Blogs from Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

We woke up early as the docks entrance was near the car park and the heavy-duty trucks start early in the morning. We had planned to walk up Mount Manganuni, however the rain was teaming down!!! We decided to have a nice easy morning instead and read in the morning head to the local burger king to get Wi-Fi and just to relax. In the afternoon we were going to Te Puke to meet my friend Sasha; we had worked together on the Pacific Jewel. Early afternoon we headed to Te Puke, where she works, however once we got there I got a message that she was at home in Papamoa beach area so we had to turn around and head back towards hers. We arrived at Sasha’s after getting some directions from a stranger (normal ... read more

Good evening everyone, so we left Rotorua this morning, now looking back I think I was a bit deluded with regards our accomodation, yes it was drabby and dull but I think after Kiddi packers, it was just peace and quiet so I got carried away. We did our washing there and had to hang it up in an old shed which was red hot, Stu then said he was going to get his money's worth and go in the mineral pool, well no way that was at least 44 degrees, it was sooooo hot, I couldn't even get a leg in it, Stu tried desperately, I said 'give it up, you won't have any skin left', he continued trying, looking for control buttons around the pool but in the end was defeated. We drove off ... read more

Left Whitianga and headed down the coast calling in at several places, one called Pauanui which we thought was lovely. It had a nice feel to it, some lovely houses and all set around a large open and calm inlet of sea with mountain views and the ocean crashing on the rocks on the other side. A very quiet lovely residential area if you were thinking of emigrating. On from there and a quick stop at Katikati which was nothing to get excited about, Tauranga which was a nice buzzy town and onto where we were staying Mount Maunganui which apparently is becoming NZ top weekend away destination. We stayed in a B & B and our host was from Scotland but he had been resident in NZ for nearly 50 years and whilst in the ... read more

...was da so alles vor der Tuer steht - Linus Geburtstag, Sommer, Schuljahresende, Weihnachten und Silvester...... read more

A day of bush and birdsong. The local council has created an 18-kilometre loop walk that begins near Whakatane town centre, then ascends and descends through generally pristine native bush and hugs the coastline before descending to Opotiki Beach. After walking the length of the beach, walkers ascend through another reserve in which the native North Island robin has been released, then blunder round the suburbs before finding their way back to town. We began the walk early in the morning when the sea glowed under the low sun and everything was fresh and clean. At first, the trail to Opotiki wound up and down through beautiful woodland with fern trees and a varied canopy, or hugged the coastline with its turquoise seas and red-blooming pohutukawa trees. In the bush, tuis teased us by posing in ... read more