The Bay of Islands

I am currently writing from an internet cafe in Auckland, New Zealand. We got here Friday, and the next day took an early morning coach tour to the Bay of Islands. It is a bit of a drive, but definitely something worth seeing. There are various cruises that you can try, and the one I ended up choosing was the Excitor Fast Boat Tour--a questionable decision.

Now, I like being on boats, including fast ones, and I like it when it gets kind of bumpy too. So when we were coming back from the Great Barrier Reef, and the boat was at a 45 degree angle the entire time, I loved it. When we were cruising around Eaglehawk Neck in Tasmania, it was cold and there was spray, and some choppiness, but I still loved it. Somehow, this one wasn't as good.

First off, they packed us all into these waterproof red pants and jackets. It really reduced mobility, and I was worried about roasting, but it wasn't too bad. Also, they put us in life jackets right away, whereas on the other tours those have been on the boat, but only put on in case of emergency. Maybe this should have been my clue that things were going to be different.

Anyway, it started out great. The Excitor is 60 feet long, but seems smaller, and is kind of set up like a speed boat but with more seating. We hit some bumps, but those were just part of the fun. Mainly, I was trying to keep my eye open for dolphins.

As we got further into the bay, it didn't get bumpier, but there started to be a lot more spray. It was very cold, and kind of lashed the cheeks. I was getting saltwater in my eyes and swallowing some, so that was irritating, and water was getting in around the cold weather gear and wetting my actual clothes.

We got to the hole in the rock, and we were able to go through (it is not guaranteed for safety reasons, as under the wrong conditions passage would be a great way to smash the boat), and that was pretty cool, and we got to see the other caves and Wahini Moana, natural rock formation that looks like a woman staring down into the sea. So things were looking up a bit, and then we started back, and it was really bad, with so much water that I could barely keep my eyes open.

Then we saw dolphins, and it was almost like all of the bad stuff melted away. They were so beautiful, and so much closer than when we were watching from the cliff on Kangaroo Island. It's funny, because no matter how much we have seen, every time we encounter another creature, we all go "Oh,"--even if it is the fiftieth koala. Our weak point is clear.

They bobbed up and down a bit around the boat, and finally dove away and we headed back.

We were in fact quite wet, and stayed that way for the entire ride back to Auckland. Tired, wet, and bedraggled, we did something we have never done before and ordered room service.

Would I recommend that cruise again? Er, I would at least look at the other boat options and maybe find something covered, but I totally have no regrets about going on that one, because we did see the dolphins. And we have seen the bay, as well as the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, learning a bit more about Maori and New Zealand history. It hasn't been our best day perhaps, but it was still a good day.

Tomorrow we head to Rotorua.