After three days at sea, it felt great to step off of the boat and onto dry New Zealand land for the first time. Of our three stops in New Zealand, Bay of Islands is the port that I was least familiar with, and the only stop where we elected to take a ship shore excursion. Whenever possible, I like to explore new areas by foot; however, as we discovered in Moorea and Bora Bora, that is not always the best option. In Bay of Islands, many of the top attractions are naturally focused on the sea, but our ship docked too late in the morning to take advantage of the more private excursions (e.g., to the Hole in the Rock, one of Bay of Islands’ most popular spots). Of the ship excursions, I was immediately drawn to a half-day tour of the Kawati Glow Worm Caves and the Puketi Forest.
Bay of Islands is the last port where we need to tender from the ship, so we meet our tour group at the lounge after breakfast, and then took the tender to our awaiting coach bus. The driver was a descendant of the native Maori who met the British explorers during the early 19th century, and he provided great commentary throughout the tour. Our first stop was to Kerikeri, home of the oldest wooden building and the oldest stone building from the original settlement. The drive took us past countryside straight of a magazine, with green rolling hills covered in sheep, cows, horses, and the occasional alpaca or emu. I would have liked to stop and take a picture of the scenery, although I think that the other guests on the tour preferred our brief stop at the public toilets.
After another short drive, we arrived at Puketi Forest, which is famed for its massive kauri trees. There is an elevated walkway through the forest, and a local guide provided a very informative 45-minute narration. We learned that the trees, which are as wide and tall as many of California’s redwoods, are centuries old, with some of the oldest trees dating back nearly two thousand years! There are also regular night walks through the forest, when the insects and other critters are much more visible. I think that Ann Taylor was happy enough to use (or not use) her imagination during the daytime tour. The clouds and light breeze threatened rain while we were at Puketi Forest, but we were fortunate to stay dry. It was a very different climate than the Polynesian Islands that we had previously visited on the cruise, and a nice reminder of the diversity of locations that we would be visiting.
Shortly after noon, we stopped at Kawakawa, a small town with a main strip that reminded me of Chatham in Cape Cod. We enjoyed a quick bite from a grab-and-go location – fruit and yoghurt for Ann Taylor, a steak pie for me – before boarding the bus for our last stop: the Kawiti Glow Worm Caves. We were unable to take any photographs inside of the caves, but that hardly detracted from the experience. The caves were dark and damp – of course – with limestone walls and stalactites and stalagmites (although I am still unsure which is which) lining the wooden walkway. When we arrived at the midpoint of the caves, the guides turned off the lanterns and we looked up at a virtual galaxy of glow worms. We learned that the worms use the light – in conjunction with a sticky web-like material – to trap other insects as food during their eleven months in worm form. After two weeks in a cocoon, they emerge with only three days to mate and lay eggs before they die. Quite a life.
At a second stop in the caves, the glow worms were closer, and their blue lights even more intense. We learned that the hungrier the worms are, the brighter their lights glow, and it seemed that many of the worms had not eaten in some time. We excited the caves to what was described as a “bush walk”, but more accurately a really nice hike through the forest, back to the bus. Certainly nothing that was too strenuous, but a nice reminder of some of the more adventurous hikes that Ann Taylor and I had taken in Kauai. Back on the bus, there was one last stop at a picturesque overlook of the Bay of Islands before we took the tender back to the ship. We had a little more than an hour to relax before a “smart casual” dinner in the main restaurant.
For dinner, I enjoyed the prime rib and orange soufflé, while Ann Taylor paired her “better than expected” steak fajitas with lime sorbet. Tonight’s after dinner entertainment was a comedic singer, whose songs ranged from pop to opera to one-man barbershop quartet. There were definitely some moments that were better than others, but overall he was pretty entertaining. We had planned to go the 50s music trivia immediately after the performance ended, but we arrived about halfway through the questions. This proved to be just fine, though, as even ten questions quickly illuminated that we know more about 70s music than 50s music, which still does not say much. Tomorrow, we visit Auckland, the largest city in Australia, and the first large city that we will have seen since our layover in Los Angeles. We are looking forward to continuing to explore the New Zealand countryside, and getting a taste of local life (and, hopefully, local cuisine).
