Bay of Islands

Monday morning, we rise to the same blue skies and glaring morning sun as the previous day and as before the showers soon arrive. We decide sitting around for another day is not an option so seek out advice on the fishing opportunities nearby. Our ever friendly host Stefano gives us a couple of ropey looking rods and sends us on our way to Mangoniu just up the coast. 'Use squid off the wharf and you should pick up some kawahai or even john dory, oh and can you take along the teams football strip to the luandrette'.

So off we headed, dropped of the washing and picked up some hooks, weights and bait from the shop. I soon hooked a little spotty (wrasse). That went back. After about half an hour I got the big bite and after a bit of a struggle landed a nice kawahai of about 4lb. That was lunch and got a gonk on the head for his troubles. Kawahai are salmon like sea fish which shoal around the inshore waters. They used to be far more prevelant but due to their close proximity to the shore they have taken a bit of a beating. They are still very numerous though.

Jamie eventually hooked into one too and after we got it ashore we popped him back and went on our merry way. Fried in flour and served up with tartare sauce it made a very tasty lunch.

Next day we headed off south to Paihia. The sun was shining and the showers fading fast. We stopped in the tourist town of Kerikeri and drove out to Matauri and Tauranga bays, idyllic little holiday home hideaways.

We checked in to Captain Bob's Backpackers in Paihia. Booked the car in for it's WOF (MOT) the next day. We need this to help sell it next weekend. The rain kept off and we had a look around the village to see what was on offer.

Next day we booked our half day cruise round the Bay of Islands. Fullers are the main company and we just went for them. They took us over the bay to the little town of Russell first. Russell has a very checkered past. In it's early days it was a place where the sailors took leave and law was non-existent. Charles Darwin described it as 'full of the refuse of society' after his visit. It's changed a little since then and the little harbour is full of little boats.

We headed on round all the little islands with their expensive houses and flashy boats. As we got further out towards the mouth of the bay we came across a pod of bottle nose dolphins, the biggest of the dolphin species and they came over to play in the bow wave and have a look at us. They're no where near as flashy as the dusky dolphins but they had one baby one with them who seemed more than happy to do a few tricks.

We soon had to head off though and after going through the 'hole in the rock' in one of the outer islands we steamed home, stopping for an hour at Urupukapuka island for wander around.

We got home to find the car had failed the WOF and needed a new shock absorber but the stunning sunset kept our concentration from the bad news.

Next day we took the short walk from Paihia, across the bridge to Waitangi. The birthplace of New Zealand. This is where the original treaty was signed between the Maori cheifs and the British. The Maori agreed to give up sovereignty in return for becoming British subjects with all that brought (trading, security etc). The treaty was signed by many of the northern cheifs and taken on a tour around the rest of the country to collect as many signatures from other cheifs as possible. This was by no means the end of the conflicts between the British and the Maori but provided a basis for the future relations between the two and is still very relevant today and called upon by modern day politicians as a legal document.

After a tour of the grounds we went for a game at the highly recommended Waitangi Golf Course and indeed it was a cracking course and they even let scum like us play. I bet they wouldn't let us play again if they saw us going round though.

Next day we headed off early, south to Whangerei to get the shock absorber fixed. We were astonished to be met by yet another friendly mechanic ( I never knew they existed) and by the end of the day the shock absorber was fixed and the car had it's WOF.

We watched the mighty Wellington Hurricanes put the New South Wales Waratahs to the sword to book their place in the Super 14 finals next weekend where they will likely play the Canterbury Crusaders of Christchurch for the title. An all New Zealand Final, they are loving it over here.

Today the heavens have opened again. It's to be expected though, it is late November and we did get to play a round of golf the other day in our t-shirts and pick up some late autumn sunburn.