Day 2 of Labour Weekend: Something in the Water, Dolphin! Part 2

Later the skipper found the spot where the dolphins were. Seriously I was so nervous. Excited sort of nervous. When I first saw a dolphin from afar I want to jump joy. I can't. I was sitting at the edge of the rail but part of me want to be thrown overboard and be saved by a dolphin.

As we got closer, they weren't many of them. According to the commentary those were teenage Bottlenose dolphins. I know why there weren't many of them. Those dolphins were skipping "school of dolphin". Teenage rebellions. We didn't come too close as the skipper said let them come to us. And they did.

Dolphins were such a curious animal just like cat. Always nosy with new thing coming. I saw one dolphin peeked his head up then float to whole body to the surface and rolled his belly up. Just like Only (my cat) when he is in the affectionate mood. Perhaps the dolphin was in the same mood. I want to rub his belly and tickled him but then again no matter how cute and cuddly and friendly they are, they still a wild animal.

Then we left the spot. Other boat has radioed our skipper there were

sightings of dolphins not far from where we were. This time there was a baby dolphin in the pod. I didn't see it though. One thing that I learn from the commentary, we weren't allow to swim with baby dolphin. Reason number one, the mum might be protective. Reason number two, we human have the same body temperature with dolphin so we don't to confuse the dolphin. Reason number three, baby dolphin suckle its mum every 3 minutes. So I don't want the baby to suck any part of my body thinking I'm its mum!

These school of dolphins were really came close to us. I was lucky enough to be

so quick to get to the bottom front deck since most people climbing up to top deck. Following crowd isn't always good, at least not on this one,. I saw 2 dolphins just inches from the boat. They were huge. Bigger than average human size.

I wonder why people love dolphin. Cute? Gentle? One thing I know, I like the way they swim. Gracefully like a ballerina and very therapeutic. Do you know why most dentist have aquarium? - to calm the patient so that they won't suffer excessive bleeding. Swear to god I'm not kidding. I read it somewhere. Back to the therapeutic effect, yes I do feel calm looking at their antics.

I've taken few minutes of videos but none of the shots reflect the real experience. It's really true what most people said, you have to have to be there to it. My handicam battery almost exhausted yet we have 2 more things to see - Cape Brett's Hole in the Rock and Ohakei Bay.

The sky was so clear, on the top deck I could see as far as the eyes could see. The skipper said in this weather we could see up to 28 nautical miles ahead of us. 52 kilometres! Crazy. From where I stood I could see a volcanic rock formation from the distance. I don't know the name but it looked so familiar from those travel brochures and it was 20 kilometres away! I can't believe I could see that far.

About 20 minutes later we reach the tip of Cape Brett. Rugged rocky shore with a ruin concrete jetty. On top of the hill was a whitewash weatherboard house and hundreds metres further up stood a light house. I saw a guy walking out of the house, topless. Apparently, you rent a bed there for NZD$15 per night. Imagine waking up in that view and just stone throw away to the Hole in the Rock.

The boat sail through the hole. Huge tunnel. The water pretty rough in that hole, made the boat a bit wobbly. We circled the rock to find nature's natural sculpture of a lady face. The Maori belief she is the guardian of the Bay of Islands.

The journey just got better when we did stopover at Urupukapuka Island. I found my paradise there. Well manicured green grass until the edge of the shore and a little stream running at one end of the beach. Across the stream the land was gated and in the middle of it was a bright red shed housing the farming I supposed since there were sheep behind the building. Picture perfect but it's a shame we stopped there less than an hour. Love to come back and stay few night on that island.

On the way back to Paihia, I told myself how lucky I was this time, blessed with a very good weather which is very rare to happen during Labour weekend while looking out at the horizon and thought, if I were to die tomorrow, I'll die a happy man. I've seen such a beautiful place and magnificent animal in my life.

Once I was back at the hostel ,I dozed off. Recharging myself.