Bay of Islands, New Zealand 3/5/24



 Bay of Islands, New Zealand


Our second and final stop in New Zealand is Bay of Islands, part of the area known as the “birthplace of New Zealand” and one rich in Maori history. The Bay is home to 144 islands, ranging from rocky outcrops to larger islands with private farms. There are beautiful beaches, the historic Waitangi Treaty Grounds, giant Kauri forests, and even glow worm caves to see at this port.    We did a small tour with Karen and Shel, our now very good friends from the cruise.   We started out great - a very early stop at a winery (as Mickey likes to say, you can't drink all day if you don't start early). Not being a big rose fan, I really enjoyed their sparkling rose wine, and we bought a bottle to take back on board.  We then decided one bottle was not enough and later in the day made another stop to pick up 2 more bottles.  We think it will pair very well with the chocolate we purchased in Devonport......we then headed to another chocoate store and could not reist their chocolate crunch, so we have more chocolate to enjoy.  On to our next stop which was a local honey store with tastings.  Ran into more world cruisers enjoying the good there also.  Our guide hen took us to a beautiful park which housed the two oldest buildings in the area, The Stone House and the Kemp family home.  Situated on Maori sacred lands, it is now maintained by the government and was absolutely lovely.  The chapel was particularly stunning in its simplicity with the Kemp family cemetery surrounding the church.  It is still an active church to this day and was built on the site of the first Christian service when the British started to colonize the area.  Captain Cook named the Bay of Islands.   It is renowned for the blue sky's and the weather cleared up enough for us to see how spectacular they are.   Our next 2 stops were the waterfalls - one large and one small...Not Iguazu Falls but charming all the same. Last stop atop the hill to for a great view of our ship and the bay (quite windy as you can see in the pics) and then back on board.  After today we’ll spend the next two days at sea on the way to our first stop in the Land Down Under… also known as home to our many Aussie shipmates.
























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