Mount Maunganui rises out of the sea at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour and today we walked all around its base track.

We first parked our car along the beach road and walked out on the headland that divides the beach. It is just a 10 minute walk and you get good views of the Mt Maunganui volcano from the end.

We then walked up to the cafes near the volcano and had a coffee.

The walk took us a leisurely hour or so. We kept stopping and looking at the yachts,ships and kayakers sailing by. There was lots to see. It is quite a long,but gentle walk.

A huge cruise ship was at the port and so there were many people around the town and shops so it was good to escape from them and walk the track. You can walk up to the top of the volcano as well, we didn’t though.👍

Lunch in town and then we drove to Katikati then wished we hadn’t bothered. There was nothing to see there even the sea shore was manky. I think this is the first time I have said bad things of anywhere in NZ so far 😟

We saw a sign to Omokoroa beach and this was a much nicer place to visit.You catch ferries to Matakana Island from here. matakana island runs from Wainui to Tauranga harbour a very thin Long Island.

At Omkoroa we sat in the shade and then warmed up in the sunshine. There is such a difference in the two temperatures. The sun is intense but more of a chilly wind at times.

This evening we finally got round to exploring the surroundings of our motel. We knew we were close to the bay and here are the photos I took.

There was a judged photo exhibition along the sea front on large printed plaques? In Britain it would have been graffitied

Tomorrow we move on to Whakatane also on the Bay of Plenty for 3 nights.

Love to you all xxxx (in Maori the Wh is pronounced f like our ph.)