Day 8: Sailing & Maori Concert

        On day eight I had to choose from about six different day trips, all of which sounded wonderful. I ended up choosing to go sailing and I'm confident I made the right decision. I've been sailing before, but it's been so long that I hardly remember it. There were about 12 of us on the boat and if we would have had any more I'm not sure where we would have sat or more importantly how we would have avoided being knocked off the boat. This may not sound fun to you, but trust me, it was a blast! If you've ever been sailing you know that the beam running along the bottom of the main sail, known as the boom, swings all over the place as it catches the wind. If you aren't careful it could knock you right into the water. We laughed the whole time as we ducked and tried to avoid it.
        I was in the spot safest from the boom, but I was also in the front meaning I was being splashed with water as we dipped in and out of waves. Not only that, but when we had to switch the front sail I had to be careful not to get whipped in the face. The whole thing was just laughable and on the bright side (literally) it was a sunny cloudless day with just the right amount of wind, perfect for sailing. We sailed to Robertson Island where we enjoyed the beach. We had the option to kayak, look for seashells, snorkel, or take a walk that overlooked the bay and the surrounding Islands. Our skipper made us lunch and we ate together on the beach before heading back to port. On the way home we looked for dolphins. Unfortunately we didn't see any, but I did see a little penguin! It swam right by the boat about 4 feet from me! At first I thought it was a duck, but it was a penguin! If you can't tell I was really excited about this. ha.
         The downside to spending all day in the sun in New Zealand where there is a whole in the ozone, was that I got very burned. My face was well covered and thankfully it was fine, but the rest of me didn't fair so well. My back and my legs got the worst of it. I haven't been burned like that since high school. It's okay though, I'm all better now.
          When we arrived back at the campsite we had to eat very quickly so we could make it to a Maori culture show. Before watching this, I didn't know much about the Maori people, but it was very informative and explained a lot about their history and customs. Some of the things they did were actually very funny, such as sticking their tongues out at their enemies which made it pretty fun as well. All in all it was a great day!