Paihia, Bay of Islands, NZ. Dolphins, sand boards and big trees.

Some dolphins!!!! Whoooppppeeee!!!!
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Hello again....gona see how far I get with this entry before I fall asleep! Will probs have to come back to it another time to complete.

So...from the utter heaven of Pakiri Beach to the Bay of Islands and I was not a happy bunny when I got there. Slightly hungover, a long bus journey and feeling like I had a lot of glass in my throat I dragged my sorry backside into town to my first proper backpackers digs. Immediately felt like a hundred year old imposter as most of this lot seemed to be about 18! So I made myself fit right in by getting some camomile tea out and pondering old copies of Woman's Weekly...no joke about the tea!

Always just a tad too late to capture that one doing the jump out of the water!
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But in the morning things always look far rosier...esp. when it's the day you fulfil a life long dream to swim with dolphins...as cheesy as it is!  It was amazing but had that totally unreal feeling where you have to keep pinching yourself. Of course at the beginning when we found them swimming in one of the bays, I took about a million pics of splashes of water.

Time's up on my compu...more in next few days!

Right I'm back...so where were we?

Oh yes swimming with the amazing dolphins!! So there I was in a not all that warm wet suit chatting with my new found mates on the boat and then suddenly it's all go. Jump, jump and you're in...and my god cold is not the word!!! We'd been told to hum, sing or generally make make pleasant noises to attract the dolphins...well I was squealing like a small child!! It was so disorientating with people slashing about and bubbles everywhere...then out of the murkiness below me emerges this incredible blue grey figure like a ghost...swims upside down under me then with a flick of it's tail is gone in a second.

We were allowed to lean right out over the bow as these guys were ridding the waves infront of the boat.
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The dolphins then moved off so we got out and had to get back in again and I'll tell you now that as incredible as it was I actually thought twice about going in again it was that cold!!! Some didn't, but of course I had to have another go and this time managed to dive down and have a little eye to eye contact with one of the lovelies!!

So that's another box ticked!