The Cream Trip

With the second day on the Bay of Islands full of sunshine, we thought it time to do what we came here to - the Cream Trip.  If you hadn't noticed by the name, the Bay of Islands is a bay full of islands (144 if I'm not mistaken).  The special thing about these islands is that these days they are largely undeveloped and publicly owned with a few exceptions.  This wasn't always the case, and thus the Cream Trip was created. The Cream Trip is an old boating route launched launched in 1886 with the purpose of delivering coal products to the inhabitants of the islands and transporting cream from the islands farms.  In the 1920's Fuller acquired this route and with rise of the Bay of Islands as a tourism destination in the 1980's, they began selling tickets to the public to allow tourists the access the beauty of the greater bay and it's islands.  Of course, now a days they include things like island stopovers, swimming with dolphins, and going through the Hole in the Rock to the trip and they are delivering mail instead of coal supplies.  

We boarded the boat and set sail around 9:15 am, and after making a quick stop at Russell to pick up a few more passenger the trip official began as we made our way towards the Moturoa Island for the first delivery.  The tour was accompanied by the captains narrative, which filled us in on the historic significance of various sights we visited as well as pointing out the natural features and creatures inhabiting the areas.  It was via this commentary that we learned Moturoa Island is one of only two islands in the bay that is privately owned.  It is owned by some 120 lucky (and probably exceedingly wealthy) shareholders, many of whom have built holiday baches on the island.  

After the first delivery and a brief tour of the area surrounding the island, we hit the open water for the chance to spot some dolphins.  It wasn't long before we happened upon a large pod of 30-40 dolphins frolicking about, although we were informed that since this pod contained baby dolphins we wouldn't be able to snorkel with them.  Either way, watching the playful dolphins peruse around the boat, showing off their tricks and poking around curiously was highly entertaining.  The captain mentioned many interesting facts about the animals, such as that they are the only animals in the animal kingdom besides humans who have sex not solely for means of reproduction (an activity which, he added, they were gratuitously indulging in as he spoke).  He also mentioned that New Zealand keeps no dolphins in captivity, as the life expectancy for caged dolphins drops considerably.  Right on New Zealand!

The next three islands were the cream of the trip (see what I did there? :p).  We did a drive by of Moturua Island, not to be confused with the before mentioned MoturOa.  Gotta love those Maori names.  The island was an absolute beauty.  An Auckland millionaire had built a veritable complex on the only privately owned portion of the island, and the beach he fronted was arguably one of the most scenic in the world.  Luckily for the rest of the world, due to the New Zealand law that all beaches must be public access and therefore cannot be privately owned, anyone with a boat can mosey on up and enjoy it for themselves. 

Motuarohia island, which is the island neighboring Moturua Island to the west, was equally if not more stunning.  Sporting two lagoons on the single narrow sand spit connecting two larger forested hills, whoever owns the single modest bach on this island is truly one to be envious of.  It is most certainly another contender for most beautiful island/beach in the world.  

The last island that we got to check out was Urupukapuka Island.  This island is the largest in the bay and our experience with it was unique from the rest in that we actually got to dock and explore the island.  The island is completely owned by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and it runs several camp sites on the island, provided you can hire a water taxi or charter boat to get there.  We docked into Otehei Bay and were released from the ship to go about our whims for about an hour or so.  Otehei Bay is another drop dead gorgeous stunner.  The water is clear as glass and we saw several large fish swimming under the docks.  An American writer by the name of Zane Grey established a base in the bay for a time so that he could beat other deep sea fishers to the waters in the morning.  After a short swim I ran to the top of the tallest hill I could find for a wonderful panoramic of the whole island and it's many lovely bays.

The final stop for the day was the Hole in the Rock, which is exactly what it sounds like - a hole in a large rock just off the coast of Cape Brett.  Once the boat started moving towards the more open waters near the rock, the sea became pretty rough and numerous people on the ship had to rush for their little white bags.  Fortunately neither Kayleigh or I are prone to sea sickness, but due to the conditions of the sea, we were prevented from the privilege of sailing through the hole.  That didn't make the views any less amazing.

I know this has been a long post, but it was a day full of stories that need to be told, and the last thing I'd like to share with you is that on our return towards Russell, we were surprised by a pair of dolphins doing some tricks out in front of the boat.  It's apparently very rare to see only a pair of dolphins with no pod around, and many took the opportunity to jump into the water for a snorkel with the playful pair.  Kayleigh and I held back on this one, as it wasn't very long before other tourist boats in the area spotted our luck and came to get a piece of the action.  Before we knew it, there was over 5 boats unleashing a snorkel army onto the unsuspecting dolphins, who unsurprisingly turned and swam for the hills.  

The Cream Trip is a definite highlight of our time in the Northland.