Popular History & Heritage in Paihia

Sadly, due to the bad weather overnight, it was too rough for the boat to get out ot the hole in the rock, so we had to spend the rest of the trip cruising around the bay looking for dolphins. Unfortunately, the pod that had been seen the day before were nowhere to be found, but we did find large flocks of seabirds (gannets, shearwaters and the odd booby) diving for fish. They were fantastic to watch. The rest of the cruise, stopping to deliver mail to some of the islands and seeing the amazing Black Rock Islands was really good too. Would have given a rating of Excellent if we'd made it to the rock or seen dolphins or whales, but the cruise operators were not at fault and did their best given the weather. An added bonus is that we were given a ticket for a free trip another time. We'll definitely be taking them up on that and will bring the children next time.

As a retired tour driver, I was very pleased to have had Rachael providing a very complete narration for the day. She not only covered the sights we saw, she also shed light on the history of the area and the political significance of the people involved in the area's historical past. She was also well versed in the flora and fauna that we encountered throughout the tour. She had a great sense of humor that kept everyone wanting to hear more. Lastly, she displayed genuine concern for our safety while on tour.

We really enjoyed our day on the tall ship, relaxing or you can help pull up the sails, fantastic when the wind picked up and the sails were full, around the islands and you can go ashore on one of the island if you like, beautiful lunch tandoori chicken and salad prepared by the crew and scones for morning tea. We also went across to Russell and returned by the ferry included in the ticket.

This was a wonderful trip. The skipper has the flexibility of shifting the order of the day to match things like dolphin sightings. She was very informative and welcoming. Her crew was great as well. We didn't get to swim with the dolphins only because the only pod we kept seeing had babies in it. We did get to set quite a bit of activity. We would highly recommend this trip

A fast trip for the day to the area but deserves more time. The bus/guide and tour guide on Russell did an excellent coverage. The only drawback is that 2 cruise ships were in port and the towns were overcrowded.