The Rock - Day One

http://rocktheboat.co.nz/



From the Paihia Wharf, we caught a shuttle out to The Rock around 5pm. It's an old car ferry. It was bought by a man named Peter who is still her skipper. He sailed it right round the northern tip of NZ (with a campervan on the top) and into the Bay of Islands. Then he built a second level on the ferry so it would have sleeping quarters.

Now, it cruises the waters of the Bay of Islands several times a week with a multi-national crew and a manifest full of international travelers, backpackers and families.

There's a huge bar down the middle of the lower deck. Lots of seating and couches. Even a pool table.

On our cruise, we've met people from Holland, Ireland, Canada, Argentina, Sweden, Australia and England. There's even a Dutch family on a seven-month tour of the world. They're home-schooling their 8- and 10-year-olds during the trip and doing a bit of home exchange. We are the only Americans on board.

The evening began with a shooting contest. A duck decoy is trolled out behind the boat while we cruise... and everyone gets a chance to use the air rifles to shoot at it. The winners got free beers. A couple of Canadians won.

Then we did some fishing. I caught two small snappers but they had to be thrown back because they were THAT small. A guy from the Netherlands actually caught a small shark. Some of the fish became dinner... but thank goodness there was plenty of steak and sausages, too. The green-lipped mussels were sooooooo fresh!

Dinner was family-style at a huge table than ran nearly the length of the boat.

The sunset was incredible while we were fishing. And a lot of folks took advantage of the night kayaking. Tomorrow will be a blast!