The Bay of Islands

After leaving Whangaroa, I headed down to the Bay of Islands, which is the birthplace of modern New Zealand. The main town is Pahia, which sits on the edge of a bay holding 144 little islands. The town is a bit too touristy for my taste, but the tourists come here because it is really nice. The weather, like in the rest of Northland, is gracious, and the many islands have bountiful little soft sandy beaches and rocky outcrops that make for good snorkeling and fishing. I took a cruise where I got to spend a little time hiking on the islands and enjoying the beaches. You can see how clear the water is here, just like the rest of NZ.


The obligatory stop is at the Hole in the Rock, which is a, er, hole in the rock. It is at the southern tip of the bay, and it is kind of impressive, but there is not really much to do once you are there. The guide on the boat said that Maori warriors used to paddle through the hole as a ritual before battles. He also pointed out that the nearby rocks all had large populations of seabirds (and poop) covering them, while this rock didn't have any. Doo-doo-doo-doo (Twilight Zone theme).



The Bay is also a good spot to see dolphins (although not as good as Kaikoura) and we saw dolphins during the cruise as well. I tried to swim with them, but they weren't interested. Nonetheless, I got a really good picture from the boat. I took about 200 and this is the one that came out. Not bad, eh?

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