The Bay of Islands 13th - 17th April

As it's name suggests this is a bay with many islands in it. The only way to really see it is by boat and that's exactly what we did. We spent the Easter Weekend on this 72 foot yacht. There were 10 passengers, 2 crew and Moby the dog. There was no wind on our 1st day so we motored up to the Cavalli Islands (which is where the wreck of the Rainbow Warrior is), anchored in a cove and went snorkelling and kayaking. We caught and ate lots of tuna and mussels. Did a couple of walks on some of the islands themselves. There was also lots of wildlife, seals, gannets and even more dolphins - but these were bottle nose and up to 4 meters long!

Perhaps the most useful and intelligent crew member on board the boat was Moby, the dog. Not only would his high pitch whining attract the attention of dolphins but he would start barking whenever there was a fish on one of the lines we were trawling behind the boat. It meant nobody had to do any "fishing" as such. Just drop the line in and leave the rod. Sure as eggs is eggs Moby would start barking when you caught a tuna. Very useful. Once the fish was safely on board Moby was only happy once he'd given it a lick in the face. Then we'd slit it's throat and gut it before sticking it in the pan for dinner. There were some interesting people on board. That's a photo of Sally. She came kayaking with us out into the pacific ocean and went exploring inside these huge sea caves. She's 72.