To the Top of the Mount- Part 1

On Sunday morning we joined the masses on a pilgrimage to the summit of Mauao (Mt Maunganui); some walk or run it daily, others once a week, once a month, or once during a holiday at the Mount. For quite a few it’s a once in a lifetime climb, an achievement they can tick off their bucket list or be able to say proudly “I walked to the top of the Mount” or in the words of Sir Edmund Hillary, “ I knocked the bastard off”. It’s not a particularly long climb at 232 metres but it does have a few gut-busting steep sections especially if you take the shortest route to the top, the Waikorire Track.

Our granddaughter Maddie (5) stayed with us over the weekend and with the Mount being a prominent fixture in her life- she lives in Tauranga- we thought it would be great to take her on her first walk to the top of the Mount- hopefully the first of many during her lifetime.

The most popular route to the top starts at the end of the Main Beach boardwalk just past where our van is parked. There's a short sharp climb up wooden & rock stairs onto the 4WD track which gives you a good introduction to what lays ahead. It's worth walking this far just for the stunning view back over the beach.

Remember to click on the photo is you'd like to see a larger version.

It’s then a steady gentle climb through the sheep paddocks on the lower slopes of the Mount, where today, there are dozens of people out enjoying the sunny weather.

We reach a junction in the track and take the left fork up the steeper Waikorire Track, best to get this one out of the way while we’re still feeling energetic. Maddie does remarkably well- where do they get all their energy from? She runs up the stairs all the while keeping up her constant chatter and waving Poppa’s walking pole about threatening to knock walkers off the stairs or jab them in the side as they pass. She quickly learns which is her left, unlike the many overseas visitors that insist on sticking to the right hand side as they come and go- it’s like driving a car, stick to the left: ‘when in Rome….’.  It’s a pet peeve of mine when I’m walking any track, I refuse to budge; head down, bum up, I push on sticking to my side.

Our efforts are rewarded at various points with fabulous views down to the beach, the camping ground, the hot pools and out over the town.

We can see tiny ‘ant people’ walking on the track we’ve just walked up. But we can’t see our van, it’s hidden behind the second Norfolk Pine from the left.

After one last steep section (#3 photo on the right up above) and just as Maddie starts to tire we finally make it to the top where I take the obligatory summit photo with the Main Beach in the background. Maddie is a little anxious of the edge but once she sees where people have worn a path down to the rocks that overhang the cliff she wants to go down there. Not likely! This isn't her anxious face, she's about to do one of her newly learnt dance poses, cupping her chin in her hands and beaming wildly at the camera!

Moturiki & Motuotau Islands separate Main Beach from Ocean Beach. 

We move over to another lookout, this time the view is out over the inner harbour, Pilot Bay and Tauranga Port. There’s another cruise ship in port today, that’ll explain some of the over dressed walkers on the track. Good on them though, heading for the summit. I wonder if anybody has told them how tough the climb is before they started out. Going by the look of distress on some of their faces I don’t think so. I think the guy in the blue on the right is pretty proud of himself!

This is my favourite view whenever I walk to the top, I love taking this shot of the Mt Maunganui isthmus with the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean & the Main Beach on the left with Pilot Bay and the inner harbour on the right.

As you can see I’m doing quite well without my camera, it was a bonus not having to cart it all the way to the top and my camera phone is doing a great job although it is hard to see on the screen what I'm taking shots of some times. Especially on the panoramic shots. And what do you know, there’s David talking to more people!

It’s a wonder there aren’t more incidents on the Mount, there are some quite precarious areas around the rocky edges of the summit. It would scare the living daylights out of me if I was even to attempt to climb up on these rocks let alone sit there. But what a view.

We head off on the 4WD track along the ridge. Along with the pohutukawa & flax, the manuka (NZ teatree) is also flowering. The tui were in a frenzy and we were able to get quite close to them as they flew from bush to bush, flower spike to flower spike feeding on the sweet nectar. It’s a pity that there are no bellbirds (koromiko) this far north as they would have a ball with so many nectar producing plants on the Mount.

I’m not sure if you’ll be able to see the detail in this photo, a complete 360º from the summit of Mt Maunganui.

To be continued.....Part 2

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.

Sushi Bites

I’m in seventh heaven, I’ve found myself a seriously good sushi restaurant in downtown Mt Maunganui. I love sushi, I could eat sushi morning, noon & night and still want for more. And with at least four sushi bars dotted along the short and busy Mount Mainstreet I’ve had plenty to choose from but this little restaurant, Yuki Sushi, wins hands down.

Little rolls of joy, colourful works of art, tasty morsels of deliciousness, all rolled up into tiny packages of healthy eating…

Except of course, when I add a selection of deep fried items to the plate. It's called research.

Very fresh and extremely delicious, the prices are also very reasonable.

And with so many different varieties to sample, my lunches are taken care of for the next three weeks!

Yuki Sushi- there's some irony in that name if you don't know how to pronouce it.
186 Maunganui Rd
Mt Maunganui
Tauranga

The Boys are Back in Town

I’ve joined the ranks of the paparazzi and a sneaky one at that- mind you aren’t they all sneaky?

We’ve shifted across the road from the campground to the Oceanside Towers while our van has some work done on it. We’re not in the Towers but in the hotel part of the complex and look who checked into the rooms below us on the same day.

Our balcony overlooks theirs & everyday there has been a constant stream of buff bodies and impressive tats passing below as they head off to training or for a swim at the beach. Of course I just happened to be nonchalantly sipping a wine on the deck when they passed by- luckily with my cellphone at hand.

Don't ask for names, I have absolutely no idea!

Sevens is the fast-paced, shortened form of rugby played by seven aside teams and the All Blacks Sevens are the masters of the format. They are head and shoulders the most successful national sevens team in the world, competing regularly on the IRB World Sevens Series circuit around the world, which it has won ten times. The team also won the Rugby World Cup Sevens title in 2001 and four Commonwealth Games gold medals. They will be competing for gold at the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro in 2016 when rugby sevens debuts on the Olympic stage.

Dear Tauranga Council…

….you might remember me, I wrote to you a few years ago when I slipped down your central city parking building stairway and broke my ankle. I was bedridden for 6 weeks over Christmas & New Year. You very kindly (after a serious prodding by my devoted husband) enquired after my health & sent me a bouquet of flowers which was personally delivered by one of your managers (I was expecting nothing less than the key to the city). And then you renewed the non-slip edges on every step in that stairwell and attaching warning signs to the wall on all the landings advising to be cautious if the stairs were wet.

Well I write to you again, to complain about the very fine gravel that is spread over the Mount Base Track. I know it’s been there for awhile and in some places it’s gone altogether and I know its there because if it wasn’t and its wet everybody would be slipping and sliding along on the clay base. Instead it’s just me slipping and sliding. I know I’m a klutz and I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that I write this letter not only in the same month but in the same week that I wrote my last one. Thankfully I didn’t break an ankle this time but boy I came close; I felt it twinge & stretch. Not only do I have a large gravel rash on my leg but there’s one on my palm too and my phone needs a new protective cover as well. Serendipity I’d say, had I had my camera....it doesn't bear thinking about.

The day started out well; out the door at 5:45am just in time to catch a fiery sunrise…..

….past Pilot Bay as the sun made a short appearance before disappearing behind the clouds….

Sunday morning & the track to myself, the only other sign of life, boats heading out the entrance taking fishers to their favourite spots out on the briny. It’s good to be alive!

Cool and damp and going well. I think I might do two circuits this morning.

“ ‘morning”

A moment of reflection at this beautiful little shell beach where many generations of children have played and families have picnicked over the years and sadly where a little boy, Jack aged 5, was swept away by a rogue wave recently. His body has yet to be found. The huge old pohutukawa tree that overhangs the track near the beach has become a shrine & memorial to Jack, the low hanging branches are covered in hanging shell chimes and toys, photos & messages are tucked into an area by the trunk. So sad.

Mt Maunganui is a pretty special place, where else in New Zealand can you climb an extinct volcano cone or walk around its base, see sheep grazing beside the surf just a few short steps from one of the most beautiful sand beaches in the country and have a thriving and busy resort town that is always in holiday mode on your doorstep.

It was about here that I was heading for a fall. After taking a photo of the main beach in the early morning calm I stepped away..... and well, the rest, as they say, is history.

My Right Arm…

….is in this box!

Yikes! It feels like my right arm has been cut off. My faithful Nikon camera that never leaves my side and is used nearly every day has been sent away for a well deserved service. Along with my most used lens (18-300mm) which requires the zoom rubber on the outside of the barrel to be replaced. A rubber that has stretched considerably because of the constant zooming in and out.

I’ve not been looking forward to sending my camera away because, depending on what is required, it can take 2-3 weeks before it will be returned. Of course they won’t give any indication of a time frame, just it’ll take as long as it takes. I have my fingers crossed for a quick return- not only because I need my camera but because a quick return should mean a less expensive bill! I hope.

So for the foreseeable future, my blog post photos are going to have to be taken with my phone’s camera. That should be fun. Not.

I was interested to see how many ‘clicks’ I’ve taken with my Nikon. I had bookmarked a website- myshuttercount-  which I’ve used before, where you upload the last photo taken and the programme reads the metadata to give you the actual shutter count of the camera. 

So, I’ve had this camera for 15 months now, I wonder if you can guess how many photos I’ve taken during that time?

10,000? Not even close.
20,000? A token amount!
30,000? You & David think alike. But you’re still so wrong.
40,000? I wish- that would mean that I would have had a lot less post processing & deleting to do.
50,000? Really? You think I took that many photos, shame on you!
Because you’re still wrong!

Here is the total-

Yeah I know, blew me away too!

60,000 photos = 4,000 per month = 131 photos per day! But haven’t you enjoyed them!

I really need to learn to limit my clicks, it would save me one hell of a lot of work. But to be fair a lot of these are when I’m trailing different techniques, learning different settings……and taking  nearly 10 of everything ‘just incase’.

‘Nuff said.

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