New Zealand - Bay of Islands

Once we finally made it to the Bay of Islands, we just "hung" out and enjoyed the view and the "cold" pool. The pool was not heated, and surprisingly it was actually pretty cold.
This was a failed retaining wall at our hotel - more evidence of all the rain here.

We took a ferry to a town called Russell, and climbed up to Flagstaff Lookout. The views were once again amazing.

This is Long Beach which was also in Russell.

I had the afternoon to shop, while Pat took the kids to an Adventure Park in Paihia that is actually run by some Olympic gymnasts. Apparently Pat tried the tight rope!

One highlight of this trip was our Dolphin Cruise. We saw 3 or 4 pods of dolphins, and Taylor and Pat actually got to swim with them.

This is a boom net that is used to quickly move everyone to where the dolphins are swimming. Taylor and Pat are on the lower left. The kids also got to ride in it for fun at the end of the cruise.

We also got to cruise through this big "hole in the rock".

As part of the cruise we also got to have lunch on this small island. We packed our own lunch and ate it on the beach. You can see our boat anchored in the distance.

This is Pat doing a swimming start! We did a small hike out to see Harura Falls.

This is the view from another hike. it was the lookout from Lady Besloe.

Pat and Brody are enjoying the view from another hike.