Northlands - Day 5

The Bay of Islands is considered to be the jewel of the Northlands. Kerikeri is a part of it but all the action is down in Paihia which is still tiny but seems to be aimed more at holiday makers than backpackers in search of seasonal work so there's heaps more to do. Me and Kama had booked ourselves onto an afternoon dolphin tour so we left Kerikeri and drove down to Paihia, checked into the Pickled Parrot backpackers (which comes complete with dogs, cat and, of course, a parrot) and wandered over to the wharf to catch our boat.

Applying Make Up... Before A Swim Tour

Rocky The Parrot

These tours are swim tours, they give you a 95% chance of seeing dolphins but only a 50% chance of swimming with them on account of the laws governing swimming with dolphins such as, you can't swim with juveniles or if the dolphins are sleeping.

It was a nice afternoon out on the boat but the dolphins weren't up for a swim, they decided to have a kip just as we got there. They sleep funny an all do dolphins, they shut down a part of their brain but leave the other part active to stay alert for predators and so they remember to breathe.

After spending a while following the sleeping dolphins around the crew gave up and took us to a spot for a quick snorkel but not before they did try and get us in for a swim. Kama saw two swim under her, I wasn't in the water quick enough but I'll be doing this again on the south island when my sister comes to visit. Fingers crossed for better luck that time.

Yah We Look Hot!

Just As Charming Under The Water

We headed back to the backpackers, watched a movie and crashed out pretty early.

All this Not Sitting Down All Day was taking it out of us.

written by

Koala Bear on January 7, 2009 from Paihia, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip

tagged RoadTrip and Northlands

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