Bay of Islands

Yes I have mentioned the Bay of Islands a couple of times and am happy to say a little more about this area. It is definitely worth a few more words as it is yet another truly beautiful part of New Zealand. An area that is visited by a vast number of tourists, along with a large number of New Zealanders themselves.

What gives it such appeal? Honestly it just has so much to offer.

One area is loaded with history for those interested that way. It is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. This area contains the beautiful Mission House, the Maori Meeting House and of course the much featured 'Flagpole'

Standing on the sandy shore you look out over the blue crystal clear water towards the many little islands and you cannot help but notice the watercraft of all shapes and sizes making there way to and fro. On this gorgeous water there are many different types of boat trips offered to be enjoyed. There are those that take you quietly to just sit back and take in the picturesque scenery. For the more adventurous there are trips featuring speed and water skiing. There is one boat trip that is quite unique and well worth a special mention. This is is known as the Milk Run. It takes place early in the morning and the boat goes to a number of islands that have dairy farms and the task is to pick up the cans full of milk from that morning's milking. This is a very interesting trip as one not only gets to enjoy a lovely boat trip but also gets to have brief discussions with many of the farmers.

There is another feature of one of the boat trips that I should tell you. There is a peninsular shaped outcrop of rock going out from the mainland and halfway along this there is a giant nature created archway and the boat takes you through this and after a little while back through it again.

I earlier stated that the waters were crystal clear and they certainly are which makes this a popular spot for Scuba Diving. I personally have dived there on many occasions and it was in the water in the archway that I had one of my numerous little frights while under water. Yes I have had some little frights and I could say much about these and scuba diving but that would be another writing in itself so will not attempt here. I and my friend, (one never dives alone), were in the water in the archway at about 60 feet when all of a sudden everything just suddenly went black as though somebody had just turned off all the lights. In such a circumstance ones mind jumps to its own conclusion as to what is happening. For some unexplainable reason I immediately thought that a whale was somewhere above us. A crazy thought but that was the picture I had in my imagination. Inspection revealed that it was a gigantic shoal of thousands of fish swimming through which had obliterated the light from the surface. These were a fish called Trevalli which were about 12 to 15 inches in length and broad in shape.

So from the little I have said you will realise this is certainly an area of New Zealand frequented by many tourists