Bay of Islands
Monday, February 24, 2025
We had breakfast at a wonderful nearby bakery in Matakana, which had the best pastries of the trip. Plus, it opened at 7 am! We then left and drove for a bit over two hours on Rt 1 north to the Kawiti Glow Worm Caves.
There we took a 45 minute guided tour into a cave owned by the 13th generation of a Māori family, apparently the only glow worm cave not owned by the government. Glow worms are only found throughout New Zealand, and a few places in Australia. We were unsure what to expect, but the tour was great. We stopped in four different places in the cave where the glow worms coated the ceilings and were easy to see once our eyes had adjusted to the darkness. We stopped at a fifth place with the lights on so we could see them up close in the light and appreciate their hanging threads. The guide gave us a great deal of information about the life cycle of glow worms. Alas, no photos were permitted inside the dark cave. Here is the entrance.
We then drove about 15 minutes to the town of Kawakawa. This town features a number of colorful murals and a tourist train that runs down the middle of the main street to the coast. But the town is mostly known for its public toilet, redesigned by the artist Hundertwasser. Both are shown below.
Next, we drove up a windy gravel road to a wonderful forest walk located outside the town of Opua. A 15 minute walk took us to a wonderful Kauri tree, the biggest we’ve seen. This grove had many more large Kauri trees than the forest areas we visited the last few days. Here is the oldest and largest tree.
The bark of a good sized Kauri tree.
We then drove about 20 minutes to the town of Paihia, the main tourist center for the Bay of Islands, an area that is important to the history of the nation of New Zealand. We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the town and enjoying the wonderful view of the ocean. Again, it was a beautiful color. Tomorrow we will take a boat cruise out to see the many islands. Here is a photo of the coast fromPaihia.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
We were not among the first to check in for our 8:30 am Hole in the Rock cruise, so we didn’t get the best seats. But we still had outside seats on the second deck. It was another bright and sunny day, with good water color. We went by several islands in the Bay and learned about their history from the informative female captain (all of our boats on this trip have been captained by women).
Before heading out, the boat called at Russell. Here are two photos of the Russell harbor. We’ll take that blue boat later.
Again, we were impressed by the varying colors of the water in the Bay. A few examples:
The sea got rougher as we got into open ocean, and the water color got darker.
After cruising by the Cape Brett lighthouse we finally reached the destination of the trip—the creatively named Hole in the Rock. Here are photos of the lighthouse and the cape.
By this point, the boat was bouncing quite a bit and it was difficult to get a good photo. At first the captain said going through the hole was doubtful because of the swells, but then all of a sudden we were inside it and then out the other side, where the photos were better.
Photos from the shady side, and below, a boat like the one we were riding on waiting to go through the opening in the rock. Below that, going through ourselves.
Here are three photos from the other side, far, closer and closest.
We then sailed back into the Bay, where we docked at Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island. There we had about ninety minutes to explore the island. We walked up to the saddle of the mountain and down to a viewpoint of a beach on the far side. We then returned to the beachside cafe and had a snack while we watched kayakers and the bird life. Some passengers elected to kayak or swim, and some hiked to a higher viewpoint.
Two photos heading back to Otehei Bay.
Clockwise from upper left: top of the lookout near Otehei; view of the beach on other side of the island; beach outside the cafe; birds on the beach; our vessel returning for us; view of the harbor from the lookout.
While at Otehei Bay, we learned why last night’s bar was named Zane Grey. He lived in the Bay of Islands and wrote a novel about local fishing. This was a surprise!
The boat returned to pick us up, and as we were sailing back, we decided to take up the option offered to get off at the historic town of Russell instead of returning all the way to Paihia. Russell was definitely more picturesque than Paihia, but not as well located for touring. We walked along a nice waterfront and picked out a restaurant for a seaside lunch and then explored several historic sites.
Russell was once called the “hell hole” of the Pacific and was frequented by rowdy seagoing types (including whalers from as far away as the US). The Māori welcomed the missionaries hoping they would bring order.
We visited the Pompallier Mission and Printery (top right), a mission site since 1814. Russell was one of the first places Europeans lived in New Zealand. We were unaware that there was French missionary presence here in addition to English. The site also has one of New Zealand’s first printing press and produced books written in the Māori language. Tomorrow we would learn that there was no written language until the Missionaries worked with the Māori to create one in the early 19th century. We then visited the Christchurch Anglican Church, one of the oldest churches in New Zealand (two bottom photos).
We then took the frequent ferry for the fifteen minute crossing back to Paihia (top left photo is the view from the ferry) where we enjoyed another afternoon at Zane Grey’s dockside bar.
Tomorrow will be our final day in Bay of Islands and last full day in New Zealand.
