New Zealand has many great surf spots on both islands. Perhaps the most famous is a place called Raglan. It is on the west coast of the North Island and is a regular stop on pro surfing tours. Our time was limited on the North Island so we elected to pass on Raglan and head for the closer Mt. Maunganui. This town is also known for its great surf but is located on the warmer, sunnier, Bay of Plenty. Mt. Maunganui is a little beach town on the outskirts of the larger city Tauranga. You get there by crossing a small strip of land with the city’s sheltered port on one side and the beautiful beach on the other. At the end of the strip of land is a lone mountain that towers above the water around it:
We were lucky enough to find a holiday park right at the base of the mountain in extremely close proximity to the beach. We changed, packed a bag for the beach, and headed out only to find the surf in a state of complete relaxation. There were no waves anywhere. We were a little bit disappointed but enjoyed the rest of the afternoon laying in the sun and swimming along the beautiful beach. We had high hopes for the next day.
The afternoon brought strong winds but we decided to make the hike to the top of the mountain anyway. We had dressed in thermals shirts and rain jackets to shield the chilly ocean breeze and felt like wimps when most of the people going up or down were wearing shorts and t-shirts. We made it to the top a little bit before sunset and sat down to take a little break and to wait for the sun to go down. The sunset was not as good as others we have seen here but the view of the city was great and we took this cool night shot of Mt. Maunganui:
We slept through the windy night and awoke with excitement again only to be disappointed again. The surf was still calm. We talked to some local surfers who said it was supposed to be better on Wednesday (two days away) because there was a big swell coming. So once again we had to put off surfing for just a little bit. Instead we strolled through the shops along the beach. One good thing that came from not surfing was Bridget found a set of Global chef knives at a ridiculous sale price so she got her birthday present a little early this year. We also found a cool little spot with hot saltwater pools which we spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in.
That night we had booked a kayak glow worm tour. New Zealand is one of the few places where you can see glow worms, which are the larva stage of an insect that have a bioluminescence shine at night. The tour started with a walk out to a little waterfall accompanied with some local history:
We got into the kayaks just before sunset and kayaked up a lake and into a narrow canyon. When we got into the canyon, it was pitch black except for the little tiny blue glow coming from the worm:
The further we got into the canyon, the more there were. We stopped right in the middle of the canyon for about fifteen minutes to just sit and stare at the hundreds of shining worms. Very cool to see! We kayaked out of the canyon and back down the lake under a big sky filled with shooting stars. Our guide pointed out to us the Southern Cross, which is the formation of stars on the New Zealand flag.
We awoke the next morning with hopes of trying surfing one more time. It didn’t work out.
Next Stop: Poor Knights Islands
No comments:
Post a Comment