Our drive today took us south out of the sprawl of Auckland and towards the Coromandel Peninsular and the Bay of Plenty, our destination was Tuaranga and Mount Manuganui. The name ‘Bay of Plenty’ originated with Cook during his 1769–70 exploration of New Zealand, who noted the abundant resources in the area.
Mount Maunganui is a town in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, located on a peninsula to the north of the neighbouring city Tauranga. It is also the name of the extinct volcanic cone which rises above the town which is now officially known by its Māori name Mauao. According to Maori legend, this hill was a pononga (slave) to a mountain called Otanewainuku.
This afternoon we walked for miles along the sands, watching the surfers catching the curls and once again collected some shells. I’m gradually turning Nigel into a ‘shellseeker’ – even he can’t get over the diversity and sheer quantity of shells lying washed up on the sands. Even though it is the beginning of Spring there are loads of holiday makers around and once the Summer gets here this place will be packed with tourists. A shame really as the remoteness and quietness of this area is what is most attractive about it.
This evening we ended up eating in a Turkish restaurant along the strand in Tuaranga, it felt quite odd – sitting looking our of the window onto palm trees and white sand, listening to Turkish music we could have been in Kusadasi on the shores of the Aegean coastline.
Tomorrow we are off to Rotorua home of the world famous thermal baths and springs, if we are lucky enough we are hoping to visit a Māori village and attend a Hungi in the evening – a bit touristy but hey we’re tourists!
No comments:
Post a Comment