Today began with an early start and a race up the road to get to the Bay of Islands. However, we did make time to stop at the Hundertwasser toilets. They are world famous so I know you will have heard of them. No? Well they were created by an ecentric painter / architect from Austria and well, lets just say, as public conviences go these are quirky!
When we arrived in Paihia we hooked up with Glen, our skipper for the day who promised to show us around the Bay of Islands on board his yacht, ‘She’s a Lady’ (I made the mistake of asking how she got her name and was told it was because she was high maintenance. Huh!)
Our track record with sailing led us to believe that the weather probably wouldn’t be great and it would no doubt rain. I’m thinking of our last day trip sailing from Brisbane, heart of the sunshine state but where it rained all day for our sailing expedition. Sure enough as we set sail it looked like a rather grey morning. There was also not a great deal of wind around (kind of a pre-requisite for sailing) which meant that we kind of drifted along in a very relaxed manner, which set the tone for the rest of the day. We drifted past many islands, some very exclusive and privately owned. How do the owners get to their homes I hear you ask. By boat more often than not but we did also spot a helicopter hanger (ah how the other half live!) As we came close to where the islands stop to reveal endless miles of sea, we chose our very own deserted island and dropped anchor. We passed up on the proposed swimming although we did brave a wee bit of kayaking, alas despite the glass bottom I saw nothing except some rocks and the sea bed. We also climbed the hill of our wee island and were rewarded with 360 degree views of the area and a light spattering of rain.
After what were quite possibly the best sandwiches ever we boarded ‘the lady’ once more and continued with thè ‘relaxed’ sailing back to harbour.