Monday, January 29, 2024

January 29, 2024 Bay of Islands, New Zealand Day 40 of 138

 We woke up to land outside of our window. The first sighting is always exciting.  The ship anchored in Waitangi, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, we anchored about 7:30 this morning and this is a tender port, so we have about a 10 min tender ride to arrive at the wharf.

Our first excursion is at 8 am, so we are off on Bay of Islands Panorama. It is a bus tour, our driver gave us a running commentary of the history of New Zealand, and especially Waitangi which means weeping waters. First impression of New Zealand is favorable. They seem to be people who take care of their island, and take pride in where they live. First stop was Rainbow falls.


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Next stop was the stone house built in 1822. It is located at Kerikeri Mission station and is one of the oldest surviving buildings in New Zealand. 
It is a beautiful setting. On the other side of the river is a replica Maori Waka or canoe. This canoe could be built to carry up to 120 Maori tribesmen. These were used to sail from island to island. We were supposed to go on an excursion to another waterfall in one of these canoes, but the excursion was cancelled due to rain and potential lightening.
Our next stop was not your usual tourist attraction. This was billed as a toilet stop to a most unusual public toilet. It was decorated with tile and bottles by a local artist, and has won the Golden Plunger Award. Fitting I think.




I can truthfully say it is the most unusual, beautiful bathroom I have ever used. It was worth the stop.

We took a shuttle bus to the town of Paihia. It is a cute waterfront town with shops, restaurants, and tours. The shuttle bus took us back to the wharf.  We headed back to the ship, and just as we arrived so did the Dolphins. They put on quite a show.
It has been a lovely day, but we have to say goodbye, and we are off to Auckland, New Zealand tomorrow. Sun set was at 8:34 pm tonight. It is great to be enjoying this much daylight. Highlight of our afternoon on the ship was talking to both of our families. It is great that we can keep in touch through a facebook video phone call from anywhere in the world if we have internet.

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