A Ship Out of Its Harbor: "What time zone am I on? What country am I in?" "It doesn't matter, it's five o'clock somewhere." -Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffet

The last hoorah in The Bay of Islands: The Rock overnight cruise. This may be my favorite thing I’ve done in NZ. 22 hours of cruising around the Bay of Islands going fishing, BBQ-ing, night kayaking, snorkeling, and spending a few hours on one of the more remote islands. $188 NZD and there was an incredibly fun crew, perfect weather, and bar on board. Can’t be beat.

We met up with our friends John and Katie who we knew from Dunedin and are traveling around NZ before moving to Australia. After spending a day in the beach in Paihia we got on board around 5 and set sail for the islands. The cruise started off with a paintball-shooting contest where whoever shot the floating target duck (Amelia the Aussie duck) got a free drink. Never one to miss out on a free beer, I nailed the girls division. Next they set whoever wanted to fish up with rods and bait. They were fishing for snapper, but they had to be over 27 cm so no one was able to keep what they caught. Katie was also not allowed to keep the chunk of coral that she reeled in. Next, all 25 or 30 passengers headed in for a delish BBQ dinner, then got ready for night kayaking. We only paddled a little ways away from the boat, but without the light you could see the amazing sky full of stars and the phosphorescence. This is something that everyone should see in their lifetime- the water lighting up like pixie dust at any disturbance was absolutely breathtaking. You could even see streaks like shooting stars where fish were darting away. We paddled back in and up to our little bunk beds for some sleep before another big day.

The next morning, we had breakfast and geared up for snorkeling. We swam out in the FREEZING water (about 17 celcius) to a rock where you could dive for oysters and “kina” (sea urchins). I didn’t want to dive for any of those, but I paddled around and checked out some sweet fish including wrasse, starfish, and a very curious leatherjacket who I was very enchanted with until I dove down to get closer and saw that he had teeth. Not cool. We swam back aboard for out last stop to Waiwaitoria (“albatross legs”) Island, which was one of the most gorgeous beaches I’ve ever seen in real life or the movies. We hiked to the top of its hill to check out the amazing views, then swam around in the crystal clear water and relaxed on the white sand. I could have sat there forever, but sadly it was time for the 2-hour journey home. As the cherry on the cruise sundae, we saw a few dolphins swimming around and enjoying the sea as much as we were. Magical. I really couldn’t have asked for more.