61 Days of Togetherness: Bay of Islands

Our time on the North Island was winding down, but we had time for one more solid adventure so we headed north of Auckland to the Bay of Islands. This is a beautiful natural area, but also a historic area for New Zealand.

We started our Bay of Islands stay with a couple of days in Russell which was the original short-lived capital of New Zealand in 1840. Before that it was a whalers’ and sealers’ denizen known as the “Hell Hole of the Pacific”. Its hellish days are certainly behind it unless you have an extreme distaste for turquoise waters, historic buildings, yachts, and wood-fired pizza.

As you might expect from the name, the Bay of Islands is a bay with numerous islands located in close proximity to one another. It is far enough north that the sea water is quite warm. I would not quite call it tropical, but it is an honest sub-tropical. The waters are largely protected from the open Pacific. All of those factors make it a good place for a sea kayaking so we arranged for a two day guided trip. It was just the four of us and our guide Sam, who was quite a Kiwi character to say the least.

We had two double kayaks loaded down with tents, sleeping bags, clothes, food, cooking gear, fishing gear, snorkeling gear, etc. We hopped from island to island stopping for a walk, snack, swim, snorkel, fishing excursion, or some combination of the above. We also explored some sea caves which was both exhilarating and a bit nerve wracking.

Now back to Sam. He was great, but quite unconventional as a guide. He was quite the storyteller, hilarious, and a great cook. He taught the boys rudimentary spearfishing and took Walter on a night-time paddle to check out the bio-luminescence in the water. Those are the more conventional positive guiding characteristics. He was also continuously rolling his own cigarettes, brought a whole bottle of wine for personal consumption, and dispensed with all discussions of safety and technique. He certainly made the trip more memorable for us.

It was a pretty physical trip involving about 10 miles of paddling per day which is quite a bit for kids and for when you are carrying gear. Margaret and Walter were paired up Day 1 and were constantly ahead of Lucas and me by 0.5 km or more. Day 2, Walter and I were paired up and we all stayed even. Either Lucas or I was the weak paddler – probably me.

In keeping with the theme of the trip, we did not successfully spear any fish. Sam did catch a nice red snapper on day 1 which we filleted and pan fried – delicious to us all – even Lucas the supposed picky eater. Walter caught a nice one on Day 2 which we gave a good stern lecture to and then turned it loose. On the afternoon of the second day, we had all three kayaks rafted together and the boys were arguing over whose turn it was to fish (which both annoys me and warms my heart to know that fishing interests them). Sam commented that he had been ready to become a father, but that the boys’ arguing set him back several years. Margaret and I had a good laugh and it also quieted the boys down.

Once back in civilization, we opted for one more night in the area and then went to visit the Waitangi treaty grounds the next morning. The original primary agreement between England and the Maori was signed here in 1840. Lucas is supposedly writing an 8^th grade social studies paper on the topic, so I am sure our faithful readers could request a copy from him and he would gladly share his knowledge.

We have been to several museums on the trip as well as a zoo and an aquarium. These excursions have added an educational and cultural component to the trip. They also consistently make me sleepy. As part of the Waitangi trip, we opted for a Maori cultural demonstration. The Maori representative asked the visitors for a volunteer chief to represent the guests. I, of course, tried to push Lucas forward, but the plan back-fired and I was selected as chief. They must have recognized my leadership potential. My appointment certainly woke me up from my museum-induced grogginess. The cultural demonstration was interesting, entertaining, and a bit intense. I managed to avoid any breaches of protocol in my chiefly duties and have taken a liking to my new found status within the Morton tribe.

Walter and a tree in Russell identified as a Morton Bay fig tree. The Morton family has always been passionate about their bay fig trees.