Bay of Islands

We didn’t actually get to do a tour of the winery, more just a tour of the shop area. More importantly we were able to sample the different varieties to choose the best one for purchasing. Out of my many attempts to find the perfect bottle I chose a light Chardonnay, and no, I don’t know how to spell that. Canadian customs will only let us bring back 1L of wine so I am hopeful they do not sell this at the local LC. Jo said even if they do we can just take pleasure in knowing it came from the real deal. I had to do a little work in the vines to pay off my bottle but I think it will be well worth it. After that we went down to a little fruit place to browse around and perhaps pick up more lunch food. I did find some quirky little things…like Italian ketchup in a toothpaste style bottle with only Italian labels (very tempted to buy it for a laugh but couldn’t part with the $5). I did get some curries etc to have a go at making a meal with Emily when I get back because I didn’t think they would have the proper stuff in Pictou (seeing as how they don’t even know what Hummus is, and don’t get me started on baba ganouch, no I cant spell that either). We attempted to go watch some of the international beach volleyball tournie at the tennis stadium but I was not even near close to willing to part with 12 precious dollars to watch it. On the upside after leaving the stadium we discovered sweet as walking trails right in the middle of the city that make you feel as though you fell into the middle of the rainforest! Saturday morning we caught the bus to the Bay of Islands. After some trouble at the booking booth (trying to agree on our weekend plans) we decided on the excitor jet boat for sat and the ferry to Urupukapuka for Sunday. About 30 seconds on the boat my head scarf blew off and from there on in my hair was just whipping in the wind as the scarf had been my only line of wind defence…Lisa…all I have to say si you may need to prepare the clippers as I had some very lovely dread locks by the end of the hour and a half. I didn’t even attempt to brush it on Sunday and opted for the classic Melissa buns. We went through the hole in the rock and we saw bottle nose dolphins (whoopee eh Emily?). Hahaha, they were actually cool, I mean I don’t not like dolphins, I just have a respect for them as wild animals. The little kids were ooing and awing about how badly they wanted to jump in and hug them…while I gripped the side of the boat in awe and fear. The mere thought of falling in and “hugging” the dolphins made me nauseous! I couldn’t even imagine what scene would’ve unfolded had I dropped into the water….a series of desperate screaming and then dead silence perhaps as I slipped into a hyperventilated coma and drowned. Ah yes so we moved on and left the dolphins and their massive bodies (they were much larger than I imagined…with a mottled grey colour as opposed to a solid grey) with huge sharp teeth behind and continued to sail around the beautiful islands. Much like how I imagine the cliffs and crags of Scotland! Oh how nice it would’ve been if I could’ve taken pictures of these beautiful scenes but alas…my camera has died…and took a chunk of my soul right along with it. As such a lover of photography to have your camera die, to look down at the non responsive screen, hear the beeps of failure...was like punching me in the face. All my insides melted and I just didn’t know what to do with myself. It’s really not explainable how I felt. I took it to a photo shop and their only advice was send it back under warranty and buy disposable cameras for the rest of my trip. So we sat on the beach for a bit that evening and I found 2 free dockets (coupons) for beer at one of the pubs. Ah just what the doctor ordered…I guess god can only test me so far and then provides a little treat. They were only valid between 9-10 so I ordered fish and chips at the shop announcing they were voted best in the northlands. I had Hoki fish if anyone knows what that is because I do not. It was good none the less. However you had to pay extra for tartar sauce and ketchup so I ate it with just the lemon. Then we went to another pub to try and get the pizza deal for Jo but they only had that at 7pm and it was 8 something so we left empty handed. We went and found the Lighthouse where our dockets were for and I tried a beer that I saw was brewed in NZ, Lion Red and Jo just watched me drink it as she wouldn’t drink any herself. The pub was quite literally empty aside from the nice bartender the big friendly bouncer, some one playing vlt and a guy waiting for the wet t-shirt contest. Wet t-shirt contest you say….hmm perhaps the answer to some of my money problems with that 500$ prize….uhm yes dad I won some money…haha…never in a million yrs…we nearly ran out of that place. We went back to check out the spa, but after changing into my togs (swimsuit) I realized that what Jo meant by going in the spa was really translated into watching me go into the spa. That sounded about as much fun as her watching me drink my beer so I decided to change into my pj’s and just go to bed….at 10pm. We are the wild ones eh? We went to bed but did not sleep as our lovely hostel mates decided it was party time…in Spanish I believe was the language. I tried a few times to get them to stop to no avail. Sunday we set off and tried to visit the Waitangi Treaty house…we were told it would be a 15 minute walk but it was in reality 50 minutes…plus a fee to view the house and a ferry time to catch left us turning right back around and walking back. We had a nice ferry ride out to Urupukapuka (I think we renamed the island about 10 times on our video, my video camera was taken out to replace my camera) We had a nice tramp around the island and then settled on a nice beach which was practically our own, had fun with picture taking and then I went for a swim while Jo filmed onshore. I am getting better at the sunscreen and am now only red behind my ears, a little behind the knees and I can see the outline of my sunnies on the right side. The water seemed a bit colder here, but very clear and once in was very nice! I took some sand home because it looked like neopolitan icecream! I also found some superb shells! Back on the mainland we got icecream (mint stratacellio or something) I believe Jo had 4 icecreams this weekend. Then went home.