Bay of Islands
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Our first port after 2 days at sea was the Bay of Islands, and we will tender into Waitangi Wharf so we could see the nearby historic town of Paihia. These islands are situated in an 16 km wide inlet in the north eastern coast of the North Island. After a very efficient tendering process, we came to the shore where some people had chosen to do a Maori Canoe excursion from the ship but we decided to walk the fairly short distance into Paihia.
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The day was beautiful and along the way we passed traditional gateways and lots of well kept homes with many unique Maori carvings decorating them. The small historic town was full of many delightful things to see, craft to buy and lovely views from a restaurant on the pier. Time to walk back and enjoy chatting to fellow passengers as well as some locals. Lovely day!!
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All too soon it was time to board the Solstice again and sail off to Auckland where we just spent time walking the city and exploring the library. A coffee was welcome here in the lovely central park and then time to go back and board the ship for our next journey
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