Monday - Tauranga

 It's officially Remembrance Day here with the date change and the ship will be doing two small services with the first at 11 a.m. Ship Time today and, as it's a port day and everyone is spread out, a second one tomorrow (our day at home) at 9 a.m. local in the theater. We will attend the latter.

As we came into port, we went up on deck to watch us round Mount Maunganui and dock at the terminal.  Weather is a bit sketchy today so we will be prepared for everything.

 We grabbed a bite upstairs in the Oceanview Cafe and then packed up and headed off the ship. This was an easy process with the exception of the large shore excursion folks that we bumped into LOL. 

Once on off the ship, we walked along the windy waterfront walkway at Pilot Bay towards Maunganui's base. At precisely 11 a.m. we stopped for a moment of silence and then Kelly played a recording of Flowers of the Forest by P/M Stuart Liddell. Our small gesture towards remembering those that made the ultimate sacrifice.

Pilot Bay Beach with Mt. Maunganui in the background.

 

Lots of very stylish, modern buildings lined the waterfront... here are just a few that caught my eye!

We stopped at the Mount Hot Pools for a look see (thought about going after our hike) and also grabbed some water. Off we went on our trek up Mt Maunganui via the western side. It was steep in some spots but we took our time as we wound around the mountain with several switchbacks. A couple geocaches came up but sadly, we could not locate them. It happens. 

We enjoyed the views and took pictures as we climbed higher. There were lots of folks of all ages and physical conditions making the trek. Some even ran up & down... not us!

Looking fresh at the start!

At the top is a Star Compass that can be used to navigate & locate landmarks.

The details on the Star Compass can be found here.

Once at the top, we rested and then decided to take the steeper, stair laden route to the east, back down to the main beach. Kelly had a sore thigh muscle so we took our time going down. She was a trooper. A geocache was at a small wooden bridge on the way down but with all the foot traffic, we didn't get a good look. Another miss!

The path took us by a nice field with sheep and their lambs. They had taken up hiding from the sun under a big tree.

 Along the beachfront, we enjoyed the breeze and watched the surfers getting lessons. Some very nice wood carvings guarded the entrance to the various pathways.

Beautiful carvings!

A UV meter along the beach!

While Kelly face-timed with Lauren back home, I climbed up the Hopukiore Reserve (Mount Drury) and did find a geocache up there. Ya! Finally! Can you spot it?

 

Geocaches can come in all shapes & sizes.

A fitting day to come across this!

 

Big trees along the beach area.

Blooms are starting!

 These beachfront homes were really impressive. More pics of these including a nice RV that we spotted.

We could fly back and rent one of these!

 

We had put in a lot of steps by this time and needed a refreshment so we strolled over to the main shopping area on Maunganui Road. Low and behold, we run into Avis & George whom had also just hiked up the mountain and along the beach. 

We strolled up the street together with the gals, popping into several shops along the way. I spotted a drinking establishment and suggest that George and I forge ahead and find a suitable sitting area while the girls continued their shopping for those elusive "items".  

We found a nice "people watching" table out front of Latitude 37 and enjoyed a pint together. The weather had warmed up nicely and it was turning out to be a lovely day. Avis & Kelly joined us and we had a good conversation on some of the sites we had seen that day. 

The gals wanted to shop a bit more so both George and I dutifully offered to hold down the fort at the bar whilst they journeyed to the shops. 

After the ladies returned, we wandered back to the ship and quickly went through the embarkation process of sea pass card identification and then security screening. Quick & easy!

We decided to grab some snacks at Cafe al Bacio and meet up at the Sunset Bar to hopefully watch the sunset! We enjoyed the early evening views and cocktails from this vantage point at the rear of the ship. 

While on the Sunset deck we talked about Noelene saying that Bill hiked the mountain every time he cruised here... well now we can say the same thing! Every time we have been to Tauranga, we have climbed the mountain!! :-)   They celebrated their fifty second anniversary today!!

 

 

It started to cool off so we decided to go up to the Oceanview Cafe and get some dinner. That mission was successfully completed and we retired to our stateroom.

A very nice day for our first visit to Tauranga!

Steps - 18,560