Cruise On Paihia Harbour

Monday, the third day of our tour was a free day. We decided to book onto Darrell’s Lunchtime Cruise and this was scheduled to depart ar 11am.
We had a bit of a sleep in and awoke to another magnicent day, sunny, little or no breeze and a predicted top of 29.

Breakfast is included every day of our stay so naturally we strolled into the restaurant and helped ourselves to a nice buffet. I am not sure that I will fit into my shirts by the time we go home. The old comics are slowly going from a 6 pack to a slab with all the great food so far devoured, mainly at breakfast and dinner. Of course, the others are on the whole being sensible with their food intake but I don’t seem to be able to exercise the same control.

We left the hotel about 10am and walked the kilometre or so to the pier to meet the boat. We were there in plenty of time with Ron

displaying all the characteristics of my dear old dad in regard to never being late. We strolled round what shops there were on Paihia (thankfully bugger all) and still had ample time to meet the check in time. Paihia is a seaside resort town with the main retail establishments being cafes, takeaways and restaurants. There are 2 main beaches which are well populated in the good weather. In fact, a cricketer would class today as a “good seeing day”.

We boarded Darell’s “Ratanui” and departed right on time. The Maori name means cheerfulness and friendliness (allegedly). Darrell had given us the flick and Garth was our Skipper today ably assisted by Alyssa, a backpacker from Vancouver. Apart from Joan, Ron, Lesley and me, there was one other couple, Gabby and Graeme from Canberra. The boat can take 48 comfortably, so we were not crowded out. Our new Canberra friends were retired ex public servants and they didn’t need to tell us that, it was obvious. It would have been more interesting talking to a Kauri Tree. I know I am being harsh but if you ask the others, it is a fair call. My apologies to other dedicated public servants who actually possess personalities. Anyway I digress.

For lunch on Ratanui there was a choice between venison, fish or lamb. I went the lamb whilst Lesley decided on the fish. From what I remember, Ron and Joan did the same. Both were ok with my highlight being the sweet potato on the side. Anyway, we covered a fair bit of Paihia Harbour and we will see more of this picturesque body of water as we are going on a dolphin spotting cruise as part of our tour tomorrow morning.

On getting back to the harbour, we meandered back to the hotel for some well earned downtime before dinner which was on us tonight and not part of our tour. When we met for dinner, the consensus was dine at the hotel and have an early night to recharge the batteries. We nearly achieved that. Dinner went a little longer than anticipated but again, the meal was great and the company was even better. Day three of our trip had come to an end but it had been a wonderful day.

New Zealand Beers

So far, I haven’t had a bad one. I’ve tried the mainstream ones, as being just a little stubborn, I am not a craft beer man.

I think the best ones so far have been Mac’s Gold and Speights Summit with Steinlager Pure and NZ Pure both very drinkable.