With all the banana poke gone and the next Whakatane Sunday market not in reach, we leave :D Next Stop – Tauranga!
Short beach stop next to the highway. Beautiful travel weather :)The path winds down to the sea, through high grass and over free leaning wooden beach steps …… but once there, all I can see is the crushing waves.Thundering!Not very high but perfect barrel waves.Unil they go full circle and smash into a million little droplets.Further up the road, entering the Western Bay of Plenty, at Pukehina.Enjoying lunch at Dotterel Point.Great spring display.Purple ragwort standing out in the crowd.Must be nearing Tauranga, the big container ships on the horizon tell the tale.Arrived! And shocked that it is much bigger than we remember. First place to visit is Mt Maunganui, doing the loop walk.The path is spacious, but everybody is climbing the summit so we have it to ourselves :)Northern part, where the waves hit the rocky foreshore.Turning to the West, the trees are more weather beaten, also the cliffs seem more prone to slip.A couple of walkers points us in the direction of this sleeping beauty.Is there a dragon diving underneath the island?Southerly views, to the left, the city’s harbour comes into view.Yeah, did it! But was a long day, even though it’s only 3 pm we’ll check into our little motel early to rest. Hopefully the weather holds, will be here tomorrow also.
