Tauranga, New Zealand (at last)

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24^thFebruary Tauranga, New Zealand



Our first view of New Zealand is the approach to the city of Tauranga past Mount Maunganui on our port side and berthing in the port of Tauranga.



Tauranga is the largest city in the Bay of Plenty and is a fast growing metropolis; its port is the largest in terms of gross export tonnage. The city is known for its export of avocados and kiwifruit.



In Maori, Tauranga means ‘an anchorage’ or ‘resting place’ and it is believed that the Maoris settled here in the late 12^th Century having made the sea crossing from Polynesia. Captain Cook (1879) was so impressed by the agricultural riches when he arrived on the Endeavour he named the area Bay of Plenty. Settlers took land that belonged to the Maoris which led to the ‘Land Wars’ of the 1860’s until the Battle of Te Ranga saw the Maoris heavily defeated and the end of the wars.



Our trip today was a quick look around the city of Tauranga before heading out to Rotorua, nicknamed Sulphur City which will become obvious but also nicknamed RotoVegas by Kiwis which will also become obvious.



This was going to be a long tour (11 hours) taking us up to Rotorua with a visit to the thermal springs and geysers, lunch at the Skyline restaurant before heading to the Agrodome for sheep based activities (wonder what that will entail)!!



Our first impressions of Tauranga are how clean and tidy it is, I suppose after the previous port of call it was always going to be an improvement. It is a huge playground for the Kiwis with clean surfing beaches and all the amenities; good cafes/restaurants, parking for RV’s and lovely beach properties (very expensive).It was about an hour or so’s drive to Rotorua before we arrived at the Thermal springs, we knew we had arrived because you could smell he sulphur in the air.



We were one of four coaches (more about that later), and we each had a guide to take us round the site of Te Puia. It consists of the Thermal valley, the Pohutu geyser, the Pikirangi Maori village, Te Wananga Whakairo (Carving School), Te Rito (Weaving School) as well as the cafe and guess what – gift shop. The main entrance feature is the Te Heketanga a Rangi meaning ‘heavenly origins’ – twelve huge monumental carvings reach skyward representing a celestial guardian in Te Arawa culture. Onto the Mud Pool (Ngamokaiakoko) try saying that, a pool of acid gases and steam that cause decomposition of minerals (Kaolin), lots of sulphur , with temperatures as high as 90-95 C. The European name is ‘Frog Pool’ – from the plopping sounds!!. Next was the Geysers which erupt every hour or so, that means its pot luck if your there for a big one. The Pohutu geyser can reach heights of up to 30 metres but wasn’t playing ball today, there is a smaller Prince of Wales Feathers Geyser named after the Duke of Windsor in the 1930’s. Through the Maori village and on to the carving and weaving schools, the carving school take only a few Maori apprentices a year. Finally to the gift shop before heading off to lunch just outside Rotorua.



Lunch was at the Skyline restaurant, a gondola ride to the top for the buffet lunch. This was the downside of going on organised tours. Four busloads of tourists into one restaurant which probably should only take half the number just doesn’t work. You would have thought that people had never been fed the way that food was piled on plates – incredible. To us in a word - obscene.



To cap it all a Maori dance group had to perform for us in front of the buffet with people going back and forth which we both found disrespectful. At least it was sunny outside to take in the views of lake and city.



Our final stop of the day was to the Agrodome for a shearing demo and dog handling show. The Kiwis love their outdoor activities as along the way were all sorts of outdoor pursuits, off roading, zip wires etc. Not much to say apart from seeing the different breeds of sheep and one being shorn. The dogs were impressive (I suppose).



On the way back to Tauranga we had a photo opportunity at a Kiwi farm, seeing them on the vine was quite impressive. They are big bucks for this part of the world!



A long day, arriving back on board after 7pm with only a quick shower before Sailaway which was in the dark with the lasting impression of Tauranga being, ‘hope we will be back soon with more time to explore’.

Next stop Auckland

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