We left early to walk into Paihia along the coast. The path was not walkable at high tide so Graham made sure we left very early. We were going out on an 80 foot maxi racing yacht called Lion New Zealand. It was an ex Whitbread Round the World racing yacht and had won the Sydney to Hobart race some years ago, anyway it was very large and very fast. The morning was a bit dull when we arrived in Paihia, the 2 cruise ships were unloading their passengers into the town and the swimmers were going across to Russell for the start of the swimming race so it was all very busy on the quayside. We too had to get a ferry to Russelll to pick up the boat. We met up with the two German lads who were also on our trip. There were 3 crew and 4 passengers to sail this yacht. It was much more of a hands on experience than the last sailing trip, we were expected to help with the winch grinders and envcouraged to helm the yacht. A heavy rain shower and lull in the winds meant we didn't get going very well at first but the rain shower cleared and with sails up, we were soon speeding along and joined by Bottlenose dolphins. They were really large, but so quick it was nearly impossible to photograph them.
A lunchtime stop in a bay where we went onto the Island to climb to a viewpoint. There are 140 Islands in the Bay of Islands. Captain Cook gets another mention here, he had named the Bay of Islands and had anchored in 1769 where we anchored but I don't think he had such a nice lunch as we had on our yacht. We were joined by 3 more young lads who had been swimming with dolphins that morning. 1 English ,1 Scottish and 1 German. There are a large number of German tourists and backpackers here, far more than the English. In fact we haven't met many English people here. There was a couple from North Devon on our campsite last night who will be remembered for their washing line. ( but that's another story)
The sun appeared at lunchtime and the boys (and Graham) all went for a swim. The old boy actually was the best swimmer and the youngsters were suitably impressed when Graham swam off to the beach and back. The afternoon sailing was brilliant, we all got a chance to helm the yacht in the decent wind. The people on the cruise ship waved at us, as the yacht raced past the cruise liner, heeled over and the gunnels under water. I think it was a much the best way to see the Bay of Islands. Tomorrow we head back south.