Day 16: Russell Island in B.O.I

We had gotten a deal on "Grab One" for a coupon to go to the SkyDive Zone in the Bay of Islands, which was one of the big reasons why we went there. But Friday morning gave us lots of clouds, and our jump was postponed.

Unwilling to sit around in one of the most beautiful places in the north island, we went for a short hike while waiting to see if the skies would clear up. The hike took about 30 minutes, and it overlooked the entire bay. When we got to the bottom, we received our phone call informing us that our jump had been moved to the next morning. We were bummed, but decided to make the most of a cloudy yet gorgeous day.

We took the ferry across the bay to Russell Island. It had a small town on the shore which we walked through on our way to Long Beach. Now this was a beach to rival Maunganui Beach. It was absolutely marvelous. Emma and I went shell searching and enjoyed a nice nap on the beach. We had a blast with Amy's underwater camera in the insanely blue water.

After goofing around on the beach, we returned to the town and bought some pizza and pineapple fritters. We bought a liter (not a gallon people, this ain't 'Merica) of ice cream for Emma's 21st birthday and watched the sun go down while we waited for the ferry. Although we didn't get to sky dive, we had a very successful day.

FUN FACT #13: For those of you who have never had a pineapple fritter, you have not truly lived. Although New Zealand pizza is not great, and most of their food doesn't hold a candle to Mamma Rodolfy's cooking, pineapple fritters are the bomb diggity. They are essentially fried pineapple rings rolled in cinnamon and brown sugar. They're like a warm pineapple donut. In essence, they are heaven in your mouth. So yeah, try one. And become an addict. They are that good.