Making it up

Monday 14th. Today we are going on a boat trip to one of the islands in the Bay of Islands. We did have the choice of an early departure but I decided that a cooked breakfast was more important! Important business out of the way, off we went to the town pier. As we came down the hill we saw that one of the cruise ships was anchored off shore. 

There were eight or more lifeboats acting as shuttles between the ship and shore and in town there were additional coaches to transport people from the jetty to the town centre. As well as all that there was an excellent craft market in progress, obviously running to coincide with the ship's arrival. A good decision, I think, to be going off somewhere else. 

Here we are on the ferry. 

Leaving the town pier. 

This is Otehei bay at Urupukapuka. No, l can assure you that I am not making up these names - look it up on Google! We were told that Kiwis and/or Maoris repeat words in names, so the island is Uru-puka-puka. Simple. 

The island is protected and they have eradicated rats and reintroduced native birds. At Otehei Bay there is a bar and restaurant complex where you can hire kayaks and jet boats, have bean bags and seats on the beach, swim in a sheltered bay. The rest of the island is for walking only. In all it would probably take four hours to cover the whole island. We, on the other hand, walked for about an hour to a small cove for Brigid to have a swim. 

We managed to climb to the top of one of the hills to get a 360 degree view and see just why it's called the Bay of Islands. 

Another view of our little bay. 

On the way back to catch the return ferry we passed a Maori burial site. 

Back in Paihia we went to Green's for supper. 

Green's specialise in traditional Indian and Thai cuisine. I've not taken many photos of food lately, so here's one of our Indian meal.