Day 102 Bay of Islands

Day 102 – Bay of Islands NZ – Sunday 26/8/2012

Weather – Mostly cloudy 11C – 18C

Sunrise – 6.51am

Sunset – 6.00pm

Time difference – plus 2 hours ex Sydney

In the early hours of the morning Sun Princess paralleled the north eastern coast of New Zealand. At 5am we passed Cape Brett, 45 minutes later we passed abeam of Okaha Island and entered the Bay of Islands, at which time the pilot will climb on and guide us to our anchorage in the bay.

Once anchored, we commenced tendering operations to Waitangi Wharf. The tender route is 1.9 miles long, so it takes about 20 – 25 minutes each way.

Today we elected to be a little adventurous for our last port call of the cruise, by doing a spot of kayaking. Given our lack of experience, I think we can call it adventurous :). Off the tender and a short walk to where our kayaks were waiting for us. A short briefing and fit our and we were off.

It would be fair to say we were a little shaky at the start. I was in the drivers position, the rear seat, so I had control of the rudder. For the first 20 mins or so, Donna was a annoyed at the movement on the kayak that I was causing when I paddled, but we settled down to a nice casual pace – the favourable current assisted !

After about 45 mins of slow paddling through the sheltered waters of the Waitaingi Estuary we came to the Haruru Falls. We chose not to test our skill by paddling under the waterfall, but we did enjoy refreshments on the beach resort gardens.

The paddle back was a bit tougher, the tide was coming in, so a strong current, and into the wind, which had picked up, making it a little choppy. It was not overly onerous, but enough to make you feel you had a workout.

After our kayaking experience, we popped into the local town of Paihia for a feed of fish and chips on the beachfront, before a casual 20 minute stroll back to the wharf to catch the tender. We stepped on board for the 39th, and final time this cruise. Next time we step off we will be in Sydney town!!

A refreshing shower and change was well needed when we got back on board. To our surprise we find the sea scanner has finally been repaired. We have so missed being able to track our progress on channel 49. It went on the blink about 2 months ago, it was hoped to be repaired before Dover, but here we are with just 2 sea days and a straight line back it is working. Good news for those getting on board in Sydney :)

We were the fortunate guests of the very hospitable Pam and Randy for another sailaway party in their suite and balcony. We have been so lucky to be a part of all this. We had so much fun, and drank so much it was touch and go if Donna was going to be allowed to get into the Dining Room :) A lovely way to end our last port visit, and a fitting place for the final SHB photo of the cruise. This was our second visit to NZ, and the scenery and landscape is as good as you will see anywhere in the world – we are qualified to say that now :)

The SHB Hat is looking a bit weary, tatty and dirty. Donna did give it a stitching to keep it together, but we did not want to wash it for fear of falling apart. So to all members of the Stolen Hat Brigade – we have done our duty, with a SHB photo in every port visited over the last 14 weeks. I will make a special Facebook album to commemorate its journey. I think it will need to be retired from active service now.

We inaugurated a few friends into the SHB now. They are worthy members, and we will post their photos in due course also

At 4pm we weighed anchor and exited the bay. During the night Sun Princess will parallel the north eastern coast of New Zealand, then chuck a leftie, and straight line for two days to Sydney.