Diamond Days

            "Some days are diamond, some days are stone"

John Denver certainly had it right with the lyrics from his song. Everyday turns up something different whether it be good or bad, and we have to be prepared to either take the slap, or ride the wave. Sunday was one of those diamond days, we stayed in a magic anchorage over night, calm, golden beach, no other boats, birds.. just bliss. We had a picnic lunch on the beach and a shower, went back to the boat for some reading and the Ipipiri ( we call it the Ripipipi) came and anchored up (probably not so diamond), but then a pod of Dolphins came into the bay. The Dolphins seem to be attracted to boats with engines running, so we only got to see them up close because of the Ripipipi's tender zooming around. They put on quite a display, and the human contigent wasn't to shabby either, with people throwing themselves into the water, boats milling round, people squealing, it was quite fun to watch. The Dolphins chuffed around the milling people and boats, seeming to enjoy the contact. There were some calves in amongst the pod,with their little dorsal fins poking up beside their mothers, being shepharded around and kept away from the melee.  There is something about Dolphins that seems to reverberate in our human souls, is it because of their eyes which are so deep and knowing, or is it the fact that we can identify with their family groupings, or is it that we see them as being free and have a deep and burning desire to be as free as them.
So that was a diamond day, we don't always get these, we do have stone days as well. Like the day we ran aground at Paihia, it was a silly mistake and seemed to throw our whole day out, it was probably more our mood and outlook than anything.  We both needed to look on the bright side, check out the different facets of a situation and turn it into a diamond day.

                                         Paul looking out over Oke Bay, Bay of Islands.