.jpg)
We had a great time tonight, perhaps a bit too much in fact! We found out that they do indeed have St. Germain on-board and we trained the bartender on how to make a Pink Flower – 2 parts fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, 2 parts Gin (Tangurey 10 if possible), and 1 part St. Germain Elderflower liqueur. Served over ice in a coup glass (like a margarita glass) or anything tall and fun!
We sampled some pink flowers with Nick and Sherrie at the Constellation Lounge and enjoyed terrific views as we sailed away from Tauranga. The ship sailed quite close to Mount Maunganui, which is an extinct volcanic cone, the same “cone” that Dale and I hiked to the top of today!
Click here for the detailed Tauranga Photo Gallery.
This is our 2nd time visiting Tauranga in the past 5 days as this was the last port of call on the Regatta ship. Given that we’d already visited the major highlights — Kiwi berry farms, thermal pools, geysers and boiling mud pools, we decided today we would take a hike up the “Mount” and see the beautiful view from the top.
The skies were overcast in the morning and the temperature cool, but as we set off for the mile walk to the base, the sun came out and before long we were shedding layers and I was in search of sunscreen.
I discovered that the bag where I keep my first aid kit and other essentials (like sun screen), which I typically store in our backpack, was missing…left back on the ship. So we contemplated walking back to get it. Just then a woman walked past with a pack and sticking out was a bottle of sunscreen! I politely asked if she wouldn’t mind if I “borrowed” some and she graciously squirted a large dose in my palm. Kiwis are wonderful, friendly and giving people.
So we continued onward – and upward. The elevation of the Mount is just 750 feet, but it is steep in places and the path meanders around and around on it’s assent to the top. It was more strenuous than we originally thought, but the comments and the smiles on the faces of the people hiking down made us realize it would be well worth the effort.
Dale discovered, about 10 minutes into our hike, that he’d lost the lens hood from his D700. He hiked back a bit to see if it was on the ground, but didn’t find it. We continued on and met a local guy, Graham, who ended up hiking along with us and acted as our guide. He hikes the Mount once a week to stay in shape and was full of information about the area.
At the top of the Mount we took a break to relax and enjoy the view. It was spectacular…the best weather we’ve had in a while and a massive view of the whole area.
In the near distance we could see the wreck of the container ship, Rena, that hit a reef this past October and partially sunk about 3 miles off the coast. Also in the distance, we could see the White Island volcano, spewing steam from it’s cone. This is a live volcano and, if we’d known sooner, we could have taken a tour there. They outfit you with a gas mask and hard hat and you get to walk around on the island. Pretty cool.
Once back in town, we thanked Graham for his time and information and made our way back towards the ship. Along the way, we kept our eyes open for Dale’s lens hood and unfortunately we didn’t find it. We did stop in to the police department, but it had not been turned in.
On our walk back to the ship, we saw some municipal workers who had just applied some tape to the black top labeling a parking area. Dale told them that they did a great job and took a picture of them. They were pretty happy that we acknowledged their work and as we walked away, I asked them what does “LOG ONLY” mean? They ship a lot of timber out of this area and I figured it meant that only those trucks carrying logs could park there. They said it was “LDG ONLY” – short for loading only. Guess they didn’t do as great a job as we originally thought!
All in all a pretty great day (except for losing the lens hood), we had great weather, a wonderful hike, a fun time with friends on-board and a beautiful sail away party complete with Pink Flowers!
Photography Comments:
It was nice to have the sun out most of the day with just enough clouds to give the pictures some interest. I took my D700 with the 28-300 and 17-35 lenses along with the S95. Before we even got started up the mountain the lens hood on the 28-300 fell off and I couldn’t find it. That lens hood has never really fit tightly and this was my second one…the first one broke in Maui last year. I said good riddance to it and will just make sure I have my UV filter on to protect the lens. I was especially happy with the postcard pictures of the harbor and beach. There was still a bit of haze as we got towards mid-day but it was acceptable compared to what we’ve had to work with on this trip so far. We were headed to dinner at Compass Rose when I looked out and saw the sunset setting up. Nick, Sherrie and Margaret continued onto dinner while I went up and spent a half hour waiting for the perfect sunset. And…it happened!
Mike - Nice sunset!
Trip Summary » Travel with Dale & Margaret - […] Tauranga, New Zealand […]