At Anchor, Waitangi Bay of Islands. Excursion: Kayaking on the Waitangi Estuary.

One of the piers in Waitangi

Wowee, I am a bit stiff and sore...  Why?  Exercise.  😩 

But I will tell you about that in a minute.

The Maasdam dropped her anchor in the beautiful bay just off Waitangi.  Two other ships eventually joined us in the bay - one a very lot bigger than the Maasdam.  She was huge,  like a floating city or monstrosity.  There was a much smaller ship too - quite a sweet looking ship.

As soon as the tenders were lowered, guests could go ashore.  I joined my assigned excursion group for the long ride to the pier.  As the tender left the ship, the tender pilot pointed out some dolphins swimming near the bow of the ship and the tender.  It was a lovely sight. 

A traditional Maori Waka

Fortunately the 2 other ships were tendering to other piers in nearby villages so there wasn't the potential chaos, and we were able to spot our waiting guide.   Grace soon had us loaded up into the waiting minibus and took us to the kayak's office start/end point at the Waitangi River mouth.  There we were given life-jackets, signed our lives away in a waiver and given waterproof bags into which we could put cameras and anything else we wanted to take on the journey. 

There was a fairly strong headwind blowing so instead of kayaking up the estuary to a waterfall and back down again, out guides felt it would be best to kayak one way with the wind behind us.  We were driven inland to a point not too far from the base of the Haruru Falls.  We were given a briefing on what to do (most guests had never been in a kayak before) and were then launched into the water from the river bank. 




We kayaked a few meters up to the base of the waterfall for a few photographs then did the one-way trip back to the kayak’s base but at a slow pace.  Our guide, Grace, made the kayak journey fun; pointing out bird life and taking us through the mangroves now and then for a more obstacle-based kayaking experience.  We also played a ball game on the water as well.  Those in the front seats of the kayaks had to put on blindfolds (white with drawings of closed eyelids!), Grace emptied a bag of balls into the water, and on the word 'go', those in the back seats of the kayaks had to paddle like hell towards the balls and those in the front seats had to feel in the water for them and gather as many as they could.  Unfortunately I am not the strongest of paddlers so me and my guest didn't do so well - gathering 11 out of 100 balls.  Other teams did a heck of a lot better; my guest's daughters managed to rake in 34 balls, the other kayakers - the rest.  Guests seemed to have a load of fun.

The guest in my kayak admitted she was a 'city slicker' but had enjoyed herself tremendously.  Her daughters were also city girls and the one at the back of the kayak kept on checking her mobile phone and texting while her sister did a lot of the hard work up front.  Needless to say the daughter at the front was not happy with her sister at the back.  Mum had to tell her daughters to stop arguing, put the phone away, and paddle like the rest of us!

We arrived back at the kayak's base, happy but weary. 

Our driver drove us back to town and the pier.  By now there were crowds of people - it seemed that the larger ship's guests had taken over the town.  It was lively yet awful.  I had a wander around a small arts and crafts market before making my way back to the pier to catch the tender.  There was quite a queue for the tenders and I had to wait a while.  It didn't matter though.

I had a shower and stood under it for a while.  One of my shoulders was starting to seize up - 'complaining' about the exercise it was made to do. The base of my thumbs and the finger webs there have started to feel a bit bruised.  But hey, it had been a fantastic day!

The Maasdam's route to Sydney, Australia

The Maasdam is coming to the end of her current cruise.  We are now heading back to Sydney after which the new cruise starts. 

The Maasdam will be docked in Melbourne on Christmas day rather than being at sea.  The New Year will start off with a bang with the Maasdam docking in Wellington, New Zealand.  More of the schedule will follow and I will keep you updated.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Me and our guide, Grace.