Hole in the Rock cruise.

The morning today was taken up with a Cruise on the Bay of Islands to the Hole in the Rock.

There are 144 islands in the bay. To qualify as an island it has to be above the waterline and have some vegetation, otherwise it is a rock.

We had lovely weather, calm seas and sunshine. The Hole in the Rock was our furthest point and it looked spectacular. To my surprise we actually went through it and further around this rock, we went into a cave.

As we headed back, we were let ashore on Urupukapuka Island for an hour. This island has a cafe right on a beach so we had coffee and a sandwich.

Back on board, we headed back to Russell where it was possible to disembark and later get a ferry back to Paihia.

We hadn’t really gone far when it was noticed that some bottlenose dolphins were approaching. It was such a good photo op that most of us had taken enough photos and we just watched them.

Time pressures meant we had to leave them and head back.

Tonight was our farewell dinner as tomorrow we end the tour in Aukland.Read more