Wednesday – October 24, 2018
The Majestic Princess didn’t have far to travel last night from Auckland to Tauranga. “Kia Ora” is the Maori greeting which means Welcome or Hello or Good Luck, depending on its use. Mount Manganui (man-yuh-new-ee) at the entrance to the harbor and the end of the peninsula is the most dominant feature of the tiny town.
There was a realistic looking statue of a Maori fisherman out in the harbor next to the last red buoy.
We had signed up for an excursion to see the countryside, so we boarded a tour bus. However, I was a little sad to leave Tauranga because it looked like an ideal peaceful little town to explore. As a matter of fact, the bus driver/guide mentioned that there were many retirees in Tauranga because it was such a lovely place to live.
It was a beautiful spring day and we wanted to see more of New Zealand. There are many peaceful lakes near Tauranga. Further away there were many steep rolling hills covered with Monterey pine trees which is one of New Zealand’s major export. The North American trees are cut, replanted, grow and mature in twenty-five years, and are re-harvested for trade with China.
After driving for an hour and a half, we reached our first destination was Rainbow Springs, a conservation and nature preserve. Besides the silver fern tree, New Zealand’s official tree, we also saw mature North American giant Redwoods.
We also saw several native New Zealand birds which included a couple of brown kiwi birds. They’re nocturnal and are kept in a special building where their day and night cycles were reversed so people could see them in action. The kiwi birds’ quarters were dark and it was challenging to find the small brown birds as they moved around their pens.
Later we were driven to the geothermal region near the city of Rotorua. We went to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley which is a regional park where visitors are escorted along the geothermal pools. We were first greeted by four members of the local Maori tribe who sang and danced a welcome greeting for us.
Later, we rode a bus to one of the bubbling lakes nearby. It was amazing to see the steam rising from the blue water. Steam could also be seen coming out the rocks.
At the end of lake where the water was more shallow, there were small geysers and bubbling pools of sulfur.
Then we went to a site which had been a small volcano. The guide explained that the hot water boils up and spills over the banks every few weeks.
We also had a boat ride on a lovely lake which was an extinct volcano and had bubbling geysers along one side. On the far side of the lake there was a tall mountain with a volcanic hole in one side. This volcanic area reminded us of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
We made it back to the ship just in time for the “Sail Away” from Tauranga. Time flew by quickly today and we learned much about the culture and natural resources of New Zealand.
