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Published: November 22nd 2008
We arrived at Tauranga at 5:45am. No worries, we definitely were not up at the time. Tauranga is NZ's ninth largest city and growing fast. The population is close to 110 thousand and the city has tripled in size in the last 25 years. Due to its sheltered position on the east coast, the city enjoys a warm, dry climate. It's become a popular location to retire to but during the summer months the population swells with vacationers.
We descended onto Tauranga around 10:30am and were immediately pleasantly surprised by the beautiful beaches, well kept homes, pine trees and open vistas. The clear blue skies and warm sunshine was very nice too.
First on our agenda today is to climb Mount Mauao, a dormant volcano that rises 230m above sea level. Some locals had told us this was a must-do and they were right. It was a steep climb but the pain and sweat was well worth it. The 360 views were breathtaking and on the horizon we could see White Island with its plumes of steam rising. Sheep graze the mountain's flanks while tourists make their way up and down the trails. On the down trail it dumps
Kip at the beach
Well, the sign for the beach, but you get the picture!you right onto the beautiful white sand beach. The beaches that start here stretch on for the next 100km.
It didn't take us long to decide that what we should do next is to run back to the ship, grab a towel and our flip-flops, throw our beach shorts and head back to the beach. Our little round trip took about 45min and by 2pm we were soaking in the sun's rays and enjoying this amazing scenery... and let's just say there was plenty of sights for all to take in. A very brief and very chilly dip in the Pacific was all we needed to cool off. At 4pm we packed up and made our way back to the ship.
We were due to leave at 5pm but a technical problem with retracting the gangway delayed our departure and our tide window closed so we had to wait until 9pm before the ship could set sail but this won't affect our arrival time tomorrow in Auckland. We definitely could have used another day in Tauranga so we might have to come back someday.
Tonight is our last night on the ship, so aside from getting caught
The bay beach
Looking at Mount Mauao up on our blog postings and packing, we enjoyed our last dinner aboard. It's amazing how quickly 9 days go by when you're having fun and we've really enjoyed our time on this cruise. We arrive in Auckland tomorrow and will be there for the next three days.
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Mom
non-member comment
Finally!!!!
You don't know how much I've been looking forward to an update! Now I've enjoyed your cruise in one day. Hope the fun continues and we get a couple more updates soon(er). I wish I was there!