Geo: -38.1398, 176.247Our first port of call was Tauranga, whose Maori name means Calm Waters - protected by Long Island from open ocean. New Zealand means Long White Cloud, as the Maori had never seen snow and the mountains were covered. The area, including Mt Maunganui and Papamoa with long white sand beaches, is a big retirement community for Auckland and a population of about 118,000. It is New Zealand's busiest port and is in the Bay of Plenty, which was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1769, as he observed it was well populated and looked very fertile.The area was actually discovered around 1350, when the Te Arawa canoe is said to have landed close by at Maketu, further south on the coast, after sailing from Hawaiki (Polynesia) under the command of famous Maori navigator
... read more