The Sick Day

Jaron was desperate to do a whale watching/swimming with the dolphins tour. On our last day on the North Island, we set out on a sail boat in to the Bay of Plenty. There was excitement all around until we made it out of the harbour. 2 hours of seasickness before Lucy threw up multiple times without a whale or dolphin in sight. 2 more hours of seasickness to make it back to port. What we got for our trouble? The sighting of a sunfish and our money back. We are sure it would have been wonderful if the water conditions were better.

Ready to see Whales and swim with dolphins

Looking a little green

We went back to recover, and then in the afternoon set out for some fun beaches on the Cormandel Peninsual: Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove. We have never been on such turny twisty roads, it was like PeeWee Herman's big adventure when the road signs show more and more crazy turns coming up in the road. All the kids felt a little sick in the backseat.

We made it to Hot Water Beach, but it was High Tide which meant we missed out on the Hot Water (apparently at low tide you can dig down in the sand and hot water comes bubbling to the surface-DIY spa). The kids had fun playing in the water.

We got to Cathedral Cove so late we didn't have time to hike all the way to the cove. We had to settle for some upper, lesser, but still wonderful views.

What we saw

What we should have seen.

The day was more fun than it seems. The kids were troopers and perked up quickly after being sick. And, we got to eat our weight in fish and chips - nothing wrong with that.