honeymoon from Wales. It was really great to catch up with them.
 
We started another long day's drive with no real goal for the day. After two hours of highway, we decided to

14. Picnic at Goat Island

detour via the gorgeous Goat Island near Leigh.  At the island we picnicked under a tree jealously watching the snorkelers float by in the crystal clear water. Tempted though we were, we decided to press on to the Coromandel peninsula in search of gold.