A Delightful Day in the Bay of Islands
Day 59, Grand Asia 2017
Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017 – Waitangi, New Zealand
Our journey to New Zealand began with a scenic sail-in to the Bay of Islands, in the northeast part of the country’s north island. More than 140 islands, some merely rocks, dotted the bay as we entered.
This was only our second tender port, and the dropping of the ship’s anchor around 7:30 a.m. surely woke anyone in a forward cabin who was still sleeping. The four ship’s tenders were quickly launched for the 20-minute ride to Waitangi, a small village just a mile from the larger town of Paihia. The town provided a shuttle from the tender dock to the center of town.
One of the favorite perks of gaining 4-star status (200 nights) is priority access to the tenders. However, with about 75 percent of passengers on this cruise being 4-star or higher, the ship’s officials announced there would be no priority status. When we were ready to go ashore, we stopped to pick up a tender number. At its longest, the wait was probably 30-40 minutes. Those on ship’s tours met and disembarked as a group.
I had a leisurely morning and got my ticket at about 10:30 a.m., when the wait was about five minutes. My only plans for the day were to explore town on my own and maybe find some Wifi. The town of Paihia stretches for about six square blocks, so it didn’t take too long to explore. A crafts market filled an open field, and many local artisans displayed woolen goods, jewelry, clothing and woodcarvings.
The most striking sight was of gaggles of ship passengers paused on the sidewalks or sitting at café tables staring at their smartphones. Yes, I eventually became one of them, but settled inside an ice cream shop with a cup of latte to update my magazine app and Snapchat briefly with my family.
Had we arrived a week or two later, the local “Christmas” trees growing everywhere would have been red with blossoms. I believe the name is due to the bright red flowers that appear for the holidays rather than to any resemblance to the shape of a Christmas tree.
Several times during the day dolphins entertained us all around the ship. A few times, one would throw itself totally out of the water and crash back. (Naturally, I never had my camera ready.) Sailboats came and went, enjoying a day in the bay.
Rumors tonight had it that five passengers were stopped as they came ashore for violating New Zealand’s strict quarantine regulations regarding fruits, vegetables and other food products. We were warned several times that we could take no food from the ship and that officials would greet us at the tender pier to check our bags. I even took the packaged power bars out of my backpack. I heard that those passengers who had violated the edict were fined $300 and that they may not be allowed into New Zealand again. Obviously, the New Zealanders are serious about protecting their isolated environment from foreign intruders of the biological sort.
