Bay of Islands

We wake up to bright sunshine, summer temperatures, and a view of the sea. We brew tea and enjoy the scenery. Strengthened by breakfast, we think about how the day should unfold. Wonderful weather, the sea in front of us, the pool behind us. We spontaneously decide to take a day off and relax. Of course, we are also planning what we might do tomorrow. Wonderful! In the evening, we wash down the tuna with a delicious local Sauvignon Blanc. It could be worse.

The next day also starts relaxed. However, we realize that luck is not really on our side with organized tours. We have booked a helicopter flight over the Bay of Islands for 2 PM, but we are still short of 2 more passengers. At 5 PM there is supposed to be a nice trip with a catamaran, but so far only our booking has been received….will it all still happen? We are curious…..

The helicopter flight is definitely canceled, as the helicopter has been urgently booked for a deployment at a bushfire. But we don't want to be unreasonable; that clearly takes priority! But the catamaran trip is taking place! Yay! On the way, we do a few errands and treat ourselves to a snack with a view of the sea. And then we are already heading onto the water. Besides us, there is also an English couple and a rather unamused German family. The teenage daughters look so annoyed that one would want to throw them overboard. Who claimed that children are pure joy?!?

The tour is a lot of fun, and the view is fantastic. Occasionally it sways quite a bit…we come to the conclusion that a catamaran will hardly ever be our home.

After the 2-hour trip, we are quite chilled. We rush back to the campsite and warm up with a glass of white wine. After that, it’s dinner time. The doll grills us New Zealand beef steaks and is unhappy that the branding didn’t quite work out. It still tasted great!