Well I`m still here in the Bay of Islands despite only aiming to spend a couple of days here but hey, I`m on holiday. Having spent yesterday just chilling in the field a little hungover, I decided to get a little more active today. So went out for a fantastic sail on a huge (72ft) racing catamaran, courtesy of Carl`s cousin Lily (thanks Lil!). Weather was great - sunny with some cloud and fairly good wind for sailing. But more importantly goo weather for topping up the tan, which is coming along nicely I might add. The boat took us out of Russell and around some of the other islands. We passed the spot where Captain Cook first came upon the Bay of Islands and heards stories of gruesome skurmishes between locals and visitors. For lunch we pulled up at a cove and had a BBQ on the boat - nice. Then had a choice of kayaking, snorkelling, walking or knee boarding (like water skiing but on your knees). I chose snorkelling and desperately went in search of sting rays which we were told were around. But sadly I saw none, although I did see some fish, a star fish, sea cucumbers and lots and lots of anenamies.
After lunch the crew rigged up what they called a hilliard jump - that`s where you take the rope from the top of the main sail, tie it to a dingy and give someone a loopin the middle to keep hold of. Then the dingy drives away fromthe cat, hoisting the hanger-on up into the air until they let go and are catapaulted up and into the water - crazy. The rest of us just kicked back and lounged on the trampeline of the boat
On the way back we were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins that played with our boat for quite a long time jumping and diving. They`re tricky charachters to capture on camera tho so apologies for the dodgy photos. A bit of editing back home should sort that out. A few of us met up afterwards in Paihia for a drink and a lovely Norwichian barman made me a delicious, albeit green drink - now christened a John Boy. You`ll have to go to the Beach Hut on Kings Rd if you want to try it.
Not sure what`s in stall for tomorrow, maybe I`ll drive to Kerikeri which is supposed to be nice. Or maybe I"ll just hang out and walk along the beach.