World Cruise - Mount Maunganui (Tauranga)

With dismay we woke to rain. Lots of rain. But to our delight, the rain stopped by the time we’d been to church services and had breakfast. We were ready to go off and explore. 

Having been to Tauranga twice before, we decided to explore the Mount Maunganui area instead and we were up for a good walk. The gatekeeper at the port entrance suggested two routes, one through town to get to the mountain and the other along the harbor. We chose to check out the town on our way to the mountain.

It was a nice little town full of all sorts of shops and places to eat some of which were open for early breakfast diners. Our route took us through some residential area and past some large condo buildings that we suspected were vacation rentals. That was confirmed later when we met two Canadians from Toronto who were toughing out their winter by staying here through February.

At the base of the mountain was a mini-triathlon with all female participants. The running part of the meet was taking place and the crossing guards just smiled and said “Have a go but mind the runners,” as we tried to cross the street. Safely across, we started up the track that would lead around the base of the mountain. There was a track to the top but I was ready to walk, not climb.

It was a very nice three mile walk around the base of Mount Maunganui. The trail wasn’t muddy at all which was a surprise considering the rainfall. Huge trees with twisting branches and trunks overhung the pathway and the waters of the bay pounded the rocks along the shore with a rhythmic beat. The track ended at the Mount Maunganui beach where lots of Sunday surfers mixed with beach goers and some sort of children’s activities.

While it wasn’t very hot, it was humid and with our exercise we were both a bit damp and sweaty. We opted to return to the ship, shower, eat again, and then return to town to check out some of the shops. Our return route took us along the harbor boardwalk and past the triathlon participants who were receiving their rewards.

That afternoon we wandered in and out of shops looking for a couple more nice tops for me and the off chance of finding pants that Bob might like. I was the only one pleased. I found a pretty soft T that the sales lady said was actually made of recycled wood fibers. Who knew?

Back on the ship we tried to rest up a bit. We were set to have a grand celebration of Crystal’s 25^th Anniversary. It would happen at a special place that evening and it would be “precious.”