We arrived in New Zealand at the Bay of Islands for our first port day. We knew that we needed to get up early because we were tendering today so we headed with the "early risers" and waited to be one of the first ones on the tender boats. As we were waiting I got my camera out to take a picture and realized that somehow my camera switch got turned on and my battery was DEAD. My sweet dad let me use his battery to his big camera and used his small camera most of the day. I was so mad at myself but relieved that I had a great dad who was looking out for me. I packed the camera back in my bag, making sure that the camera was OFF, and we boarded the tender boat. I was a little nervous about how I would do on such a small and rocky boat but it turns out that it was just fine. It was actually kind of fun to sit in the front and see everything as we approached land. It was a nice day, about 70F, and we were greeted with some native New Zealanders as we stepped off the tender. The Bay of Islands is actually made up of about 150 isles, some still secluded, and a handful of coastal towns. This was the first permanent European settlement of New Zealand dating back to 1769. It was interesting to learn a little about the Waitangi history here and the arrival of the Europeans. We walked by the Waitangi Visitor Center but opted not to spend our time here because it cost money to enter. Today was all about driving around to see as much as possible. First we headed to the Glow Worm caves at Kawiti Caves. We drove in our rental van along some pretty cool scenery of rolling hills and blue sky. The caves were amazing and the kids enjoyed it except for Abby who at times was a little scared because it was so dark. The guide had a lantern but she would occasionally turn it off so we could see all the glow worms. It's too bad we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the caves. The worms were so brilliant and neat looking. It was a short little tour but that was ok because we got to take a little hike back to the entrance through the forest. Our next stop...FOOD! WE stopped to eat lunch at a little sandwhich shop in this small, run down town. The kids ate ice-cream and my mom and I went into a fun little store full of crafty fun things. I didn't buy anything but it was fun to look anyways. There was also a really cool wall in this little town so we all stopped to check it out.
(Get used to me in this purple sweater because it acted as my little coat and I pretty much wore it most days!)
We jumped back in the van and headed to Manginangina to walk around the Kauri boardwalk. The fern trees and the gigantic Kauri trees (like Redwood trees) were amazing here. The kids had fun running up and down the boardwalk. We must have timed it right because we were the only ones on the boardwalk so we were free to be loud and silly. As we were leaving we saw a big tour group heading to the entrance...so glad we beat that group. Since the boardwalk was shorter than anticipated we drove a short way to hike along another trail. We came to the Waipapa River track and looked at the sign that read, "2 days," so we headed down a ways before turning around. It was just what we needed to get our little hike in for the day.
Once again we jumped into the van and this time we headed to see one of New Zealands's oldest European stone buildings called the Stone Store located on the Kerikeri Mission Station grounds. The Stone Store is of national and international significance as the oldest surviving commercial building in New Zealand. It is the oldest remaining building linked with the import of goods from overseas, the storage of produce grown in New Zealand and the bartering of goods with Maori. The kids weren't that interested in all that was inside but were happy to eat the popsicles that we bought for them out on the front steps. The adults, however, were intrigued by this store and spent some time looking around.
With some time to burn before heading back to the tender we decided to try and find Haruru Falls. On the way, to my request, we stopped at a chocolate store. We were all a little tired from being in the van so we spent some time watching the workers make chocolate covered cherries. Of course we found some great chocolate covered brittle that we all shared. The box was gone in no time at all. We finally made it to the falls and everyone got out to play in the water at the top of the falls. It is a good thing I put the kids in their keens and good thinking for purchasing those for our trip...bonus points for mom! As if our day was not complete we headed back to where the tender boats docked but not before getting out and letting the kids play in the water. With no towels we were a little hesitant to let them get in very far. They were pretty good listeners and had fun without getting too wet. We headed back on the tender and shortly after getting back on the ship we got two great surprises...a beautiful sunset and a cool towel dog sporting Mike's sunglasses! It was a super fun first day in New Zealand.
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