Bay of Islands

Russell

On our 2nd last ship morning we anchored just off the historic town of Russell in the Bay of Islands in magnificent 23 degree sunshine.

Nadine and I had booked a sea kayak tour scheduled for 11.30am commencing from the town of Waitangi near Pahaia. As we were being tendered to pick up our canoe (with 30 others) we were thinking mmm this looks a little strenuous, why on earth did we choose to do this on our last day?

Pahaia

Well our fears were unfounded, yes we ached at the end of it, but it was a great day. The scenery as we travelled up-river was pleasant and our guide stopped every few hundred metres or so and gave us a history outline, a nature talk and showed us a colony of Shags in a tree. Why are they called Shags? Well apparently they have 4 to 5 clutches of eggs every year, so shagging it is!








Finally up-river, after a cuppa and a biscuit we paddled near to a magnificent waterfall - Haruru Falls. Some brave (or foolhardy) souls had to get as near to the falls as possible and got very wet and close to capsize. Fabulous.

After this adventure we went in a ferry across to Russell to sit looking over the beautiful bay indulging in a well earned cup of coffee.