Mount Maunganui

I arrived early evening in Mount Maunganui. The Mount, which is what local people call it, has the most beautiful beach which is partly why I wanted to come here. Most of you know that I do love my beaches! Trip Advisor claims it is #1 beach in New Zealand and supposedly in the top 25 nicest beaches in the world. Who could pass up that recommendation!

I was pleasantly surprised to arrive at my accommodation, which was right across the road from the beach. The place was far above my expectations. I have a spacious beach house all to myself with lovely decks and a host that is very thoughtful. She left some chilled wine, water, and snacks for me when I arrived and also lent me a bike so I can venture further a field in my explorations. On my bed, she had placed three sets of different kinds of pillows: soft ones, medium ones, and hard ones. I felt like Goldilocks!

Before I settled in for the night, I took a short walk down to the beach. It’s one of those fine white sand lakes beaches that is easy to walk on. It is 19 km long and goes to Papamoa , a suburb of Tauranga. The sounds of the waves were so meditative. I went to sleep that night with a big smile on my face, using all three styles of my pillows

I am so excited about being in my little beach house because it has a full kitchen. Most of the places I’ve been staying have a fridge and microwave but nothing really to cook on. This was a real treat for me to stock up on food and cook to my hearts content. New Zealand has amazing food. The area that “the Mount” is situated in is called the Bay of Plenty. You can imagine it has every food source right at its fingertips. So completely delicious!

My days here have been very relaxing and enjoyable. Every day, I take long walks on the beach, get into a meditative state and watch with great admiration the surfers and boogie boarders. Such amazing skill, and balance!

I can ride my bike throughout town very easily and there’s some beautiful trails beachside that also lead me to another city called Tauranga.

One of the things that people do when they come here is they hike up Mount Maunganui. Known to the Maori as Mauao. It is a dormant volcano . It’s a pretty steep climb, but only takes 40 to 50 minutes. I am generally not a climber as seemed to be blessed with prairie legs. I decided to go for it, and made it up the 576 steps to the summit. So glad I trained by living in an apartment in Vancouver that has 41 steps!

The views along the hike were stunning. You could see the Bay of Plenty including Tauranga harbour, surrounding coastline, islands and sandy beaches.

The New Zealanders call hiking “tramping”. My Prairie friends would be so happy to know that I packed a few dainties before I went tramping up Mount Maunganui. For those of you who are not from the prairies , a dainty is a term we use to describe baked goods.

I have to say that the best view of my tramping, with my dainties, was the first thing I saw as I reached the summit! I think you would agree, pretty breathtaking! To watch them exercise, while I caught my breath, from the steep climb, was even more enjoyable.

The Mount has a very lovely downtown core. Lots of beautiful shops and restaurants. Cruise ships and sailors anchor here in their very lovely bays.

I’ve been finding New Zealand i site services very helpful. They have great suggestions of things to do locally and are very helpful in making bookings and also often provide discounts.When I was in there , I made arrangements to go on my day trip to Rotorua, my next adventure stop.

As I’m writing my blog today, I’m also thinking of my sister Michelle who turned 70 today February 13th in the northern hemisphere. Michelle’s birthday was close to Valentine’s Day. I always remember as a child, Mom would make Michelle a Princess White cake ( Michelle’s favourite at the time) in the shape of a heart. Mom would decorate the cake with those little tasty cinnamon hearts. We would often have her cake at our Valentines parties at school and then other celebrations at home. I hope today Michelle you’re having a wonderful birthday and your day is filled with loads of hearts wishing you the best today and always!

Since I am a day ahead of the northern hemisphere , it was Valentine’s Day in New Zealand. I woke up to a posting of a very creative picture of a heart that Eddie had painted for Pawla. So touched my heart! To mark the day as special I got myself a little bottle of bubbly, some fresh prawns to cook for dinner, and took a beautiful walk on the beach. There was a water festival, people wind surfing, and fishing. There were lots of heart shapes drawn in the sand.

The whole time I was walking, I was filled with so much gratitude to have this experience and to have been able to see and experience so much of this world. I remembered how Mom, when Andrea and Johanna were little toddlers, used to take them out on the balcony of her apartment, which faced the wide open prairies. She would raise her arms up to the sky and yell out “HELLO WORLD , I LOVE YOU WORLD!” Then the girls, with their cute little toddler voices, would mimic her, raise their little arms and as loud as they could would repeat

“ HELLO WORLD, I LOVE YOU WORLD! ”

Well today on Valentine’s Day in the southern hemisphere, looking over the wide expanse of the ocean. I lifted my arms to the sky and in my loudest voice said “HELLO WORLD, I LOVE YOU WORLD” .

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of my family and friends. Love you all!