Cruise Ship Parade

Catch-up; Well that was a very long week. So much for getting my blogs up-to-date. Much to my (and David's) horror, my laptop crashed just after the last blog and it has taken all week to resurrect it. 

Initially David spent 2 days trying to get a spark out of it and when that didn't happen, we took it to an IT shop. They were able to extract the data which, because of  the amount of photo files I have waiting in the wings, took them over 12 hours to download before they could even look at the laptop. They also failed to bring it back to life.

Back home David worked on it for another day and finally, just as I was thinking a new laptop was in the wings, managed to get it going, albeit with no data and an older Windows 8 programme. Don't ask me what the issue was, it flies right over the top of my head. All I know is that David has earnt this year's full quota of brownie points in one go and I am a very lucky lady to have a husband who has quite a bit of computer knowledge and a hell of a lot of patience. 

Thankfully I had a complete backup, although there were a few bits and bobs that had happened in the previous week which I didn't have but was able to extract from the data the IT shop managed to download. Of course backups are fine but there's still heaps of work to do loading and sorting out data, home screens, icons, other programmes, favourites and bookmarks etc in the new empty Windows programme. I've spent the last few days doing all those things you take for granted when you open up your computer to a familiar screen. 

(And I spoke too soon, it crashed again as I was writing this blog, but this time David has got it back up and running within 4 hours. I'm a little worried though; there's definitely something going on in the inner workings somewhere....watch this space.)

Anyway, I'm back up and running (for now), so here's the next blog; a parade of cruise ships that visited Mt Maunganui during our stay at the Mount Holiday Park.

First up on a rather bleak morning is the Norwegian Jewel (well actually 2nd if you count Golden Princess who had her own blog). The flotilla of  fizz boats are not heading out to welcome her to port; being a Saturday morning, they're keen fishermen off to their favourite spots out in the bay.

Living up to her name the Norwegian Jewel's paint job brings a splash of colour to an otherwise grey day.

The cruise ship berths at Mt Maunganui wharf are in an ideal position for visitors; the boardwalk along Pilot Bay starts just outside the gates, Main Beach is 10 minutes away and it's just a short 5 minute walk to the shopping centre.

Maasdam visited the next day, here she is leaving port on Sunday evening.

I must have slept in on Sunday morning as I have no arrival photos, I suspect it was raining.

Unusually for the Bay of Plenty, the whole weekend was grey and bleak. Cheerio Maasdam, come again soon.

Three days later and another Holland America Line ship, the Amsterdam arrives in port.

Next up- and on a more typical sunny BOP day- is Radiance of the Seas. 

Did you spot this lady in the photo above? What do you think it says on the front? I'm not so sure, unless they had binoculars, that anyone would be able to read it. I couldn't and I was just above her.

I caught sight of the front as she rushed off to get to the gate before the ship berthed. It says 'Welcome Radiance'. I thought the Captain might have been her son, but locals tell me she is a regular, welcoming many of the cruise ships into port. 

I took this shot of Radiance from the lower slope of  Mauao (Mt Maunganui) in the afternoon. You can see the entrance to the holiday park and parts of the Ocean and Pilot(top section) Camps in the lower left of the photo. We're in the Harbour Camp which is around the corner to the right.

Later in the evening as the sun went down, Radiance of the Seas departed Tauranga harbour.

Early the next morning (it's a tough life being 'Johnny on the spot'), I was back at my favourite spot overlooking the Entrance, in time to see the sister tugs Tai Timu (ebb tide) & Tai Pari (flood tide) heading out...

...to meet Nordam, the third 'dam' ship to arrive from the Holland America Line within a week.

Big Toot...

Once the tugs had finished escorting Nordam to her berth, and just 30 minutes later, they headed back out...

...to bring Sun Princess through the Entrance. I also moved down to the water's edge.

The calm waters here at the Entrance belie the fact that it can be a treacherous stretch of water. Tauranga Harbour is a large estuary with a tidal range of 1.98m covering an area of over 200km².  Approximately 290,000,000 tonnes of water flow through the Entrance at each tide change which can generate currents of up to 7 knots. If the tide strikes an opposing wind, the waves can be huge. We've had a few hairy rides through the Entrance during our boating days. 

Tangiroa challenges Sun Princess...

...as she sails by.

On this stunning summer's day two cruise ships are welcomed to the Mount.

Later that evening a group of us watched from near the boat ramp as the cruise ships prepared to leave port.

After Sun Princess departed, I headed along the Base Track a short distance to capture Nordam leaving too.

I was a little disappointed to miss the biggest cruise ship of them all, (well the biggest to visit NZ waters), Ovation of the Seas wasn't due in for a week or so but if I was lucky and timed it right I might just catch her in Napier.

Full Circle- Mt Maunganui

Well, we’ve come full circle, we’re parked up on the front row beside the Mount boardwalk on exactly the same site as we had 14 months ago when we began our new life on the road. Many of the sites behind us and overlooking the beach are closed; concrete pads and new grass have been laid and this is putting pressure on the remaining sites. I can see there’s going to be a constant stream of ever changing neighbours over the next three weeks.

At the moment we have three families in tents on one side of us, they have nine children under 5 between them. Brave people! Brave us! I had to laugh this morning when two of the Dads came back with takeaway coffees and hid behind the tent (which happened to be beside our dining window) while a kid was screaming on the other side. I suspect one of them would have been called on, had he shown his face.

Another cruise ship arrived this morning, I saw her on the horizon as I left the van for my morning walk. I knew she wasn’t far away when the tugs passed me on their way out to assist her through the entrance.

I waited down on the sand near Stoney Point for her to pass through, it never fails to impress me how big the ships are as they come through the very narrow entrance. And the Pacific Pearl is far from the biggest cruise ship to visit the port.

Tangaroa, Maori God of the sea, performs a wero, or challenge, to those entering the Tauranga Harbour.

I wonder how many locals know that Tangaroa used to face into the harbour. He was commissioned in 1976 to commemorate the centenary of the Port of Tauranga but was turned around in 2007 to face incoming vessels as this was the correct stance to challenge new arrivals.

Along the beach the pohutukawa (NZ Christmas tree) are finally starting to bloom but there’s still only a hint of crimson from the hundreds of trees over the Mount.

According to folklore, an early bloom means a long, hot summer and we’ve certainly had some lovely days this past week; warm and very humid overnight. Although today there’s a cool breeze blowing.

Tauranga City Council & the Dune Protection people have been hard at work while we’ve been away; restoration work, planting of sand tussock and other native grasses and fencing of the sand dunes along the Main & Ocean Beaches has been completed and it's all looking very good.

There are plenty of well marked walkways and sand ladders down to the beach and picnic tables, seats and gas BBQs (free to use) have been upgraded or added at various spots.

The controversial boardwalk along Pilot Bay has also been completed and looks like it's always been there. It’s much easier to negotiate from one end to the other with a defined walkway as you’re not stepping over or around sunbathers, kayaks, sail boards or picnicking families (obviously not a problem in this shot) or across uneven ground. It's great for visiting cruise ship passengers as it leads the way down to the Mount Base Track and is a continuation of the Main Beach boardwalk theme.

Mt Maunganui is definitely looking very smart & sleek and is well geared up for the summer influx of visitors. A proper little resort town.