flipPod

Wednesday we left Whangarei around 9am to get to Tutukaka, the dock where we would leave for our Poor Knights Island boat trip.  After our last boat trip (re:  Great Barrier Sick), me and Ame were not taking any chances.  We popped a travel pill the night before to help us sleep and so it was still in our blood stream the next day. 

Again, the cloud was out in the morning, but as we pulled away on our boat, the sun came out.  It seems the sun in NZ does indeed have his hat on approximately 11am...  We pushed out of the boat towards the Poor Knights Island which are about a 2 hour motor boat drive from the North East Coast.  The boat was nice and big so the motion was not too bad.  We had a great spot for all of us on top, outside at the back.  As we headed on out, the captain alerted us to some movement in the water.  Not one dolphin, not two dolphins but a whole bloooooming pod of dolphins!  There were quite a few mothers and babies so they were quite wary but still some broke off and came right up next to the boat.  It was amazing.  You can't capture it on camera or video as well as reality.  It certainly was worth the wait of not seeing many in Australia.

After leaving flipper et al, we arrived at the Poor Knights Islands and took in the awesome sights.  Basically, they are formed of volcanic rock from millions and millions of years ago.  The seas have eroded them to what they are now but geologists reckon the rocks would have been massive but slowly erosion has decreased their size.  But they are still quite a size!  There are giant caves which we drove into and had a good look about.  The biggest cave we went in has amazing acoustics so some artists including Crowded House have recorded music in there!

It was a bit choppy on the shore side of the islands so we went round into a sheltered inlet in the rocks where we parked up.  This is where we were to do our snorkeling.  It was really sunny and I was feeling tip top.  We got our wetsuits on and made it into the water (well some people thought they were hard and got in without wetsuits; they were out in about 10 seconds flat to get one on!)

After only moments in the water and looking around the edges of the underwater world, there was lots of activity around a certain area:  dozens of stingrays; some of which were massive!  They were so impressive, calm and commanding.  They let us hang around but I think they were in control.  We snorkeled for ages and me and Ame even had a good potter about on a sea kayak.  After a really good lunch we went on a quick tour around the other sites of the islands.  Loads of caves you could see all the way through!  Incredible natural structures that you couldn't believe were still standing.


On the way back to the main land, we were presented with yet another perfect dolphin pod.  Not only were they being friendly, they were fricking jumping too!  Again impossible to capture on our camera, but let me tell you, it was incredible.  They jumped so high and they were obviously enjoying themselves.

After we got back to shore it was time for a quick power nap in the car on the drive to Paihia.  The accommodation is lovely and where we spend the next 3 nights, 11 of us spread across three motel apartments.  Tomorrow we're on another boat for NYE morning and afternoon to explore the Bay of Islands and I think we're all going out for dinner tomorrow night.  Tonight we're just setting up for a BBQ next to our heated swimming pool.  It's a hard life...