Go away Robin.
So today two awesome things are going to happen, first, we are going to kayak to the Haruru
Falls and through some mangrove and we're gonna see a lot of awesome things, and second,
we are making our way down from Paihia and finally changing that cast.
Today we are meeting up with the team from Bay of Islands Cruise and Kayak and we are
meeting Taylor which is gonna be our skipper, kayaking guide and overall awesome tour guide
today.
Our nature cruise and kayak tour starts where the Waitangi River meets the sea and we're
gonna be making our way up the Waitangi River to an amazing waterfall but first, we have
loads of amazing birds to check out.
Half the birds are under the water, half on the top and they're just pushing the whole
school.
What?!
They are pretty onto it, ay?
While, we're cruising up the river, we are on the lookout for a kind of fish called a
flounder.
When you see them in the water, they're like a jandal upside down.
They're really neat.
they're really flat absolutely beautiful and really really tasty.
The Waitangi River is super shallow but it's super clear as well so it gives us perfect
viewing to see what's on the bottom of the river and sure enough, after some scouting
we finally find this unusual looking fish called the flounder.
It's really cool to be able to see fish actually swimming underneath the boat and Taylor tells
us how tasty they are if you catch one for dinner.
But moving on, there's a lot more wildlife to see in this really unique habitat made
up of mangrove forest.
Taylor tells us that New Zealand is actually the southernmost place on the planet where
you can find mangrove.
And mangrove are the very unique habitat for wildlife we get to see some species of birds
and plants which you can actually not find anywhere else.
The slow moving cruise through this beautiful place of the Bay of Islands is so unique.
Most of the time when you plan a trip to the Bay of Islands it's all about golden sand
beaches and exploring one of the 144 different islands in the area, but getting so close
to some unique wildlife and getting to see some amazing birds it's such an amazing experience.
We even get to see a huge colony of cormorants or known as shags here in New Zealand.
We get to see adults as well as their babies which have a very different plumage making
them instantly recognisable.
So he's probably only a month and half old so not that old.
He's fat for a month and a half.
Yeah, so probably in another month he'll lose those dirty feathers and then he'll be looking
like the other ones that are quite a pretty bird.
You will be able to see shags on most of the New Zealand coast, they are one of the most
successful fishing birds in the country.
Usually you will see them diving underwater they often come back with a really large fish
that they gobble up all in one go.
After checking the wildlife for quite a while we are finally arriving to the Haruru Falls
which is where we are going to be spending our time kayaking today.
It's one of the crown jewels of the Bay of Islands because it has such an amazing distinct
shape and makes for amazing pictures that Laura, well, can't wait to take.
So guys I can't kayak today obviously because of my arm so I got a kayak slave in the shape
of Taylor behind, which has been kind enough to be Ok kayaking us a little bit for today.
The Haruru Falls is a wide curtain waterfall looking so stunning and I can't wait to kayak
right close to it.
In fact, you can kayak right underneath it if you want to and get totally drenched but
Robin and I do have a 2-hour drive right after this tour so we're kind of avoiding that.
However, the lure of the waterfall it drawing us in so we keep getting closer and closer
to the falls with the spray being super refreshing on our face and it's really enjoyable to just
kayak around and see how close we can get before the force of the waterfall just pushes
our kayaks away.
The really cool thing about this tour is that you can be a complete beginner and still to
be able to kayak underneath the Haruru Falls.
It's not exactly a technical place to do kayaking, however if you do want to jump into the kayaks
a little bit earlier down the Waitangi River than what you saw us do, you can definitely
do that and this tour is really catered to what you want to do.
As well as kayaking underneath Haruru Falls, we also explore the surrounding areas and
the whole river gorge around us.
There are all these cliffs that we can kayak right next to, and they are topped with pohutukawa
trees which are actually dangling over the river so we can kayak right underneath them
which is super cool and fun to do.
I really like the fact that we get to kayak in open kayak meaning that it's super comfortable,
and you can be a lot more flexible in these kayaks like lying down and looking up at the
beautiful trees above you and there's also the option to do stand-up paddle boarding
if you prefer to do something a little different.
After the really awesome kayaking portion of our tour we are getting back onto the boat
to continue with the rest of our nature cruise back down the Waitangi River.
So we literally just go out of the kayaks and the first thing Laura is doing is checking
over my picture work cos she's really worried that I didn't do a good job.
Turns out that all the pictures that I took were not that bad so Laura is pretty satisfied
as we are making our way back toward where we started in the boat that actually taylor
has built himself.
Yes, that's right, he takes the time to tell us the story behind this very large kayaking
boat.
He couldn't find one that was good enough, so he made it!
Alright, so we have wet bums and we are out of the kayaks we are now making our way to
Whangarei to get another check-up on my arm and hopefully get a new cast and this is also
the day where I will know if I need an operation for my arm or not.
Oh God I have hiccups.
Do you want to see the doctor instead of me.
I think I need to.
I am ok with my arm, but if you need to see the doctor...
We'll ask the lady.
Ok.
Alright so you guys saw the deal the first time I broke my arm, it's about the same thing
I am getting a bit of an x-ray making sure everything is alright and then we are waiting.
Finally I can get rid of that.
I've decided I want red and blue.
New Zealand.
Yes, that's right you heard correctly.
We have the option to choose which colour of cast we are getting in New Zealand - it's
so awesome.
So I am getting, obviously a little creative.
Alright what do you think about that cast?
Honestly, I think that's pretty epic.
One last x-ray and me, my beautiful cast, and Laura are making our way back toward Paihia.
Aw graceful.
I think graceful is the word.
You're like a swan.