We arrived in Paihia which is the centre of the Bay of Islands. We enjoyed the look of the area so much we immediately booked in to a campsite for three nights which was situated a short walk from the town centre.
We booked on the Cream cruise which got its name believe it or not from the ferry delivering cream to all the local islands.
We had booked to swim with Dolphins on the cruise but unfortunately on our way out the pod of dolphins we encountered did not want to stop and play. They enjoyed swimming next to the boat but we're obviously on a mission. During the day we visited many historic islands and sites and enjoyed lunch on a lovely sandy beach where Jan swam with shoals of fish.
After lunch the captain took the boat through the hole in the rocks, as you can see from the photo there isn't much room to get a large cruise boat through, there was quite a large swell on the ocean but luckily the captain managed it, he seemed to think he had just taken ten years off his life!!
On our return to Paihia we came across a pod of around thirty dolphins who wanted to stop and play, but unfortunately due to the time we were unable to swim with them, but it was fantastic to see four meter dolphins swimming next to the boat.