This morning swimmers were gathering on the beach for the Ocean Swim, a race from the shore of Russell across to the shore of Pahia, a 3.2km swim. The water is cold so the swimmers all had wet suits.

We took a half-day narrated cruise from Russell through the Bay of Islands (a maritime and historic park named by Captain Cook). We saw a group of playful dolphins engaged in adult activities.

Then we went out to the Cape Brett lighthouse and Piercy Island, which is known as “the Hole in the Rock.” We tried to go through the opening, but the waves were too dangerous for us to do so.

Then we stopped for an hour at Otehei Bay, which was the home of author Zane Grey. He made the Bay of Islands famous for game fishing and holds the record for the most marlin caught in one day. The record won’t be broken, because now the law regulates the number of marlin caught.

We hiked up to an overlook which provided us a scenic view of the Bay of Islands.

Yesterday when we booked our cruise for today, I inquired about the weather prediction and was told: “Fine. We haven’t had rain for over 9 weeks. People are having to truck in water for their cisterns.” It’s true, because we saw a sign in the window of a restaurant : “temporarily closed because we ran out of water.” Well, I guess we are the rainmakers, because today it rained and rained.

It finally stopped raining and the sunset was incredible.

Our windows are open and we can hear the live band playing at the local RSA (which is their version of our VFW), and they are really good. All the music is familiar – USA Rock and Roll and Country.