Northland - Beaches and Snorkeling

Next, we drove another six hours north to the Bay of Islands. We would spend a week in Pahia. It was Christmas week, so the plan was to keep things simple.  

We did some local Christmas things: carols, picnics in the park, church services on Sunday and Christmas Eve, Christmas crackers. 

We also visited a bunch of beaches. They were all very beautiful and very calm. 

We took a ferry to the town of Russell across the bay and checked out the cute shops, and walked to a lookout point.

We did book one tour to go snorkeling. It was a small boat with only 12 passengers, led by Captain Tammy and her husband, Steve.

The water was pretty cold, so they gave us wetsuits to be more comfortable. This also made us more buoyant. I loved that for snorkeling, but Tom (who likes to dive down) did not. So Steve fitted him out with a weight belt. 

We took a stop at one island for Steve to dive and collect a bunch of sea urchins, which are considered pests in these waters. 

He used them at our snorkeling spots to lure the fish. 

At our second dive site, we had to snorkel through a sea cave. That was a cool experience, but Lucy got a little panicky and I had to pull her along until we were through the cave.

Afterwards, Steve gave us sea urchins to hold so the fish would eat right out of our hands. I got so freaked out by “those cheeky fish” that I promptly dropped mine. The kids did better and kept asking for more sea urchins to feed to the fish. 

When we got back on the boat, Captain Tammy hosed us off with hot water and then gave us cups of soup. 

Our ride back was lovely. Lucy because the Captain’s chief mate. Tom made friends with everyone, and we got a firsthand view of why they call this the Bay of Islands.