Paihia - don't Rock the boat

Saturday 11th May and Sunday 12th May, 2013

After our toilet stop in Kawakawa we drove to Paihia and left the car at the motel we’d be staying at on Sunday. We took our backpacks and packed lunch, then booked our Cape Reinga tour for Tuesday at the i-Site.

All morning the sun had been shining and it had been a glorious day. As we walked into the town the rain began to fall, and fell heavily for a number of hours. We took shelter in a covered mall to eat our lunch and then walked to the end of the pier to wait for the crew of the Rock to collect us.

The view from Paihia over to Russell — Quite a marked difference by the afternoon from the view we’d had first thing that day: www.flickr.com/photos/bmwelby/8733242260/in/set-721576340…

As we waited we wondered if the trip might be called off – the rain was only getting heavier. But 1545 rolled around and we found ourselves waiting with a group of similarly excited yet apprehensive guests. Captain Ben and Norm arrived promptly to collect us and to our relief had brought proper fisherman-style raincoats for us to wear for the trip over to the Rock.

The Rock, her guests and crew

The Rock is a former car ferry converted into a passenger ferry – the downstairs is the social/general living area and comes with pool table, sofas, a bar, benches, tables, an open fire and the toilets. The upstairs is given over to sleeping quarters for guests and crew.

After boarding, we had a general safety briefing and were taken to our rooms. Ben and I had originally booked the cheapest bed option – a mixed shared dorm deal – however, as the trip was far from capacity (it being the off season) there were private rooms available. We were asked whether we wanted to pay the difference and thought it would probably be worth having our own space (it was).

The room we were given was a family room with patio doors leading out onto the very front of the boat, a double bed and bunk beds (we were glad of the double bed later – it was cold – snuggles ftw).

We then headed down to the bar for a drink and a chat with the other guests. There were a couple from Australia, a couple from Ireland (he was Scottish), three American girls travelling together and an American family of 4 with their nanny. Being such a small group meant that the dynamics were nicely chilled but I suspect that’s not always the case.

There were 4 crew: Ben (a Brit who had crewed on the Rock for 4 years having started as an ordinary crew member was now captain. He was soon to leave the Rock to sail to Fiji before returning to captain one of the competing boats in the Bay of Islands), Norm (a Maori who had worked on the Rock for about six weeks), Rich (a Geordie who had been on the Rock for three months and was hoping to head to the South Island for the ski season) and Melissa (a New Yorker on her very first outing).

The first evening

We set out into the bay (with the rain still pouring down) and as we did the first activities got under way: a paintball competition. Towed behind the Rock was a duck called Matilda and we were each given three paintballs to hit her. I missed all three of mine but Ben hit her once, which was good enough to take him through to a shoot-off with one of the Australian couple which he won.

After that we tried our hands at fishing. I caught what I thought was a decent sized red snapper, but there are apparently rules on how big is big enough so this one got thrown back. Unfortunately nobody else had better luck but the crew had brought steak for the BBQ so we ate well.

Christine's first catch — Christine’s first catch

We then headed out for my absolute favourite part of the trip, and possibly of the entire holiday, the night kayak. The rain had stopped, the clouds cleared and there was no moon – perfect conditions. We paddled out away from the boat, and then just floated, lying back in our kayaks, gazing up at the stars – the first time I ever saw the Milky Way (though not the last on this trip). We also splashed around for a while to set off the phosphorescent algae with our hands/paddles – green sparkles in the sea, stars above – I didn’t want to go back to the boat.

But back to the boat we went (eventually) where we dried off by the fire and chatted to our shipmates until we headed to bed. It was quite cold that night so Ben and I huddled together to keep warm but before I drifted off to sleep I saw a shooting star from our window!

A bright, clear, perfect morning

When we woke the horrible rain of the previous day was a distant memory. The sun beat down on the bay as we had our breakfast and then prepared for snorkelling.

As we explored a nearby cave network Norm was diving for Kina. They are quite spiky and prickly so you need gloves to collect them. We saw quite a few fish whilst snorkelling and even swam into a small cave. After about 45 minutes of snorkelling we started to feel a bit cold from the water so we hopped back onto the dinghy and went back to the Rock.

Whilst we were drying off, the boat headed towards a nearby bay with a lovely sandy beach. We both took the dinghy to the beach (others kayaked) and then walked to the top of a hill. From this point we could see all around the Bay of Islands and out to the Pacific Ocean – it was such a lovely clear day, we could see for miles.

We walked back down to the beach and wandered along the shore picking up shells.

Unfortunately the dinghy we had come ashore on wouldn’t start again so Captain Ben came to rescue us on the larger powerboat to tow us back. And so we began our return journey back to the mainland. It was such a beautiful day – clear blue skies, warm sun – absolutely the best way to see the Bay of Islands.

Fish and chip supper

On returning to Paihia we walked round to our motel, checked in and took the car for a drive further along the coast and up to the Haruru Falls. After driving back to the motel we retraced our route along the coast on foot to the highly recommended Shippey’s – a fish and chips restaurant on an old boat. It certainly lived up to its reputation, I had Dory (as in Nemo) and Ben had Southern Boarfish with his chips.