Day 6 - Wed 17 Oct

Started today early .. 08:30 AM!! pickup for the Dolphin Discoveries cruise. Big two-level boat, powerful enough to blow hats off people's heads. We found a pod of about 30 dolphins almost immediately. Cruised along with them for quite a while snapping photos, but weren't allowed to join them in the water because there were babies with the pod.

Papa whale, mama whale and baby whale

Orca

Gesundheit Swimming with Dolphins
The NZ Marine Mammals Protection Act (or something like that) prohibits swimming with dolphins if they are feeding, sleeping, or if there are babies of juveniles with the pod. The reason for this is twofold ... the obvious one that mother may be worried for her calf and become aggressive. Also because the babies are very playful, but can become distracted playing with the humans, and forget the very important task of feeding every 2-3 minutes. This is important to maintain their body heat since they are born without any blubber.

After leaving that dolphin pod we headed out of the bay into the ocean. There we quickly found a small pod of "killer whales" or "Orcas" (Killer Whales are actually the largest breed of dolphins .. not a whale at all). There were about 5 altogether, again including a baby. The baby was carrying a stingray in its mouth .. for snacking later I guess. They put on quite a show around the boats before heading off.

We then cruised to and through the most creatively named "Hole in the Rock". This is, as you would expect, a hole in a rocky outcropping sticking out of the water. The boat drove through the middle, stopping to spin in the centre, which was pretty impressive given the lack of clearance. Back around the front they nosed into a cave where Maori warriors used to gather before battles. On the way back we stopped in by a rock with a couple of sunning sea lions. They also pointed out several notable geological, geographical, [Mauri] cultural and historical features of the Bay of Islands.

The Bay of Islands was site of Captain Cook's landing as the first white man to set foot on New Zealand. He was able to trade successfully with the Maori inhabitants since there was a Polynesian crew member on board, who could communicate quite clearly with the Maoris. This area was also the location of the first European settlement of New Zealand, and the place where in 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the Europeans and 46 Maori chiefs.

We hopped off the boat in Russell to see it during the day. Cute little town. Wandered around for a bit then caught the ferry back to Paihia. Packed up and pointed the camper van south. First stop was Kawakawa. There's one reason to stop in Kawakawa - their international tourist attraction - a public toilet!

Kawakawa commode Kawakawa Toilets
The Kawakawa Toilets were designed by internationally renowned painter, architect, ecologist and philosopher Friedrich Hundertwasser who was living in seclusion on the Waikare Inlet. Hundertwasser was born in Austria and moved to New Zealand in 1975. His commission in 1997 to design the public toilets in the town's main street must have come as a surprise after his many offers to design buildings, stamps and flags were all rejected. His design includes ceramic columns, a garden roof and curving, colorful exuberance (according to the spiel). Construction was performed by locals, of local materials including tiles made by students from local schools, bricks from local buildings, and windows were constructed using old bottles from the district. In 2000, the Hundertwasser Building received the Premier Award in Urban and Landscape Design, congratulated as being "innovative, proud and very creative, while embracing and enhancing the community". It was also awarded "The Golden Plunger".

From Kawakawa we continued down State Highway 1 trough Towai, Hukerenui and Waiotu until we reached Hikurangi. We cut to more backroads from here heading back out to the coast past Sandy Bay, Woolleys Bay, Whale Bay, Tutukaka and the seaside resort of Ngunguru. This then lead us in through the back way to Whangerai.

Whangerai Falls

As we approached Whangerai we stopped in at the Whangerai Falls which turned out to be a delightful 30 minute stroll around in a loop to view from above and below the 26 metre falls. Would be a nice place to stop in for a picnic sometime.

That night we stayed at the Whangerai Falls Caravan Park which was well equipped with the usual TV room and kitchen etc, but also with an outdoor covered BBQ area, a swimming pool and a hot tub. However, it was a bit suburbun and bland compared to our last few nights' spots. Phoned home from the TV room but left messages for both families.