We anchored at one of the largest and island-dotted natural harbours in New Zealand. Tauranga welcomed us with cloudy skies and what looked like a truly busy port. After all, it is close to the world’s Kiwi fruit capital, Te Puke. Am not a big fan of kiwi, but the ones I tried on the boat are very sweet and tasty such that it adorned my plate every single day. We are visiting Tauranga just a day before the Remembrance and Veterans Day and our boat will honor it with a moment of silence. Reminds me of those earlier visits to Gallipoli in Turkey and Omaha Bay in Normandy. Lest we forget! I have only deep respect for these men and women and likewise to those, who to this day, compel us to remember. We should remember.
We did the hiking trail and enjoyed sweating out all those accumulated calories we consumed by non-stop eating on the boat. I stayed away from meat as much as I could but the desserts are another story. Like ordering 2 starters, skipping the main entrees but failing to resist the ice cream or sorbet, eclairs, or panna cottas. Frankly, the hike hardly dented nor offset all that food intake but we certainly enjoyed the scenery and the workout. And then we got bolder with a trike ride around town, breezing through the coastal roads with our “daredevil pilot” Michael who called us ladies Dorothy 1,2 and 3. Now, there’s a private joke behind that and we’d rather keep it private. 🤫 For a 30 minute trike run, we paid NZ$195 including tax and boy, did we ladies have fun! Wanted to do this as early as our first offshore excursion to Pahia in the Bay of Islands but I guess, the adventure had to happen here in Tauranga instead.
“Daredevil Michael” took us to the oldest tree in all of New Zealand, the kiwi factory offices, the campus, the posh waterfront houses (selling for NZ$13.5 Million!) and the streets lined with interesting cafes and restaurants. He also pointed out the many trees abundantly grown there which they they simply call Kiwi Christmas trees but he’s not sure why. His guess is that it’s called that because they grow bright red flowers around the end of the year, adding to the festive season. From time to time, he’d rev up the engine and let us girls feel the breeze like we’re racing, much to our screaming delight. At our age, it’s something we ticked off our list to do. Well, don’t judge us. We simply wanted to feel somehow reckless while having fun. All around town, we waved to people who looked like they came off the same cruise ship. Many waved back. The cruisers are in town but will soon sail out!
lifeisacelebration 