March 16

Another day in paradise has begun.  Yesterday we had a wonderful day filled with adventure.  We started out with a trip to the island cave just off shore from Des's beach.  It was a treacherous place to get to with sharp rocks and moving swells as the waves rolled back and forth. Once past the barnacles and ocean swells we arrived in a dark cave.  Once our eyes became accustomed to the dark there was a beautiful pool with a splash of light streaming through a crevice in the rock above.  Everyone went in for a swim and gazed at the crabs scrambling over the rocks to get away from us. It was a magical place.

 

Doug and Nola in wet suits ready for the trip to the cave.

Scrambling over barnacles and timing the next surge forward in time with the swells.

In the cave.

After the cave adventure with only a few scrapes and bruises we swam in the 23 degree ocean and played in the kayaks.

Cathy enjoying an ocean swim.

Doug and Nola exploring a beach that Captain Cook missed.

Doug and the kayak.

Nola and the kayak.

Trent is off taking bird pictures while the others are kayaking and swimming.

Variable Oystercatcher.

After the swim lunch was served by our astonishingly talented host Des.  He had some fish smoking while we were out playing all morning.  The lunch was complimented with fresh bread, and fresh veggies and avocado.

Des's fish smoking with Kanuka or Tea Tree wood.

While having lunch we noticed that Dolphin were playing out in the bay.  It was pretty exciting to see them and I was able to capture a very distant photo of one jumping in the air.

Distant picture of jumping dolphin.

Next on our action packed was a planned fishing trip for Cathy and I.  Hoping to at least equal Doug and Nola's catch of three Snapper and a Kahawai (of the smoked fish for lunch fame) Cathy and I headed out with Des in the boat.  Cathy in her normal calm, sedate, non excited way was the first to scream and bounce around shouting she had a big one.  Des, somewhat calmer suggested that it might be a small fish eating her bait.  Indeed the hook was bare when pulled up.  This went on for some time with all of us loosing bait until Cathy did catch one.  Unfortunately it was one of the small fish that was eating our bait so it was returned to the water.

Cathy with the catch of the day.

As we were moving to another spot to fish I was so excited to see a dolphin surface just in front of us.  Thus began an amazing 30 minutes of chasing and playing with the dolphins. It was almost breath stopping to see them swimming directly under our boat and breaching on the other side.  I was like a bobble doll with my camera swinging back and forth trying to capture some pictures.  Fortunately for anyone reading this I did not include all 350 pictures I snapped in a few minutes!!  There are 13 different species of dolphins in New Zealand waters so I'm not sure but I think these are Bottlenose Dophins.  Here are a few that turned out to share with you.