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After departing Auckland harbor we sailed all night and arrived in Bay of Islands NZ at about 8am on Thursday. There had been a little confusion about our excursion tickets (Daryl booked them, they were listed in our papers, but no tickets came to the cabin), but we ended up on the second group which meant we didn't have to get up quite so early. There is no dock for a ship like the Marina in Bay of Islands which is basically many bays with about 150 islands. Tom has a house in Russell, but we anchored close to Paiiha and took the tender in. We met our bus driver/guide, Kire, a jovial guy and the only Maori guide in NZ, according to him and certainly the only one we had ever seen. He greeted us in Maori and throughout the 5 hours told us lots about the customs and life of the current Maori population. He also repairs the school buses and drives them and is a volunteer fireman so he was full of information on many fronts. It was really interesting to get another take on life in the Northland as they call the northernmost part of the North Island. He explained the history of small towns, the meaning of the Maori names, the correct pronunciation of words (the Maori actually pronounce it as closer to "moldy" rather than "Mowrey") and explained the differences in the Maori school system versus the "mainstream" school system and how, as with other native peoples, not exposing yourself to the mainstream world can be generally detrimental to your future. He has 5 kids, from 25 down to 14, and has put them all through the mainstream system but still teaches them about their culture.

Our first stop was at the Stone Store and Kemp House, buildings of stone and wood dating from the early 1800s. Then we headed into the Puketi Forest to see more rainforest and kauri trees, although none as large as Tane Mahuta, the largest of them all that we had seen on our excursion with Tom to a more western part of the kauri forest. To get to this walkway through the forest, Kire took the coach for miles on gravel roads just barely wider than the bus and hoping not to meet one of the logging trucks heading in the opposite direction at 60mph. Our next stop was back in Kawakawa, the home of the fantastical toilets, and the little train going down the middle of the street. Since we had already been here with Tom, we strolled around for a few minutes (one block up and one block down and town is done) and then sat on the coach and exchanged motorcycle stories with Kire, who has a Harley. It was more fun than walking in town, that's for sure!

Then we all headed a short distance away to Kawiti Caves. The story is that 300+ years ago, the Kawiti clan, a Maori family was having some of their sweet potato crop stolen and then saw some smoke coming from a hole in a hill on their land. They found an old lady in a cave with a fire going and their stolen sweet potato and took her into their own home. However, the legend says that the caves were discovered this way and they found that thousands of glow-worms were living inside. In the 1950s, the Kawiti family decided to let other people see the caves and built walkways throughout. Our guide, Te Paiere, is a 13^th generation member of the family and took us through the caves. Unfortunately, you cannot take photos inside, so you will have to take our word for it. Light can throw off the whole cycle of the glow-worm which only lives for a year in total and is found only in Australia and NZ, or has only been reported there. Te Paiere explained how they spin a silk "fishing line" and hang from the roof of these caves, which are full of stalactites and stalagmites. Their light attracts small bugs which are their source of food. The light is a combination of bioluminescence and another biolum-something and is 99% light and 1% heat. They eat and grow for 11 months, then madly try to find a mate and breed and then die after laying eggs, about 140 per worm in clumps of 20-30. After we had walked into the caves some distance, with Coleman lanterns being carried by the first in every 4-6 people, we turned off the lanterns and looked up to see the whole roof of the caves glowing like the constellations. We spent about 45 minutes inside and then did a "bush walk" up and down hill for another 20-30 minutes.

Kire took us back to the tender dock, although not early enough for his boss. The last tender was supposed to leave for the ship before 3:30 and we got there at about 3:35 but since there was another tender still to go, we didn't get too excited. The captain was planning to up anchor by 4pm, but we were pulling away about 4:40pm. They kept calling one couple over the loudspeaker and we only hope the Mayers made it back on-board. If you are on a ship run excursion, they cannot leave without you, but if you are independent they can.

We had been hearing rumors of another storm coming towards us since we had arrived in Auckland, so didn't know what the situation was like. We were to head north to New Caledonia where Tropical Storm Lucy was heading down from, so the Captain set a course to miss the center of the storm by 385 nautical miles and off we went. There were expectations of rough seas so the usual warnings of slippery decks and rocking and rolling throughout the night. We set our clocks back an hour after dinner at Red Ginger and figured we would sleep in as Friday is a day at sea. We did sleep in. In fact Rob got up before Daryl and had juice waiting in the living-room. The skies were very dark and the swells were at 11.5-12 feet. Even with a ship this size and its stabilizers extended, you can see the side to side movement and feel it in the hallways. (As I write this, the table occasionally rocks forward on its pedestal, threatening to empty the computer into my lap.) The sun did finally come out and the crowds are around the pool, for the first time since we got on board. We still have the rest of today and tomorrow morning until we reach Noumea, New Caledonia. So we will be reading and eating – two of our favorite occupations.