Sailing the Bay of Islands

Monday we signed onto a “tall ship” cruise on the Bay of Islands. The tall ship was the “Good Ship R. Tucker Thompson,” an 85 foot schooner. The Tucker is a non-profit enterprise, taking tourists like us out into the bay for a day's ride and training young people in the arts of sailing. The captain was assisted by four trainees and a cook, but they all seemed to know what they were doing, keeping the civilians entertained (aaargh...) and involved in the various coiling and coming about, etc. We sailed several miles out into the bay, which indeed has some 200 hundred islands, enjoying scones and tea in the morning, putting in at a cove, walking the beach and climbing a hill, and then returning to the Tucker for a grilled pork and chicken lunch. The day was enhanced by conversations with a Wellington couple who patiently answered all our many questions about Kiwis and New Zealand.