Bay Of Islands
This past weekend I took a trip to Paihia, the Bay of Islands in the most northern region of New Zealand. I traveled to this small piece of paradise with 7 other fellow U.S. study abroad students. We started our travels Thursday night, when we packed our backpacking backpacks and walked 40 min through the city to the bus station. From there we took a bus from Wellington city to Auckland, a 12-hour bus ride. Arriving in Auckland around 6:30 A.M. we caught our next bus form Auckland to Pahia, a 4-hour bus ride. After arriving in the bay of islands after our long bus ride we then walked up a couple large hills to our Air B&B home for the weekend. We rented a large home right out near the water. The homeowners were a middle-aged couple who were eager to have us stay in their home. We stayed in their upstairs three-bedroom apartment, which slept all 8 of us comfortably. The owners were very nice and often came up to visit and say hello, as well as bringing us fresh watermelon. However at one point while we were out their daughter and her friend snuck into our apartment and stole one of our friend’s phones. We did get it back though after realizing quickly that it had gone missing.
On our first evening in Paihia we took a $12 ferry to Nelson, an island across the bay. In Nelson we roamed around the shops and boardwalk. We grabbed dinner at a café along the shore and then had to get some gelato next door. We then walked a few miles across the island to a beautiful and peacefully quiet beach, where we sat and watched the sun set.
The following day in Paihia we ventured back to the marina for our day cruise. We took an amazing cruise out 2 hours to a secluded island. On our way to the island the boat owners made us morning tea. We had tea, coffee and scones made in the oven on board. We enjoyed our morning tea and boat ride with about ten other people. Some of which were form Germany, the UK and France.
When we reached the island we took a dingy to reach the shore. When we arrived we had the entire little island to ourselves. We spent most of the day on the island. We began our adventures by hiking to the top of the island, which we all did barefoot. The top of the island provided the most awe-inspiring beautiful view I have ever had the opportunity of seeing. You could see for miles across the ocean. There were many small islands scattered through out the bay. The water was the most magnificently crystal clear aqua colored water. After having admired the view for some time we ran back down the hill we were atop to go snorkeling! Snorkeling was unreal as the water was so clear. Though every time I saw a fish I got scared and swam away. I then saw a sting ray swimming beneath my friend Kelley and I quickly in a panic swam away. Honestly I realized I don’t really like knowing what I am swimming with in the ocean. When I finished snorkeling I then went kayaking with my friend Kelley. We successfully flipped our kayak twice. The boat across the way laughed at us every time we did it and struggled to climb back into it. After many hours of exploring the island and the ocean we all just laid out on our empty beach and tried to tan without burning and gaining another 200 freckles.
Later we road back in to the boat on the dingy for lunch. The captain of the ship and his wife had been cooking us lunch in the kitchen aboard the entire time we were exploring. For lunch we had mussels, salad, chicken, corn on the cob, a type of fried rice with vegies and bread. The lunch was unreal delicious and everyone was asking for the recipes.
After lunch we laid out on the boat and relaxed for a while and went swimming some more. We then headed back home to the main island. During our ride back we were served afternoon tea. We had homemade cake made on board all warm and fresh and watermelon with our tea.
When we finally returned home we all were exhausted but did not want to leave our perfect little catamaran sailboat. Following our long day we went to the art festival happening in town and went shopping. Then of course we again got dinner on the shore. We went to a little pizzeria that opened up to the beach. From where we were having dinner we could watch a wedding reception happening at the restaurant on the shoreline. We were very entertained watching the bride and the groom and the festivities happening. We then headed to the bars for a drink and then headed back home to relax.
On our last day in Pahia we walked to the beach and hammocked above the water. We all just relaxed as we waited for our bus and the long bus ride we had back ahead of us.
So far Bay of Islands is my favorite place I have been in New Zealand. However, that may quickly change as I am flying to Able Tasman on the South Island this weekend in sunny Nelson.
