3/6/2010 9:59 PM
The stay in the hostel was nice. Jess and I got to bed by 11, and had a solid 9 hours of sleep. It was very refreshing. We made it to the kitchen in time for a quick breakfast, and then off to the boat for a day of sailing through the Bay of Islands.
As we were walking to the boat, the day looked beautiful. But by the time we set sail, a huge mass of dark clouds rolled in over the bay. About 30 minutes into our sail, the wind was crazy and very cold, and the rain was just as intense. Ha. So much for a scenic cruise through the bay. Ahh well … by the time we got to the island stopping point, the day was “warm” and it was just partly cloudy. Also, the sail boat was 65 feet long, and quite spacious. And since there were only about a dozen people on board, it didn’t get cramped at all, so we were able to hunker down below and ride out the storm. Of course, Jess and I were very wary of how prone she is to sea sickness --- being down below is not the best place to be. So, we roughed it on the deck, in the cold wind and rain. It seriously felt like we were in some Arctic waters. But … it worked. Jess didn’t get sea sick at all! Amazing! That made the rest of the day enjoyable for everybody . A neat side note is that our captain was Canadian, from Vancouver. About 40 years ago, he started sailing; then eventually, he took his wife, 2-year, and 6-month old on a trip from North America to the South Pacific. And I suppose they never turned back. He’s spent the past dozen or so years cruising around Fiji, Tahiti, NZ, etc. Craziness. Another neat side note is that the captain and his second mate were very keen on getting the fellow passengers to help out on the boat. So I got to raise the sail, and help take it down. Pretty fun.
The island we stopped at was very neat. It has some Maori name to it, but it means “double lagoon.” The smallest of the lagoons was probably about 200 feet in diameter, and a pretty symmetrical circle. The water was reasonably warm (70s), ranging from 2 – 5 feet, and it was ridiculously clear! So cool! We kayaked around the lagoon and it felt like we were flying over the water. Then I put on some snorkel gear and checked out the fish, etc. There wasn’t really much beneath the surface, but it was still cool snorkeling in such clear water. Ha – Jess managed to find me snorkeling and paddled right by me on the kayak … scared the crap outta me seeing this giant yellow thing go by … funny stuff.
By 1:30pm we were back on the boat, ate a sandwich, and then slowly cruised back to Paihia. The cruise back was amazing. It was sunny and warm the whole time, and we did about 5 mph the whole way. So smooth, just a slight rock to it … awesome. And (again) Jess didn’t get sea sick! Amazing. By this time, Jess and I made friends with a nice 32-year old girl from Austria. She was on month three or four of an indefinite trip to Australasia. Ha. How adventurous. She’d spent the past two or three months in Australia, and about a month in NZ. Her next stop was in Thailand, for an unknown amount of time. I don’t really get how people can do that … but I guess, to each their own. Hey story was that she lost her job and boyfriend, and just decided to go for it. Nuts. Oh, and when we were coming into the last stop, we saw a penguin swimming in the ocean. The captain did a few laps around the little guy … he was maybe 1 foot in length – way cool.
After we docked, Jess and I grabbed an ice cream cone, a pack of cards, some rum and coke and played a few games on the beach. We’re really falling in love with this town. We even talked about staying an extra night here … but that means an extra next less down south. So, after much planning, we’re sticking to our original plan and leaving tomorrow. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll be back some day – maybe when we can enjoy the restaurants a bit more, ha.
Our dinner was the pasta and tomato sauce we picked up the night before. Pretty simple but it did the trick. After dinner we booked our next week of hostel stays and recommitted to our trek. Now we’re back at the room (Jess is already asleep) and are going to get a good nights sleep so we can skip out of here at a reasonable time tomorrow morning.
