Mount Maunganui – Feb. 9, 2007

We stayed in a great holiday park in Papamoa Beach. We could literally walk 20 feet and be on the beach…it was great falling asleep to the sounds of the waves. We had a great stroll at sunset and again at sunrise. Jonathan got up early yot take some sunrise pictures. There were plenty of surfers out both morning and evening, as this area is known for its great surfing. We got some takeaway (NZ’s version of carryout) for dinner and some NZ beer and hung out on the beach.

The next day our “Dolphin Seafaris” swim-with-the-dolphins experience was cancelled due to choppy seas (leftover from the “Waikato Weather Bomb”) so we went for a hike on Mount Maunganui, a sacred mountain to the Maori. We saw a plethora of sheep on the way (this is NZ, after all) , and the views from atop were incredible. The water was greenish-blue and beautiful.

We had lunch in Mount Maunganui’s downtown on the beach (Dory fish…awesome) and watched some beach volleyball. They were setting up for some kind of beach sport festival that was going on over the weekend. From there we headed to Thornton Beach Holiday Resort, just outside of Whakatane (pronounced “Fah-kuh-tah-nay”). It wasn’t as nice as the last place, but we were on the beach again and Jess got to indulge her mild obsession of collecting seashells.

The next day we were set to go to White Island, but had to wait until the next morning to hear if the waters would be calm enough.

~ by jboehman on February 10, 2007.