Day 3 - Bay of Islands to Auckland

Tuesday January 1st 2013

What a beautiful start to 2013! It's a gorgeous day, not a cloud in sight and warm (25C) with a light breeze.

After a nice breakfast, we packed up our luggage & left it to be delivered to our coach, then walked to the jetty and waited for our boat to arrive at 8.15am. It was a really nice boat with inside and outside seating on 2 decks. We made 2 stops to pick up other passengers (Paihia & Russell) and off to find dolphins. Find them we did ...... several large pods which stayed around our boat for long periods. I took heaps of photos, however only a few contained the dolphins as they seemed to dive underwater just as I clicked!

After that we headed out to Hole in the Rock, an amazing spot where, if the water is calm enough, the boat actually moves through the hole with just 2 metres to spare. We were lucky as it was pretty calm so through we went. Apparently they only make it through about 20% of the time. After some more scenic cruising we docked at a little island for lunch (Okahu). It was just gorgeous, so unspoiled and the water was that beautiful turquoise colour. We had a nice salad and a beer (no cider here :( then back on the boat for our return trip. In total the trip took 5 hours and was just amazing. I will include a range of photos.

Back to our coach & off to Auckland with just a coffee stop along the way. Arrived in Auckland at 5.30pm & have the room next door to where we spent 2 nights last week. Tonight some passengers leave & others join so we have an included dinner in the rooftop restaurant (yes that same one Jan) at 7.30pm, so time for a quick rest and blog catchup before dinner. I did try writing on the coach, however it was difficult & with my dodgy right arm I decided to leave it until now. On a positive note I am feeling a little better today and managed getting on & off the coach by myself. My bruises from yesterday's mishap are growing by the minute. Luckily the worst on is well covered.

Hope everyone enjoyed NYE and are looking forward to a great 2013!

Had best find these photos.

More tomorrow.