The first stop in our New Zealand odyssey was the Bay of Islands, about three hours north of Auckland.   The drive takes one up and down hilly roads winding up to Paihia on the East Coast.  The forests are a mix of evergreens and giant ferns- the New Zealand symbol.  As we descend into town you see the holiday homes built right up the hills giving outstanding vistas of the Bay.  Our accommodations were all of 100m from the ocean.

We booked in for Dolphin diving in the morning with a sail in the afternoon.  The boat “discovered” dolphins in Oke bay.  After watching for a bit the call came up to slide into the cool 18*C water.  A group of four 3m dolphins played tag with us.  Dodging and weaving amongst the swimmers.  They would spin underneath, race and occasionally leap out of the water.  Absolutely awesome experience.

Our sailing expedition was not just sit back and relax- it was a working trip with Diana, Meaghan and I helping to raise and lower the sails. Liam was given the helm and took his role as captain seriously. We definitely learned about the highside and lowside of the vessel as it spent quite a bit of time at a significant angle as we raced through the waves.

We finished off our day on the water with Liam trying New Zealand’s famous Hokey Pokey ice cream, Megs and I going for Chocolate Mint and Diana reaching for a hot Café Latte.