Ahoj from the R. Tucker.
This morning we had an early start with the anchor up at 6:30am, and the bow pointed north to our next stop at Motukokako. Watching the sunrise with hot choccys, Arlia took the helm and steered us towards the world famous Hole in the Rock. Upon arrival at Motukokako breakfast was devoured, dishes done, dinghy lowered into the water and off we went through the Hole, passing through the hole in the rock and Cathedral Cave was an exciting and memorable experience for everyone on board.
Moving on with our day, all trainees set the sails and Tearorangi manned the helm as we set our course back towards the shelter of the Bay of Islands. We then made our way to the island of Moturoa, during our sail everyone took part in classwork down below learning the finer points of anchoring, the weather and the tides. As we dropped anchor in Moturoa we ate a delicious sausage sizzle for lunch then all went ashore for a scenic walk up to the hill top gun emplacement bunker that was built during WW2.
After spending some time running through a short navigation lesson and admiring the beauty of the bay we did our 30 minutes of silence for the day, during this time some of us read our books, some of us were seeing who could throw the stick the furthest and the rest of us were lying in the grass observing nature at its best. Once we finished our 30 minutes of silence we rushed back down to the beach and played some entertaining and challenging games, Logan was the champion of Ki te. After some laughter and fun we headed back towards the ship then Kopa and Pearl went for a swim while Ethan and some of the trainees went snorkelling and brought back some kina and mussels!! While the water rats were in the water Alazay and Dharma completed their tucker challenge and earnt themselves a Turks-head bracelet.
At the moment Jess, kopa and pearl are drawing and playing card games while Anahera, Jacob and Abbie are helping cook a delicious shepherd’s pie for dinner. A long day full with activity’s and laughter we are all looking forward for what tomorrow brings us!
Ka Kite.
