A Cruise through the Bay of Islands

Way back when we first arrived in NZ (seems like forever ago, but really it was only 3.5 weeks), we had planned on visiting Akaroa to swim with dolphins. However, due to the bad weather that had followed us from Rarotonga, none of the tour oper­ators were running tours, so we made a beeline for Queenstown instead, hoping to get another oppor­tunity to see dolphins later in the trip.

The cruise in the Bay of Islands promised dolphin sightings, and swimming with them too as long as no baby dolphins were present. It didn’t take long until the dolphins showed up!

We couldn’t swim with them though, due to the babies that were with them. Dolphins have to eat quite regu­larly, espe­cially young ones, and the babies get so distracted by playing with swimmers that they forget to eat, and can drown So, disa­pointing that we couldn’t swim with them, but totally under­standable too.

Next, we cruised around the islands for a while, and visited a spot called “the hole in the rock” which, as its name suggests, is a hole in a rock, but big enough for our twin-hull cruise ship to drive through

We stopped for lunch along a beach, and we thought that maybe here, the snorkling would reveal some colourful fish.

Alas, we didn’t even see a single fish! So instead, I performed my very special under­water ballet. I give you: Ode to a Summer’s Day:

Thank you, thank you. One show only.

…Mike