The sands of windy Papamoa Beach were everywhere from under the toe nails up to behind the ears, hard to shake off. The wondrous talking and music spilling toilet at the parking helped with clear water and sweet smelling soap to regain looks. Yes, toilets in NZ are always hilariously different, every encounter is special: Compost toilets (Plumpsklo), rush-flush loos (like in the airplanes), music loos (fully automatic, even in cleaning themselves) and the “normal” public toilets which are sometimes decorated with colorful murals, should do a toilet post someday :)
Well, Tauranga is a rather big place and whenever the whereabouts get unclear, we try to find a hill or mountain to climb on for further information on the place. The perfect site for that we found in Mauao, or Mt Maunganui, how non Maori call it. 230 metres up that narrow path until we had the nicest view on the harbour and the city. Flowering Manuka bushes and other native plants grow at the side of the road, sheep everywhere, the sea almost all around you, sun and wind without mercy – NZ at its best.
