Got up at leisure, had some fruit with our morning cuppa and then wandered along to near the jetty for the Bay of Islands Discovery tour. Grabbed a quick coffee and scone before boarding the boat. We had tickets to Russell included- this is the oldest European settlement in NZ and is set out on a peninsula reached by the 10 minute ferry ride from Paihia.
We got there just after 11 and had 3 hours before the Discovery ferry departed. Visited the Pompallier - NZ’s oldest industrial building. It was a printing press and a tannery. Tiny place and we didn’t bother buying tickets for the tour as we had already read all about it! Also took in a few more interesting sites including the oldest church in NZ. It was in this area that the Waitangi Treaty was signed in 1840 between the British and the Maoris. Unfortunately the British were not good at keeping their promises and the Maoris cut down the flagpole and this started the first NZ war!
Russell was actually called Kororareka in 1840 and had a drunken reputation because of all the whalers that called there. This started an influx of missionaries! Stopped for a cuppa and then sat by the front in the beautiful bay until our Discovery boat arrived. Luckily there were only about 14 people on the boat and we had a fantastic viewpoint. Saw dolphins in the distance whilst in Russell and we thought we would miss them on our cruise. However we didn’t and had a pod of dolphins swim alongside us for about 10 minutes- fantastic sight and the wildlife highlight of the holiday.
Continued on out to Brett Cove and saw the hole in the rock. The captain then actually took us through the hole because the weather was good and sea not too rough. Fantastic. On the way back we stopped at one of the 144 islands for a bar-b-q dinner and some relaxation time. It was absolutely wonderful and we could have stayed there! All in all a great day, I think we saved the best till last, we were thinking about missing the Bay of Islands, because of the long drive, but it was well worth it!
Have sorted out the camera interface so more pics of previous days to follow.