Bay of Islands

Day 58. Russell – Fullers Great Sights Boat trip Bay of Islands ‘Cream Trip’.

Our all day boat trip left Russell at 9.30am to blue skies and warm sun. The boat able to take up to 130 passengers was to our advantage only sailing with 30 at most, plenty of room to move around and view from all accessible areas.

Throughout our tour on board Te Maki – The Orca, our wonderful crew provided us with an informative narrative of the islands and landmarks on our planned route as we passed them by.

We were in luck on this trip to see a Brydes Whale – not able to capture clearly enough with a mechanical lens but our eyes provided memories enough.

However the Common and Bottlenose dolphins we encountered along the way were happy to oblige ‘the man behind the lens’ as they cut through the water at speed under and alongside our boat. Gracefully they jumped out from the water as if in slow motion as their backs curved in a perfect arc.

We stopped at Motukokako – Hole in the Rock – on this occasion the sea was too choppy to permit our boat safe passage through to the other side!

Our land stop for lunch was Otehei Bay on the Island of Urupukapuka. But first a short steep scenic loop walk up to a point overlooking the bay and islands.

Back down beachside, a bar and eatery was available for refreshments as well as a picnic area for packed lunches. We visited both, one for our picnic and the other for ice cold beers on the green in front of the bar lounging on giant beanbags watching the boats and helicopter arrive.

Back on board we continued our relaxing tour – for most of us that is….. a brave dozen or so opted to get dragged forward and back within a giant boom net before we made our final few view points around the islands arriving back at Russell late afternoon.