Bay of Islands, New Zealand

We arrived in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand to perfect weather. Our excursion was kayaking in the Waitangi estuary. We called it the "Pedal, Paddle, Piddle" tour. The problem is the NZ accent and the fact that our kayaks had a rudder that you controlled with a pedal and you propelled yourself with paddles. The problem? Kiwis pronounce pedal as paddle and paddle as pedal and the piddle is self explanatory as we were out for four hours! So, once we got through the language barriers in our orientation, we got underway!

The Waitangi is Maori for sorrowful waters. The story is that a powerful Maori chief had a beautiful daughter that he had promised to a man. Unfortunately, she loved someone else and refused her father's choice. He imprisoned her until her lover found her and they ran away. Her father was furious and sent dolphins to find her (he had control over them). The dolphins opted for love and, legend has it, they have never returned to the estuary to this day.

The kayaking was great and we continued to some falls that were very robust due to a recent rain.

We then paddled back through the mangroves. Very magical, very tiring, but very special.

We were packed and ready for disembarkation the next day in Aukland.