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The Tauranga Area Photo Log

February 6-7, 2015

Kicking off Road Trip New Zealand 2015! Tauranga is a coastal town on the Bay of Plenty, and to be honest, we never actually made it into the town of Tauranga itself. My Mom and John were visiting us here in New Zealand, so we started the road trip off in style by renting a couple houses. Here, we stayed for two nights at the Poripori house just south of Tauranga. Thanks to Grandpa John for all the great photos at The Adrenalin Forest.

Road Trip Journal – February 6, 2015 (Whangarei to The Tauranga Area)

  • Whangarei –> Poripori Homestead
  • Beautiful property
The Poripori House. Only half (the left half in this picture) was our rental part. The owners also live in the house, and they were quite nice and welcoming.
Our patio and pool. We didn’t use the pool.
At first I thought this was a photo of the boys doing dishes, but Alex has his iPad, so I have no idea what they were doing.

Road Trip Journal – February 7, 2015 (The Tauranga Area)

  • Mt. Maunganui Tracks. Free. Base Track & summit Track. Nice boardwalk. Excellent views
  • Mount Brewing Co – 4pm, kitchen closed. Good beer and fries.
  • Dinner at Astrolabe (also on main drag) – crappy pizza. Good fries. Mac’s beer on tap.
  • McLaren Falls at dusk
An afternoon in Mount Maunganui, a coastal town on a strip of land that reminded me of Mission Beach with the “beach side” and the “bay side”
A view of the “bay side” boardwalk towards Mauao (The hill in the distance)
A view back towards the “bay side” beach from the base onf Mauao
Action shot as we walked around the base of Mauao (about 3.5 km, mostly flat)
The current in this channel looked wicked. It reminded me of passes in the Tuamotus. That power boat is barely moving.
A view towards the industrial port
Almost all the way around the base of Mauao. In the background is the “beach side.”
The base track walkers are done with their hike…
… but the summit walkers are just beginning.
A view of the “beach side” from part way up to the summit of Mauao
We made it to the top…
…John too
After our hikes and dinner in Mount Maunganui, we stopped at McLaren Falls, which was very near our house
Brenden was first down to the rocks. I was shortly to follow, but of course there is no photographic evidence of that.
Wait! Evidence!
Everyone else watched from the bridge.

Email to family and friends dated January 7, 2015

Subject: Exodus – Road Trip Day 4

We started out the road trip by spending a fantastic couple of days with our friends on Field Trip in the Town Basin Marina in Whangarei. There were so many boats we know there, including many kid boats, and we all had a lot of fun. Yesterday we made a 4.5 hour drive down to the area between Rotorua and Tauranga and we are staying in a house with my mom and John. We had a great evening yesterday making dinner and catching up. And wow, what a luxury staying in a house with such things as a huge living room and kitchen, carpet, real beds, high pressure showers (that don’t cost $2), and get this, a dishwasher! The boys were very excited about that.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

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