A Procession of Boats- Tauranga Harbour

Catch-up; And there I was finally thinking I was catching up on blogs when summer arrived in the Bay (Hawkes Bay that is). Beautiful hot sunny weather, too good to not get outdoors and enjoy. We've had two short sojourns away from suburbia in the last few weeks; one out to Oceanbeach and the other up to Kuripapango on the Napier-Taihape Road. 

We still have another week or two here in Napier before we'll be back on the road; David is steadily working his way through his maintenance list for 'Out There' and I have been busy working on an exciting project (another reason the blogs have been a bit slow in coming). I'll be able to tell you more about it in the not too distant future.

And now back to the blog;  while I was going to do one post on the Mt Maunganui cruise ships, I decided I had too many great photos not to share more of them. But don't worry (famous last words), I won't do a blog on every ship that arrived and left while we were there. This one is on the Golden Princess (the first to arrive when we were there) and I'll try and combine the others in another one or two posts. Bear with me (I sound like Tilly in Miranda).

I'd downloaded the Port's cruise ship schedule which helpfully listed arrival and departure times so it was just a matter of whipping a couple hundred metres along the Base Track past Pilot Bay to one of the many vantage points near the Entrance to Tauranga Harbour, to watch the ships arrive. 

A slight spanner in the works had been thrown in since our last visit to the Mount; a major slip (actually several large slips) came down around the Mount back in April, 2017 during Cyclone Cook. The track reopened within a week or so but people could only walk to the slip and then return the same way.

You couldn't walk the complete loop around the Base Track until stairs were built up and around the top of the slip in June. And while they aren't too much of an obstacle, when you're rushing to catch a ship, camera in hand, it's a fair slog to the top.

And more so if you're coming up the other side; they are very steep.

Luckily, I knew (from past excursions), where the best spot for capturing ships coming through the Entrance is; over (or under) the stair railings, out on a ridge at the top of the stairs and past some beautiful old pohutukawa trees in full bloom. 

From my vantage point I was able to watch a steady procession of early morning boat traffic leave the harbour, many heading to their favourite fishing grounds out in the Bay of Plenty. A couple of local charter boats full of eager punters were also off for a day's fishing; I suspect these may have been staff Christmas functions. 

The Motiti Island barge, 'Deliverance', with a tyre recovery truck on board, was one of the more unusual boats to pass. Motiti Island (permanent pop. around 30) is a small flat island that lays about 10kms offshore from Papamoa, and 21kms from the Harbour. Motiti was a favourite place to visit and fish around when we lived in the Bay and had our launch.

It wasn't long before I spotted the pilot boat 'Arataki', heading around the point and back into the harbour; I knew the Golden Princess wouldn't be too far away.

This was also confirmed by the arrival of the two tugboats; Sir Robert (named in honour of Sir Robert Owens, who played a key role in developing the Port of Tauranga and was also Mayor of both Mt Maunganui & Tauranga before they amalgamated)....

& Tai Timu; (Tai Timu means ebb tide in Maori, her sister tug Tai Pari is flood tide).

They then waited patiently...

...until the bow of Golden Princess finally appeared from around the side of the Mount.

Sir Robert moved to the stern, as the pilot carefully guided her through the entrance.

The occupants of a yacht heading out, waved furiously at many of the passengers- some still wrapped in white toweling robes- watched from their private balconies.

Tai Timu spun around and led the way into the harbour.

Little Toot...I mean, Sir Robert was towed in from behind. 

Once Golden Princess passed my vantage point I raced back to the stairway, clambered over the railing and ran (as fast as my damaged foot allowed me to) along the path to an opening in the trees where I could watch as the ship headed towards the port.

A bit further on and another gap provided the perfect framing...

There's lots of little detail in some of the close-up shots (remember to click the photo to enlarge)- how's this for a view? People lined up along the top of the bridge. Also notice the open gangway door near the bow.

Berthed at Tauranga Port's Pilot Bay, Mt Maunganui

Golden Princess facts and figures-

Class and type:	Passenger
Type:	Grand class cruise ship
Tonnage:	108,865 GT
Length:	951 ft (290 m)
Beam:	118 ft (36 m)
Draught:	8.7 m (29 ft)
Draft:	26.2 ft (8.0 m)
Decks:	17 total, 13 passenger
Ice class:	1A Super
Propulsion:	diesel-electric 2 propulsion motors (19,000kW each)
Speed:	22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
Capacity:	2,600 passengers
Crew:	1,100

Later in the evening and right on the dot at 8pm, the ship sounded its horn as the tugs pulled Golden Princess off the wharf...

...and she sailed off towards the Entrance, heading for her next port of call.

A brave paddle boarder makes for a lonely figure, as he manouveurs himself out of the way as the huge ship approaches. 

Maori God of the sea, Tangaroa performs a wero, or challenge, to those entering Tauranga Harbour. Here he looks to be challenging the ships officers standing on the gangway door.

Check out that BIG screen, I can hear the movie voices from where I'm standing.

The sun is setting fast and it's right in my line of sight as the ship glides past me, down at the water's edge. Passengers line the rails waving to us (and a launch) as they pass.

The sun is now directly in front, the ship silhouette against the bright light, I wait until the sun goes behind the funnels and take a sunburst shot just as it reappears.

The Sun Princess heads out into the Bay of Plenty...

...with the launch bobbing along in its wake.

I take a final shot as it disappears around the point and head back to camp...

...passing my two long time favourite fishing boats (and Pilot Bay icons) along the way.

Mount Mad House

After a very wet night in Marton, the next morning dawned cold and extremely windy. A few in the camp who were due to leave decided to stay on as they didn’t want to venture out into the gales. We decided we’d be OK- and we were keen to keep moving- we’d take our time and see how we went. We were buffeted about quite a bit especially for the first 20 kms or so across the flat farmland but once we got into the hills it eased off a little. Then just south of Waiouru it became gale force again pushing us sideways with every violent gust especially as we crossed the Desert Road. Everybody we passed looked to be holding tight to their steering wheels and concentrating on the road ahead. What would a road trip be without pylons marching along with us!

We were going to stop for lunch at one of the rest areas overlooking Mt Ruapehu but decided against it when we pulled in for a loo break (have I told you, towing your loo behind you, is one of the major benefits of living on the road). The door was wrenched out of my hands and slammed against van with such a force I was sure the door window was going to have a crack through it. The van bucked and rolled with every gust- not so great when you're sitting on the loo- so as quick as we could we got moving again, stopping beside a stream further on, in what was about the only dip in the road and well protected from the wind.

It was with some relief when we finally pulled into the NZMCA Taupo Park near the airport. David felt his arms were dropping off from gripping the steering wheel so hard and fighting the gusts. Once again, like Marton, there were quite a number of vans in the park. We’re trying to get used to having more company than we’re used to down South. And we were a little disappointed that we couldn’t park in our regular spot- the west end of the park has been fenced off. I assume to let the grass recover before the summer influx. Oh well it was only for a night so we backed in under the tall tree remembering just in time to check the satellite reception , then having to pull forward a metre or so until we cleared the branches.

Aside from the busy parks there’s also been the busy roads to get used to, traffic everywhere and everybody going about their business without, what seems, any thought for others. Almost immediately we noticed there were no toots to thank us for pulling over to let people pass, unlike the South Island where 95% of people will toot to thank you. And there were so many cop cars on the road- obviously needed going by how many cars pass on double yellow lines. I think we might have seen about six police cars in all our time down South whereas there were at least eight on the road between Marton & Taupo.

It was a still a little windy and overcast when we pulled out of Taupo on the last leg of our journey back to the Bay of Plenty to catch up with our family before Christmas. We’re excited about seeing the family again after 13 months, especially baby Joel, who was only 9 months old when we left. But we’re a little apprehensive about being back on home ground again- how will we feel? Will we have missed it, perhaps we’ll want to stay…

We’re staying at the Mount campground once again, it’s nice and convenient and has the beach & Pilot Bay for walking, along with the tracks over and around the Mount.  The 5th-wheeler is booked in for a full service & a few extras early next week so we’ll shift over to the Harbourside apartments for a few days (we won't know what to do with the space!) and then back to the campground for another few weeks before we head to Napier for Christmas.

Unfortunately our usual site on the beach front is unavailable until we come back next week so we’ve taken a site in the Harbourside area near Pilot Bay. Unfortunately so have 100 kids on a school camp; their tents are all pitched below us with a marquee just below our kitchen window. So far they’ve been fine although there was a bit of hi-jinks going on until late last night. Someone must have sorted it out because suddenly all screeching and laughter stopped dead at 10:45pm.

This looks a little different to our usual bush surrounded sites

Not only is the campground busy but we woke up this morning to a passing parade of white sandshoes (sneakers), ten gallon hats, bum bags (fanny packs) and loud jackets. Two of the biggest cruise ships that ply the waters around New Zealand, sister ships Dawn Princess & Sun Princess had arrived in port early this morning. Guests who hadn't taken tour buses over to Rotorua were either walking around the Mount or along the beach boardwalk or shopping in town. Mt Maunganui is certainly bursting at the seams.

It is good to be back at the Main Beach and having Mt Maunganui on our doorstep again. I have missed walking the base track and first thing this morning I was off and around it, meeting two people I knew before I had got more than half way. I’m looking forward to walking to the top when this wind drops and the sun comes out for more than an hour or so. And hopefully the pohutukawa trees will burst into flower before we leave, everywhere the trees are smothered in buds with a hint of red showing. I missed the flowering last year and there aren’t any pohutukawas down south. There is plenty of flax down south though and lots of flax around the mountain and campground with dozens of flower spikes ready to break open. A feast awaits the nectar feeding birds.

One thing that surprised me when I saw the Main Beach was how white the sand was. It’s funny how you tend to take things for granted when you see them everyday. There was lovely white sand on some of the South Island beaches so it’s not like I haven’t seen white before. For some reason the Main Beach just looked very white yesterday.

It is great to be back and I’m sure we’ll settle down for the few weeks we’re here but we both commented after seeing the family yesterday, that we were good to go!

Pilot Bay, Mt Maunganui