Before arriving at our last stop of the Isle of Pines I knew that I wanted to climb Pic N'ga the mountain overlooking the island. I had caught a glimpse of it on the P&O channel on our TV and after all the food consumed and lack of exercise during the cruise I figured it would be something great to do! I love hiking and so I packed my good ole hiking sandals and boarded the tender boat heading from the ship to the dock.
When we arrived on the tiny island aptly named the Isle of Pines, I could see why. The Island was dotted with heaps of these amazing tall trees and it was very different to the last island we had visited. When we walked further to Kotu Beach we were astounded by the colour of the water and the beauty that was this little cove. Everyone was sunbathing, snorkelling and swimming with the fish which you could see so clearly through the water.
We decided to head to the mountain to get it out of the way and spend the afternoon swimming and laying on the beach. After following directions from some locals I hailed down, we found the rocky track leading to the base of the mountain! Hayley waited at the bottom for me as she didn't have proper shoes on and the whole track seemed to be lose rocks. I continued on up taking some breaks on the way to take in the spectacular view and get my breath back. The heat up there was immense but I liked the feeling of working out and sweating after so long! I kept walking up and after 40/45 mins I reached the huge cross that marked the top. There was a man up there who arrived just before me and offered to take some pictures which was really good timing. The view was something else, you could see the ship in the distance and the many other island scattered around the turquoise waters. After a few great photo opportunities I headed back down the 262m high mountain and couldn't wait to take advantage of the cool refreshing ocean.
We spent the afternoon on the beach and in the ocean before we one by one headed back to the tender boat to take us to our ship which was docked out at sea. The isle of pines was to die for and I seriously couldn't believe that somewhere like this existed. It was like being in a holiday brochure the whole time and I loved it.
Highly recommended!
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