Inland hiking trails and short walks in the native forests lead to some of the largest and oldest trees in the world, our giant Kauri.
 

It was in 1926 Zane Grey, the noted American writer and fisherman first visited the Bay of Islands and put our area on the international gamefishing stage with his book "The Angler's El Dorado". His prolific articles in international sporting magazines of the time highlighted the uniqueness of New Zealand fishing.

While fishing aboard Earl Grey II it is not unusual for our clientele to be treated to extras such as sightings of dolphins, seals, various ocean birdlife, shark action and even the occasional whale.


Small groups or individual seals can also seen basking on rocky outcrops or swimming about in our waters. This seal was photographed tossing a Congo Eel about while feeding in the inner bay.

Occasional turtle sightings are another wildlife treat for the observant. The turtle pictured is a Leatherback turtle “Dermachelys coriacea”.

Leatherback adults average around one to two metres long and weigh from around 250 to 700 kilograms largest ever found however was a little over three meters from head to tail and weighed over 900 kilograms. It is a pity there is not something in the photo to gauge the immense size of this turtle but as it swam under our boat Steve could closely estimate its length to be around 2 metres making this particular turtle close to the top end size wise for this species. Leatherbacks are the reptile world's deepest-divers discovered to be capable of descending to depths deeper than 1,200 meters. They are also long distance travelers and among the fastest reptiles in existence.

Steve and Wendy have a longstanding association with Northland and are more than happy to help with other enquiries you may have about Northland and the Bay of Islands.

 *All images on this site have been taken aboard Earl Grey