Friday, 13 February 2009

Down to the sea again


Having survived my dinner, we took to the water again today - this time in a catamaran for an all-day sail around the Bay of Islands. The alternative is a powerboat ("The Excitor") that straps you in and whisks you around the bay; regular readers will know I'm not averse to jetboats, but the more sedate approach seemed right for today.


And it was. For a description of the water, coves, beaches etc, I refer you to our earlier blogs - this was more of the same, but not something you ever tire of. Barbecue lunch was cooked on board as we swam at one of the beaches; sometimes sausages are just perfect.


And dolphins. Now the things just won't leave us alone - this time a group of bottlenose (the largest) jumping, flapping and generally frolicking around us. Not quite as acrobatic as their dusky counterparts at Kaikoura, but a close second.


One thing about jumping dolphins is that you'll have to take our word for it. Their jumps are frequent and spectacular, but also fast and unpredictable - in other words, easy to see but difficult (and I mean VERY difficult) to photograph. Lots of near misses.


Not that we should complain about our dolphins. Bill Gates was recently here, hired the biggest boat for a day to watch the dolphins - and saw none. I sometimes wonder if those dolphins know more than they're letting on...


Bay of Islands was the furthest point north in our journey. Tomorrow we start to head south, though I supect we'll enjoy a few more diversions along the way.




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