Mt Maunganui...just like Blackpool?

The next part of my plan for my time in New Zealand was to go swimming with dolphins. I´d tried to do this twice before, but failed on both occasions...the first because we didn´t find any dolphins, and the second because although we found dolphins, there was a baby dolphin in the group and you´re not allowed to swim when there´s a baby around. So I was determined that this time I would manage it. Based on my research, the Bay of Plenty is a good place for dolphins so I decided to head to a town there called Tauranga, after Taupo. However, everytime I mentioned Tauranga to anyone at the hostel in Taupo, they said, ahh, you´re going to Mt Maunganui...I figured seeing as everyone was saying this, Mt Mauganui it was.

I´d read about Mt Maunganui, briefly, in the guidebook, so I knew there was a beach there. What I didn´t appreciate til I got there was that it seems to be the surfing capital of New Zealand. I didn´t even realise New Zealand had a surf culture! When I got the hostel, the first person I spoke to had been there for two months, and the second person had been there for three and a half months - so I figured it must be good. However, I then met another girl who was only there for one night, who said she was glad she wasn´t going to be there any longer as it reminded her of Blackpool. Since when did Blackpool have surf? Or sunshine, for that matter?

Anyway, I had a very relaxing and enjoyable couple of days in Mt Maunganui and would have liked to stay longer. The first day I just chilled out on the beach (although the water was distinctly colder than in Australia, and the surf somewhat flatter), had a wander round the town and round the mount which gives the town its name. I was going to go up it, but when I stood at the bottom of the steps my legs refused to go any further.

On the second day I went on my dolphin swimming trip...but alas, we didn´t get to swim with any. We found a small pod after a couple of hours on the water, but they didn´t hang around for long. We did get a good view of them, but unfortunately I don´t have any photos of them. When dolphins were spotted I rushed to the front of the boat to bag the prime dolphin viewing spot...and only then realised I´d left my camera in my bag. Doh! Even despite the lack of dolphin swimming, it was still a good trip. The weather was beautiful (as it was every day I was in New Zealand) and it´s hard to be disappointed with a whole day on the water on a day like that. The boat was a proper sailing ship, skippered by an old-time Kiwi guy who´d spent most of his life on the water. He was quite a character, with lots of stories to tell, and the other people on the boat were really friendly too. When I told the skipper that it was my third time trying to swim with dolphins, and that I´d decided it wasn´t meant to happen, he said if I came back he´d take me out three days in a row on his boat and if I still didn´t manage to swim with the dolphins I wouldn´t have to pay. Now if that isn´t a good excuse to go back to New Zealand, I don´t know what is!

That was my last full day in New Zealand. The next morning, bright and early, I set off from the hostel to catch the bus back to Auckland, met Tammy for lunch, then headed off to the airport for my flight to Santiago, in Chile, for the next part of my adventure.

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