Sailing to Tauranga in the bay of Plenty for quite a few important reasons: to have our headsail repaired, to catch a glimpse at the interior of New Zealand for the first time and to meet a highschool friend who immigrated here many years ago. Stefan has not seen her for 46 years….
At anchor for the night at Port Charles while going around the Coromandel peninsula
Then from Old Mans Rock
to Tauranga port which has a beautifull 'contained' sunset ;-)
Tauranga is a busy fuel, wood and container port so always tugs at work
then we anchored close to Salisbury warf to meet Annelies
and then quite close to mount Maunganui
it was lovely at anchor near the base of such a picturesque big hill close to a nice town of the same name
Pohutukawa at the base of Maunganui
Very beautiful but the strong tidal current was wearing on our nerves so time to go somewhere else to wait for the sail to be repaired
we looked at the Tauranga bridge marina which is close to a busy motorway, So we decided to get a berth at Tauranga Marina around the corner
What surprised us was that there is no staff to help dock here, not on Saturdays at least.
So we were glad of a local boat owner who came to us in his dingy to push us into our berth and there where others who immediately made us feel welcome. Our paperwork went to the office on monday and a shower card was handed out.
it is strange to us to be amongst 300 launches and only a handful of sailing boats with hardly any liveaboards.
ray swimming next to the pontoon entrance
we do enjoy all the benefits of being near a town and the list is long, like on Sunday on the bikes to Otรปmoetai
where we had an excellent al fresco at the Great Spice indian restaurant
and what is HE doing?
looking on his phone again!
On Thursday we bought a Nutribullet blender and that is something Stella has been talking about for 6 years.
bought some greenlipped mussels as we still remember the ones graciously given to us by John and Olivia, those where delicious!
Our land trips where facilitated by our friends Annelies and then a few days later by Warren and Christine. We are super grateful to all of you thanks a mil, we had a lovely time.
Annelies took us to Roturoa redpine forrest
those trees are breathtaking
and they are HUGE
the biggest redwoods we have seen to date
There are large swathes of ancient and cultivated forrest there with mountain biking tracks and walking tracks all very well sign posted in the NZ style that we are coming to expect. We did have to side step a couple of mad mountain cyclists but that was because were on a biking track not a walking track. Woops.
The visitor centre and cafe where very interesting, a place committed to the science of growing trees and their role in our future. Wonderful to see. We wonder, maybe on this island it is possible to live in harmony with nature while at the same time benefit from harvesting trees for profit.
the next day Annelies took us to MacLaren Falls. Another organized for leisure forrest, also very impressive indeed
With a cafe on site which serves the best burgers ever. The cabinet yummies looked good too.
There are many walking tracks amongst water, tall trees and Panga. Panga are huge fern trees Christine taught us. She also pointed out purple Jacaranda and the red Pohutukawa (see the earlier picture) which are endemic to New Zealand.
camp for 11 dollars a head at one of the designated sites green, a place to BBQ, wash up, do your ablutions all on the edge of nature
and Jacaranda
there is a MacLaren Park game with frisbees called 'MacLaren Falls Disc Gulf'
back in Tauranga at the farmers market on saturday
under the jacaranda tree
fetching our packages received by Annelies
a little rest at Papamoa beach
Warren and Christine took us to the Tauranga air museum
what a nice specimen
New Zealand has everything you need and it is the next day delivered to you. Thank you Annelies for receiving all our packages!
I was very glad to discover that they can fabricate custom parts quickly too
installed on the headsail swivel
And then we were very fortunate and happy that we could borrow our friends car! Our friends wanted their car collected from Auckland Airport long term carpark so we grasped our land trip opportunity immediately.
First stop on the way back was Auckland Botanical Gardens which is free to wander around. The herb garden, orchard, magnolias, roses and forestry where all interesting. The whole day was great.
Although the restaurant was closed the menu made more than up to it
Laurance Speedy the Curator of the Childrens Garden
It seemed like he was as happy to meet us as we were him.
as Avocado trees like dry feet this creative solution keeps its roots dry
Although the cafe at Botanical Gardens was closed on our way out which ment no cabinet goodies for Stella.
the Thai restaurant in Cambridge more than made up for it
the next day we are driving again
Picnic
yes we have a car so camping by the Waikato river
part of the Waikato river is dammed off to produce electricity
here is the low side of the dam
the next morning breakfast at the Rhubarb cafe
Onwards to the sanctuary mountain Mount Maungatautari, a nature reserve
Mount Maungatautari is like a Jurassic Park, a valuable experiment
The fences are so stout and well maintained that no mammals get in. Let us explain. Over the last 200 years or so more and more mammals have arrived on this island and if NZ is to protect the endemic birds and trees it maybe has to be without the furries. So deer, rabbits, goats, pigs, stoats, mice, all are banished from this woodland. Its very interesting and expensive. Worth doing so one thinks, as an experiment.
Loved the informative boards all round the forrest
Pukatea tree
Rimu tree
What grows down must go up! a bird flew out of this tree
And then to Te Puna Quarry Park, its fun to be on land when you have a car!
The quarry has not been worked since 1979. Now it is a peaceful place to walk talk and see a mixture of nurtured gardens, wild woodland walks and sculptures set in amongst gravel paths going up and round. After much work by volunteers and a meteorological disaster aka storm the quarry is now a fabulous if a little unfinished, place to wander around. This all amongst trees in a reclaimed quarry near Bethlehem Tauranga.
In Bethlehem we had yet more delicious cabinet food with afternoon tea. Cabinet food is one of the many things in New Zealand they should be proud of. What a great day.
You can see Mount Maunganui at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour from here.
a former gold mine
Stefan likes machinery
located on a hill overlooking Tauranga and Mount Maunganui
no palm trees here but Panga trees which are big fern trees
That is all the car adventures for now.
New sailing adventures as soon as the repaired headsail is back!
