Toddler ( well 49'er) Tantrums and Amazing Dolphins

Fantastic dolphin experience in NZ answer to the Scillies !

Well, it really was a very long drive yesterday and after a nearly 1.5 hour hold up going through Auckland following the 280km detour to visit ‘caves’, I have to rather admit that a toddler tantrum ( well 49+ ) of epic proportions was brewing.... and meltdown begun 481 km in and after no stops... when TIm sets out on a drive- well we just keep driving... thank god the camper has a loo on board !    so a campsite was rapidly found before the camper combusted.Supper cum lunch cum tea, all in one,  was cooked in silence, and a rather ‘quiet’ evening meant early bed..... o dear....

There had been much debate about bothering to visit the caves.... the most visited NZ tourism attraction sent alarm bells ringing to me, the vision of yet more coach loads of japanese tourists, the cost was rather steep but the glowworm caves at Waitomo are the ‘ must see’ , or so it says in the brochure .

Have to admit that to me one cave is much like another and having seen Wooky Hole many years ago I felt that was fine by me..The attraction of trekking miles underground... and paying a fortune for it, was slightly lost on me and William and probably Lowenna but this was one of Tim’s must do’s and we all respected that and set out to enjoy...

Trouble is we had been spoilt the last couple of days in the best campsite by a beautiful lake and didn’t really want to leave.... pottering around Rotorua and the nearby Coromandel for our last few days, with no great journeys, seemed somewhat appealing after the last weeks of whizzing all over NZ at great speed.... hey ho... on we go...

Anyway... that was yesterday..... we did all agree after all that, that yes it was a complete rip off and the glowworm experience of a few minutes in a boat underground after a 2.5 hr cave tour was underwhelming to say the least....oh well... can’t win ‘em all !

But, today has been awesome... we got up early ,if still a bit silent and completed the 168km run up to Pahia and the Bay of Islands.... Still think the Scillies definately win but the 144 islands in the Bay are pretty special...

and.... we saw dolphins..... yippeeeeeeeeeeee

 after the disappointment of missing our whale watching trip in Kaikoura due to weather....this made up for it.We had a very happy and excited Lowenna, William took loads of pics, Tim loved it and all was well worth it....

and not just a big pod but babies too..... they dived and played around the boat, the sun shone, the wind blew in our hair and blew away all the frustrations of yesterday.....

must be one of the best moments ever to treasure....

great campsite too tonight... free wifi for first time ,we are by the sea, and tomorrow Tim and Will go up to the very top of NZ on a long day rip in a coach, Lowenna and I are going riding.... ( couldnt’ face another 250 km trip top the top !)