( Rotorua- As you'll know, despite now having time to write I'm still struggling to find my passion for it. So for now my 10days in Rotorua are not recorded though I do hope to fill in the highlights at least at some point. For now we move on to my next stop)

Tauranga

Friday 2nd to Saturday 10th March

So you might be wondering why I’ve chosen to hop on an intercity bus and head back northwards. To be honest, I’m not sure. I guess I wasn’t ready to continue my Stray journey or to start working yet . That just left the decision of where to go next and since I’ve a friend up there and since it’s somewhere I’ve not been before, it seemed a good fit.

Tauranga is the Kiwi capital of New Zealand and harvest time is here! Te Puke-which we passed through and is just down the coast, is also full of seasonal workers right now. Many hostels in these areas offer help in finding you jobs in the fields. Having spent a lot of time working in a supermarket and merchandising Kiwis from here, it’s surreal to think I could go help harvest them and symbolically at least, my friends back home would be the ones selling them!

Alas. This isn’t how I decided to spend my time in Tauranga.

Instead, on arriving at my hostel, a good 20mins walk from the CBD, I dumped my pack and proceeded to pass some time speaking to my roommate of one night. Katriina is my first Finnish roommate and is heading back to Auckland tomorrow to see her boyfriend. She seems a little lost.

She was out here a few years ago when traveling and met her now boyfriend. She’s since spent some time on the south island where she sounded pretty happy but came back north to be with her partner. Unfortunately she’s not been happy in Auckland so she’s spent the past month here feeling directionless. She got herself a picking job offer but turned it down because there 6 days a week, 60plus hours. So now she’s decided she needs structure of some kind and is heading back to try the city again. Hopefully it will go better this time around. Maybe knowing what she doesn’t want-a job that takes her away from the boyfriend for long periods- will be a step in the right direction. One thing i know is I don’t want to get to June and be in the same situation!!!

But I have come to some conclusions and more were on the way. By the end of my 9 days here I would have realised that I don’t want to stay in one place right now. I may well come back out to New Zealand after August but even so, the time goes pretty quickly and there’s still so many places to explore. I would also sign up to the sites I’ve been looking at the past 5 weeks which offer work in exchange for accommodation. I may not make money from it but I’d still be saving money. And best of all they usually range from a week to a month in length, a week or two seeming most common. For now, perhaps the best compromise for me?

Back to Tauranga, I spent my first day walking along the water. While the hostel I’m staying at is a little out of the main city, it’s right across the road from the water. There’s a walkway to the right and after having checked out the town, I spent part of my first afternoon walking down here. In flip flops. Probably not the best idea but my Google maps didn’t show how far the paths reach- a little under 3 miles – as they keep morphing into a new walk.

It’s such a lovely walk and there’s plenty of people out walking, running or cycling. Kids playing along one part where there’s a steep grassy hill they’re sliding down. I have reservations about them doing this -yes it’s really that steep- but then I remember using massive stacks of hay and straw as a slid as a kid . They'll be fine.

As I walked I got a small idea of how sprawling this city is. It’s classed as the 5th biggest in New Zealand and also one of the more expensive places. Something I can well believe seeing some of these houses and the views that come with them.

The next day I would hop on a local bus to head a little ways down the coast to Papamoa, where there’s a lovely quiet beach stretching for miles back up to Mt Maunganui. When looking up things to do in Tauranga I had come across an Extravaganza fair taking place his weekend and thought it would be something to check out. The bus ride itself was pretty..Urm...odd. Now don’t get me wrong, if I had any doubts why Tauranga was popular, the route we took dispelled them. This area is full of green rolling hills in the distance and blue water is never far from you. But what really made the ride memorable would be the guy on crutches who spent a good 40 mins intermittedly staring and swearing at me. Ah lovely. Only I could attract someone like this.

Once at the fair I wandered and had a good look around. I may have overestimated how big the fair would be but what was there was amazingly well set up. They had a proper vintage/gypsy feel going on. From the bunting and signage to the tarot reading, elephant pants and henna tattoos.

For the kids there was a bouncy castle, hula hoops dotted around on the ground, a summa mat along with tiny toddler size summa wrestler costumes and hoop throwing. For adults jewellery, clothing, massages, even someone doing hair cuts! As well as this there was a blacksmith who makes all kinds of things, a food truck, candy floss booth, an ice cream truck and a coffee van. An entertainment area for all ages which had music for the adults and little shows for families.

After having had a good look around I spent some time on the beach chilling out and enjoying a cool drink in the crazy hot sun. I would later head back and have a tarot reading-which didn’t make a whole lot of sense though one lady did it last year and everything happened as predicted- and I brought a dress. I really want some elephant pants as a lighter and looser alternative to the full length trousers I brought with me- the mozzies like me far too much! However remembering what you pay for them in Asia, I’ve yet to break and buy any. Maybe next time!

On Monday I would once again walk into town to catch a bus. This time to Mt Maunganui. I had spoken to a Japanese girl from the hostel that I get on with and while it is possible to walk it, it would take a couple of hours. Best to either ride there or bus it.

So that’s how I ended up meeting a couple from the UK who were on their way to board a cruise ship- Queen Mary 2. Of course until now I hadn’t thought of Tauranga as a port but later I would look it up and they get a lot of ships passing though here. Anyway this couple had spent the week celebrating their anniversary in Fiji where they got married 25years ago. And since she works on ships back home, had decided to do this cruise from Nz to Singapore. The only issue is they hadn’t checked the details and thought they were leaving from Auckland!

While waiting for the bus the conversation went from i’s this the correct place for the correct bus’, to ‘do they still accept cash here?’ From there a group of all kinds- a local women doing shopping, to me, to the couple, to a Chinese guy in a suit- began discussing places in the world that don’t accept cards and those that no longer accept cash in whole neighbourhoods.

Before we could find a new topic the bus arrived and as I got on I tried to decide if I wanted to stick with this group or separate myself.

Now would be when I look up and see the guy from the day before! Different Time, different route. Same guy. Needless to say I turned and sat down in the closest seat!
As we began to cross the first bridge we all saw the cruise ship and by now, the driver had about 3 people asking him where they should get off to go to specific places. While the place the couple for the cruise got off was ‘close’ to the ship, it wasn’t anywhere near close enough considering the amount of luggage they had. As it turns out, there was also a stop much closer. Opps.

Once at the base of Mt Maunganui, I decided to do the base walk. I had hoped to do the summit walk but it was just too hot for me to contemplate. I spent an enjoyable hour or two walking this track, taking pictures and even stopping to sunbath by the beach for awhile. It truly is a lovely setting and I can see why so many locals make this walk a part of their daily routine.

Coming to the end of the walk I continued along the beach here and walked out to Moturiki Island. After this I explored the town which is a little more interesting than Tauranga and ended my time here with an ice cream down by the water.

Tuesday saw me doing the coastal walk to the left of the hostel I’m at. It’s a lovely walk with lots of dog walkers. I spent awhile sat on a bench looking across to My Maunganui while taking videos and eating up my phones battery life. So much so that on ‘losing’ what had become a very small trail, I no longer had access to My Google maps to get me back through the warren of houses to the hostel. I can’t say I minded much. It was a nice day and the houses here are all so nice. I love how different they all are and some of the views they have are unbelievable.

On Wednesday I did a little shopping and got chatting to some lovely ladies working in the shops. The first about Italy and the other about getting fit for weddings.

By now I had made my way back to the Mt and this time I was determined I was doing the summit. It’s only meant to take an hour and while I did make the time, I can’t say it was easily done! The first issue is, it’s up. This may seem like an obvious point but do I need to explain once again, how bad I am at up?

The other issue was that it was still pretty hot. Not as much as the last time I was here but not far off. Still choosing one of the multiple tracks I started up. The track snakes around the mount and soon I had a choice- left or right? In all honesty, when I picked right it was mostly because it was the less busy direction! People are running up and down here so with me stopping all the time either for photo ops (or because of issue number 1!) less people overtaking me is best for the ego 

As it was there was still some haze about as I looked across to Matakana, but for the most part the earlier clouds had been chased away, leaving very little in way of a breeze to help as I made the ascent.
Finally I reached the top and the views are truly incredible. Well worth the effort though I still think running or doing this on your lunch break as many do, is a little extreme. Still if you want that fitness level there arnt many other places that will give you a view like this in such a small amount of time. Or at least not at home.

Having decided I was staying an extra two nights here, Friday I took as a lazy day. Nothing really went right and for the first time I really felt homesick. Still that was always going to happen and all I could do was get through the day. Last thing that night I booked a place onto a tour for the next day. I had been eyeing it up and it was time to ‘do something again.

So getting up early on Saturday I made the walk into town to catch my boat. I would be doing a bay and wildlife tour and can I just say, it was bloody cold those first few hours! Admittedly I had chosen to go up onto the open deck with about 15 other people but I was extremely glad to have on my jeans and hoody that morning as with yet another cyclone on the way, the water was a bit rough!

As we made our way out of the Harbour towards Mr Mauganui we saw another cruise ship just coming in to dock. From about a km out I guessed it to be a Holland America line and as we passed I saw I was right. Admittedly these are some of the easier ships to recognise but I like to think it’s fate telling me it’s time for another cruise one day soon! Of course I’ve been saying this for the past 3 years without doing one.

As we came around the back of the Mt, I started to feel better about how long it took me to do the summit walk. From this angle it sure looks high! At this point Brandon our skipper for the day mentioned that Blue penguins actually nest there during the night and we should start looking for them in the water. What do you know, not ten minutes later we saw our first one!

Now I’ve always liked penguins and the last time I was here I really wanted to see them in the wild. I never did see any- along with the elusive Kiwi- and in the end, saw them as part of a special tour in Australia.
There the smallest of the penguin species and seeing them in the water highlighted this, though I still have to say I don’t see them as the vibrant blue others do. It’s quite interesting how we all perceive colours.

Continuing on we saw another two before making into the open water more. As I already mentioned it was getting worse and we weren’t sure at this point how far out we would be able to get.

Brandon pointed out a car transporter -later we would find out it was named ‘Morning Christina which I would find amusing for my own reasons- and told us that this would be the first that they had had in a long time. Apparently there has been some kind of bug on them which spread and while everyone thinks of Australia as being strict, believe me Nz is just as protective of what they allow into there country.

After an hour or so one of the guys spotted dolphins way off in the distance so we made for where they were spotted. Soon we were amongst a pod of approximately 50 common dolphins as they played around the bow of the boat. We spent quite a but of time with them and while some were unhappy when a boat came speeding through, the dolphins seemed quite happy playing in the surf it created.

Last time I was in NZ I did a swim with 100 dolphins. Both this species and the southern hemisphere dusky dolphins. It’s a highlight out everything I’ve done but even just watching this many play is a real pleasure.

Leaving the pod we made for Motiti Island where we would drop anchor and have a lunch stop. Now that we had stopped moving there was only a light breeze and the heavy cloud cover was moving off.

I had purchased the ticket which included use off the Sup (stand up paddleboards) and kayaks but at this point i wasn’t sure I would. After an inner lecture I was soon down and clumsily climbing onto a board (a little back story, I did this once while in Rotorua, part of my missing entries). A younger girl had gone out just before me and I headed her way. No way was I attempting to stand up until I was a little away from the boat. Coming up alongside her I decided it was now or never. Making it to a standing position, the girl praised me on how easy I made it look. I encouraged her and gave her a few pointer as I headed away. Something I haven’t mastered is turning quickly and as for shopping? Well later it would be classed as extreme parking from one of the workers-opps!

Heading away from the boat I was definitely finding it harder to balance this time. It felt as though the boards weren’t as tough as the ones used on my first SUP try but it could have just been that this was open water and not a calm lake.

I continued along the coast towards some rocks a little way away. As I approached them I was finding it harder and harder to balance and decided to turn back and go see if I could hang with the other girl and maybe talk her into trying to stand up. Since this required me to turn I eventually knelt down as I wasn’t having much luck turning against the waves. Being lower gives that extra bit of stability.

As it happened the girl decided to head in just as I got there and now one of the couple’s was out on the two other boards. Having already stood back up on making my last turn, I now did another one eighty, something much easier now I was going with the waves. So once again I headed for the rocks, determined that I would make it around the first one before going back to the boat.

Well. It turns out the guy was good at paddle boarding but the girl either wasn’t enjoying it or wasn’t confident with it as she trailed behind. Meaning that as both me and the guy approached the rocks we were fairly level and he had the line for the best route around the rocks. He didn’t end up taking it but since my steering leaves a lot to be desired, I ended up going through a small gap between two sets off rocks....queue kneeling down again!

While by now I knew from the water splashing about that it’s quite warm, I also didn’t want to end up in it when I know sharks frequent these waters!

I made it through the rocks easier than I thought and once again stood back up. Now I decided to continue on to the next set and then circled these and ended up further out to sea as I made for the boat. I had to circle a couple of times before there was room for me to make my emergency stop- I mean..extreme parking!

Clambering like an idiot once again I got
off the board and onto the boat. I grabbed a drink and spent a few minutes watching the others jumping off the boat and those already out there attempting to paddleboard. I know some of them may not have been given clear instructions but given how many were repeatly falling of the boards, i felt quite proud of myself.

As I watched all this, a couple of the kayaks were coming in and people switching out. Once the last was done, I asked if I could give it a go. Having never done this before I was quite apphrenhisve. Now, I’m pretty sure, is when I looked as helpless as the people attempting the Sup for the first time! I mean it should be easy. Right? Nope I don’t think so! I did a few laps around the boat and even went a little way into the closest cove but soon headed back deciding it was enough of a taste for now.

Grabbing a beer once back onboard I made my way back up onto the top deck. By now we were getting ready to leave and I think I’m the only one that spent almost all of the time there out on the water. Not bad if I say so myself!

Journeying back to the Harbour began with us seeing a fur seal up on one of the rocks that I had been close to when Duping. Slightly frustrating that I hadn’t come around and spotter him but such is the nature of these things. And a little later on we also came across a small group of dolphins again.

I spent the rest of the boat trip chilled out sunbathing and sat on the bow which was surprisingly pleasant as we made our way back across the now calmer sea.