Bay of Islands and 'the rock'

Weekend in the Bay of Islands.

As soon as I finished work on Friday night I drove home & packed the car up then James and I headed north for the Bay of Islands. We arrived in Paihia for 8.30pm where we met Sal and Si who had booked us into a motel for the night. That evening we went out for a meal on the waterfront (beautiful restaurant but a little disappointing - having ran out of the fish special with not a lot else appealing on the menu) We then headed back to the motel for wine and chilling out in front of the australian open (apparently if Si wants to stay awake to watch the end of the match, I do too!)
After a small lie in on Saturday morning we headed over to Kerikeri. Sal being very thoughtful thought this would be a really good trip for James (in that he loves most buildings) and took us to New Zealands oldest stone building (Stone store). Built in 1836 I must say James wasn't that impressed, as he frequently surveyed buildings older than that in the UK (she tried though!) We then walked up the hill to an old fortress (all that remains is a patch of grass & a lot of speculation about how the place looked & what actually happened). We then headed over to Rewa's village, a mock up of an old maori village - somewhat more enjoyable. After all that the highlight of the day for both boys was visiting the fudge factory (after which they both consumed 100g each, then went on a sugar rush) and a winery on route pack to Paihia. (we managed to make good use of a bottle of wine we bought and drank it on the beach with Sal and Si's new picnic set)

At 5pm on Saturday we awaited the arrival of 'the rock' a former vehicle ferry that's now a comfortable floating hostel. As soon as we arrived and introductions made with the crew and other guests we settled in with a few beers. These followed shortly with a shooting competition with a plastic duck floating off the back of the moving boat with an air rifle. (Needless to say Sal managed to hit the duck while James failed - something which didn't go down to well!) Soon after the shooting competition was over (and a few more beers) the fishing rods came out. Late night deep sea fishing off the side of the boat, we all managed to catch several fish (Si caught 5) unfortunately they were all tiddlers and had to be thrown back. Fishing was shortly followed by a BBQ with steak and sausages, and a couple of glasses of wine.
Around midnight saw the launch of the kayaks in to the sea, with the younger and older guests going first. Kayaking was amazing, with bright phosphorescence lighting up the water with each paddle stoke, so beautiful, and being a lovely warm evening we all jumped off the boat for a swim afterwards. Soon after swimming and a few beers later we headed up to bed in one of the 6 bedded dorm rooms.
The next morning we were woken up at 8am for breakfast, with even the boys making it down in time. Breakfast was followed by snorkling out in a spot well known for plenty of fish and loads of sea urchins which we caught in grab bags. When everyone had had enough and started to get a little chilly we all came in and made our way over to a beautiful beach with a good look out point for the whole bay (see previous blog - it just so happened that this was the same 'dead fish beach' which I enjoyed so much a few weeks ago)
We kayaked out to the beach, had lunch, went for a swim, then headed back to the boat.
On the way back the crew members decided to serve up the (apparent) delicacy of sea urchin eggs, the crew members showed us how it was to be eaten then served it up on our arms. (Not so much of a delicacy - tasted like salty seaweed) not recommended - although at least I can now say I've tried it! We then headed back to Paihia before starting the drive back home. All in all an excellent weekend, and a trip I highly recommend!