This day was one I looked forward to with great anticipation! In the travel guides for the Bay of Islands, going out on a boat to see dolphins and possibly swim with them is one of many cruises one can enjoy. I will certainly rank it as one of the top highlights of my trip.

I got up early to get to the wharf in Paihia and met our group and boat for the excursion. I checked in and paid my (refundable) extra $30 to swim with dolphins if the conditions were right for swimming. This means that the weather is cooperating (water isn’t too choppy) and there aren’t any calves in the pod. The organization that runs the tour was very upfront about the marine mammal rules and regulations for viewing and interacting with the dolphins.

The weather looked okay but there was some rain in the distance and our captain told us that the water was pretty rough farther out in the open water. Off we went, first for a quick stop in Russell to pick something up and then out for the dolphins.

We had a brief safety orientation by our captain and her assistant Scotty and then we made our way out of the inner bay. Rain started but the sun was out too.

We weren’t out but about 10 minutes and Scotty shouted that there were dolphins just to the right! They were Bottlenose dolphins and we were in a huge pod of about 20, including a calf (born Dec. 2017…no swimming for us). This is a familiar pod to our boat crew and they started calling out the names of the ones they could recognize by their dorsal fins markings or other features. The dolphins came up to the sides of the boat, playing with the bubbles in our wake, swimming under us and to the sides, flapping their tail fins. By the way, the boat doesn’t have hanging propellers so no damage can be done to dolphins or humans if out swimming. The pod stayed with us for about 15-20 minutes and near the end they started giving a fantastic show, leaping into the air about 10 feet, bumping one another in the air (body slams!) and splashing down to do it again. Even the calf was trying to jump! Such joy!!

The rest of our cruise was spent looking for more dolphins, hopefully an adult pod to swim with in calm waters. We motored for about two more hours but even with help from other boats and fishermen via radio there were no more reports of sightings. The water was very rough out in the bay with rain, sun, beautiful views…that incredibly brilliant green against a blue sky. These colors are eye popping!

We went out to the far rock that is the marker for the Bay of Islands, Ninepin Rock. This is where the water was the most rough but we could see nesting sea birds on the rock. This is a nesting site for Gannets, a diving bird with a wing span of 2 meters.

(I didn’t take this picture of Gannets. It’s a picture I took of a postcard, credit to Kiwi Vista Collections.)

Just off of Ninepin was a small fishing boat with three men. The fish in that area were visible just looking down into the water and one of the men brought in a big yellow fin.

It was a beautiful half day on the water and the leaping dolphins were pure joy. We were given the option of returning to Paihia or being dropped off in Russell and I was the only taker for Russell. I said goodbye to Scotty and spent the next half of my day in what used to be called ‘the Hell Hole of the Pacific’.

Russell was the first permanent European settlement and sea port in New Zealand. Ships from all over the world came into the Bay of Islands for protection and trade with the local Maori tribes. There were no laws, lots of fighting, alcohol and prostitution, hence the name Hell Hole. Today it’s a quaint, sweet little tourist destination a 15 minute ferry ride from Paihia. Some of the old buildings still remain and have been refurbished. They are now restaurants and hotels. The huge tree below is a Morton Bay fig planted around 1870. So beautiful and impressive! I checked with one of the locals for the best fish and chips (again!) and found out the Crusty Crab is the place to go, get it takeaway and walk to the beach. I had hoki again and now know that it isn’t shark as noted in a previous blog post. I was glad to get that straightened out!

I continued my walk through Russell and saw lovely a lovely wall of succulents and hibiscus everywhere as I made my way to the Russell Museum. It’s a very nice, small museum that gives the sordid history, has lots of artifacts, shows the evolution of the New Zealand flag and also an outdoor exhibit of some carved totems.

Before leaving Russell I had to visit the chocolate shop, Newport Chocolates, that was near the Crusty Crab. I had seen someone sitting outside with the most amazing looking hot chocolate so knew I needed to check it out. The chocolatiers are from Argentina and make beautiful chocolates right there in the shop. The Easter chocolates were beautiful and that cup of hot chocolate was stunning!

Lastly, this day was International Women’s Day and for New Zealand this year marks the 125th anniversary of women getting the right to vote: “Suffrage and beyond. On 19 September 1893 the governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new Electoral Act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections.”

I wanted to point out that both captains of the boats I took this day, the dolphin cruise and the ferry ride back to Paihia, were women. Happy Women’s Day!