Tauranga New Zealand Wednesday, February 27

Tauranga New Zealand

We had a short uneventful sail overnight to Tauranga. Located on the western part of the Bay of Plenty it is in the heart of kiwifruit growing country. It is also the gateway to Rotorua, famous for spouting geysers and bubbling mud pools. Tauranga is the principal city of the Bay of Plenty and it's Maori name is "resting place for canoes" There were many excursions to these places today, but we decided to walk around the peaceful seaside town of Mount Maunganui where we were docked for the day. Tauranga was about a 20 minute drive away from the port. The city's historical sites, business districts, and most of the population live in and around Tauranga, but we heard the waves crashing on the beach and after Auckland we were ready for some down time.
It was going to be a beautiful day....sunny and in the mid 70's. I'm beginning to like New Zealand more and more. We walked down the mall which is a very nice peaceful walkway along the bayfront. Canoes and boats were lined up on the beach ready for hire, many teens were having a stand-up paddle boarding class, and families were eating breakfast and just enjoying the morning. I was wondering why there were so many kids out on a weekday....but I forgot that this is their summer, so no school yet. We walked to the end and then cut over to the main beach. The waves were awesome and we were rewarded with surfers, and boogie boarders out in the water. We watched them as we were strolling on the sand beachcombing. Usually we try and look for sea glass, but this beach was really clean and there were just some cool shells to examine. We walked out to a promontory jutting out over the ocean through bushes and trees filled with the sound of cicadas. They were so loud that it was hard to hear anything else. At the end was supposed to be a blowhole, but it was low tide and nothing was going on. The view was spectacular, and so was the shade. We have found in these southern climes that any shade that's available, we will use to the best of our advantage.
Leaving the beach we headed toward the main street filled with boutique shops, ice cream, restaurants, souvenirs made in china, and anything you might want to buy or not buy like in any regular seaside town. First stop was postcards to send home. Then we strolled along the street browsing and people watching. We are getting particular about what we buy and decide to take home. We try and buy things that are only made by locals or is custom to that particular country. The local Manuka honey was the choice here. Very expensive, but interesting. It has healing properties depending on how high the UMF is. I don't know how true this is, but you can look it up. It's too technical for me to explain. Next up....lunch, which had to include chips. (french fries in american slang). "Kiwi's" love their chips.....they are on every menu. So is fish. Well, we ate fish the last 2 days, so a nice big burger sounded like just the ticket. Of course with chips. Did I tell you that New Zealand is also expensive? Yep...$25.00 for a burger and chips, and thats in a cafe, not a restaurant. But with the exchange rate it wasn't so bad....about $17 US. Oh, and we couldn't find a soda less than $5.00 either. But the burger was delicious and the soda refreshing, and it was nice to get away from "ship" food for the day. After a leisurely lunch, we took our time getting back to the ship, strolling through parks and shady lanes. We had a wonderful relaxing day living like a local. Except without the accent...well, I should say that to them, we do have an accent....