Out and about - Tauranga and Mount Maunganui (The Mount)

Yesterday we took a trip out, Tauranga & The Mount are less than and hours and a half away. So after a couple of errands in town we were on our way. As you can see the roads are very busy! Not! Those hills in the distance are the Kaimai's and we have to drive over the top of them. Near the top is a viewpoint, the photos could never do justice to that view of the Waikato. 

We took the fast road into Tauranga via the toll road.

Views of the Mount in the distance as we neared Tauranga. We had a late breakfast then walked to the waters edge, one of my favourite things is to look at the sun glistening off the water. See the shipping container converted to a coffee bar? Very apt as Tauranga is a huge shipping port, everything we owned was shipped to this port in a 20 foot container nearly 10 years ago.

Taking in the sites, fountains, waka (Maori canoe) a piano that you can play..in the street! And an arts centre, you know I made a beeline for that don't you? You know me so well!

arts market @ the cargo shed

At the entrance a yarn bombed trolley and there was more inside. The bikes were really cool Joe thought they were ridiculous....peasant!

Pied shag: This fella was such a poser

Rickshaw outside an Indian restaurant and slender billed gulls which we found everywhere

Time then to head onto Mount Maunganui, otherwise known as The Mount.

Over the causeway and  views of the harbour and port

Two huge cruise liners were docked at the jetty, we never knew it was deep enough here to take them, but obviously it is as the whole harbour is of course a very busy port. They dwarfed everything and the town centre was very busy with people from all over the world.

The Mount, there are a number of walks here, we've only ever down the easy one around the base, if I wanted to give myself a coronary I would walk to the top! It's a great walk around the views are stunning and often you see the huge ships entering the harbour. We didn't walk it today however.

After a wander through the shops we took the short walk to the other side and the fabulous beach and the Pacific Ocean, it was a stunning day and it was being appreciated by many people, sunbathing, swimming and surfing....

 

I was there too! That's the thing with being the photographer, you don't get int the photos much.

Lunch was pan fried snapper and chips, and an ice cold cider or two.

We then headed back towards the first beach and where we parked the car, we'd walked a small circuit. As we rounded the corner we were able to see both of the liners. Once we got back to the car we grabbed the towels and spent a while on the beach, Joe took his customary swim then had a snooze, whilst I just took a whole heap of photographs.

And then it was time to head home, we said we would do this more often, it's good for the soul

and we don't have to wait too long, this time next week we will be on a beach in the Far North.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

♥

 

Celebrating Zoes exam results....

...at the Green Man Offley. 

My niece Zoe received her exam results today and did really well, so well done Zoe, everyone is very proud of you. ♥

It's been years since we've been here, it was a very nice evening

 Michael & Joe are keeping a score of the beers they try in a little book

 Madness does seem to run in the family!

Decisions. decisions! Which beer?

 The lovely view, still unspoiled after all these years

 A drink before dinner

 Zoe and Emily with a NZ flax in the background

 Sisters

 Worng flash setting for the next few photos! Oops!

 crème brûlée in a vintage teacup

time for bed now!

Winter & fantails

Yesterday was the first day of winter (unless you go by the June solstice which will be the 20th) I'll stick with the 1st of June. my theory being the sooner it starts the sooner it's over!

Not too much excitement here lately, Joe had surgery on two rather uncomfortable hernias last week. One femoral and one umbilical, the femoral being the most uncomfortable. We think that he got it when doing the dog pen, he'd shifted a load of very heavy paving slabs and of course there was a lot of heavy wood used building the fence. Then a lot of water skiing at Easter probably just added to it and so he'd been feeling pretty awful since then. Hopefully now though it's all sorted, the big challenge now is to keep him from doing too much. 

He does however seem to have trouble with his back!!
He can't get it out of bed!

This morning the sun came up in a blaze of glory and the old adage 'Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning' hasn't really been applicable today. It's been overcast and a bit chilly to start with but now I see blue sky and sunshine. Winter tends to start well, leading you into a false sense of security and then it can quickly turn to custard.
So I'll take it while it lasts.

I've been clearing the barn of my craft stuff, or 'shit' as Michael referred to it last week. He'll be over later with his girlfriend and friend to ready the barn for his 21st birthday party next Saturday. It's a joint party with his mate and I've no idea how many are coming!

Unloading the car of my 'shit' I was visited by this wee chap/ess

I love these little birds, they are called wagtails. They fly really close to you sometimes it's territorial but mostly they are waiting for you to disturb insects as you walk so they can have a snack.

fantail on flax

fantail on silver fern

Now I should get back to trying to figure out how to get all my craft stuff back into my piddly arsed craft room! Perhaps downsizing wasn't such a good idea!

that's it for now

see ya next time

The long and winding road.......

After my eventful walk the other day, (you can click here to see what happened) I thought I would share in pictures a 'normal' walk with you. We're at the end of a no exit 8km road, the last 3 kms are not tar sealed and it's just gravel, or metal  as they call it here. Lots of loose stuff, big potholes after rain, cow poop etc...not too nice to walk on. So I hop in the car  and park in the Valley road, another no exit road that comes off ours, it's 2.45kms long and very pretty. Mostly both roads lead to dairy farms, there are other blocks like ours but the bulk of the land is for proper farming! Where our road meets the Valley road there is a Christian camp which is always in use, our craft group used it a while ago when we needed more space to make our dyed wool blankets.

It was quite overcast the day I took the camera, it's just glorious when the sun shines but at this time of year it's best to walk early as it gets far too hot.

 On my way....

 around every corner a different view

   

getting to the end of the road

at the end there is the Karakariki track, a walkway which we've yet to explore, it leads to a waterfall apparently. Can you see the goblin on the fallen tree trunk (bottom right)?

(remember you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them)

almost back to the car and the Christian Camp and a Tui in the tree, if you can make him out!

 Where the two roads meet. I walk end to end a total of 4.9kms then add another 100mtrs and I've achieved my goal of 5kms. Sometimes I carry on up the straight, the last bit of tar seal before it stops, this is 1km long so to the end and back again another 2kms, I walked 7kms yesterday, 5kms today.

Heading home in the car now and bottom left is where the seal stops, look carefully at the bottom right..can you see the dog on the quad bike, I'm pretty sure she can drive it ya know!

Passing one of the dairy farms and their duck ponds

Passing the calf sheds and the last of the long and winding road that leads to our door..

..and two happy faces pleased to see me, one cheeky max who can come through the cat flap and Clyde peeking out of the window! See how cute those faces are! Now you can understand why I got soft for a moment and took them walking with me! It won't happen again unless it's at the beach.

See ya next time