The Fantastic Bay of Islands

As I sit and read my copy of the Lonely Planet New Zealand, I am overwhelmed. For such a relatively small country the possibilities of something to do seem endless. We have just spent the last three weeks in the Bay of Islands. After resting up at the marina and enjoying the yacht club for a little while we were ready to go exploring. There are dozens of wonderful anchorages all within 15 miles of each other. The views are fantastic and so is the diving and fishing. Mark and our friend Christian dove the newly sunken Canterbury wreck on a rainy morning while Poki and I hung out on board reading trashy magazines and drinking hot chocolate. In the afternoon we took a glorious but punishing walk out to Cape Brett. One of our first "tramps" in New Zealand, Cape Brett was a wonderful glimpse into the great beauty of the New Zealand wilderness. I do gush, but we really do love it here so far. And if all of that isn't cool enough, the boys set out to gather lobsters, scallops and the famous New Zealand Green-Lipped mussels for dinner. Okay for those of you who know me well, you know I am having something non-shellfishy for dinner but still, Mark and our friends on Irie can't get enough of this seafood buffet. Currently we are anchored at Robertson Island which is one of he most historic in the Bay of Islands, as it is one of Captain Cooks first landing spots back in the 1770s. There is little to see here but a walk up the hill affords awesome views of the islands and the cove has crystal clear water. I have yet to get in the water because of the temperature but I am working up to that. Hopefully I will become acclimated one of these days. After all I am from Wisconsin. Our plans from here include taking another week or so to sail down to Auckland where we will put Scholarship in a marina and do some more exploring on land. Below are some pictures from the Bay.

PS okay it's several days later and we have been hunkered down while the wind blows up to fifty knots and it has rained for three days here in the Bay of Islands. I guess we are finally experiencing winter like many of you at home. But wait, isn't it summer here? Despite a little cabin fever, life is still good. Mark and Christian brought home oodles of scallops and clams for dinner.