New Zealand - Tauranga

Geographically speaking, my family is near the bottom of the world in the southern hemisphere with the south Pacific ocean on the right and the Tasman Sea on the left and about eleven hours of flight time north to Hawaii.  The world is a big place, and after all this time on the road, we’re finally getting an idea of just how far we are from home.  The north island New Zealand countryside is captivating with rolling hills and pastures dotted with black and white cattle munching impossibly green grass.  There are thick stands of tall evergreen trees in the deep gorges of the low mountains that are reminiscent of the Pacific northwest in the United States, but the silver ferns standing tall in the open areas and closer to the floor among the trees in the deep forest are distinctly kiwi.  As we’ve navigated the roads here for a week now, we’ve seen many landscapes that recall the beauty of our own country and state, but the stars are strange, and there are enough oddly-shaped trees in the landscape to remind us that we’re still far from home.

After our epic visit to the Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata, we drove about hour to the city of Tauranga situated on the Bay of Plenty on the northeast side of the island where the largest port in New Zealand hums with constant seafaring commerce.  The city sits between an extinct volcano and a series of small bays connected by causeways and bridges, and with fewer than 150,000 kiwis living here, it feels big and uncrowded.  Our home for the next several days is the bottom floor of a two-story house which has been renovated to accommodate guests with two bedrooms, full kitchen, large bathroom, and living room with windows opening to a view of the river below.  Our host, Marianne, whisked us inside when we arrived and quickly made us feel at home as she gave us a warm smile and a tour of the house.  We picked Tauranga as a headquarters located near attractions within a couple of hours drive in all directions, and with an ongoing art festival in the city center, we decided to stay put one day and enjoy the local vibe.

Our view in the morning

On our first full day in the Bay of Plenty, we headed south to the city of Rotorua in search of geothermal activity and the Maori people and found both at the Whakarewarewa Living Village.  The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand who arrived from Polynesia in the thirteenth century and had developed a distinct way of life by the time the Dutch arrived four-hundred years later.  A treaty between the Maori and the British gave the UK sovereignty over New Zealand, and the next thirty years brought sketchy land grabs, broken treaties, and bloody warfare.  Today, New Zealand is a self-governing dominion of the British Empire with Queen Elizabeth serving as the head of state. Conflicts over confiscated Maori land are still argued in the courts.  Towns and territories have an odd mix of Maori and English names similar to the incorporation of monikers found in the United States and Australia where explorers and settlers claimed sovereignty over indigenous people.

Whakarewarewa village was established by the Maori over two-hundred years ago, and they have a long tradition of welcoming visitors to view their unique way of life among the bubbling pools in the area.  Rotorua has a tectonic and volcanic situation similar to the one found in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming on a smaller scale, and the Maori have developed a unique way of life that utilizes nature’s crock pot.  We arrived at the village mid-morning in a light drizzle which continued through most of the tour.  Our guide was enthusiastic and engaging, and we listened eagerly to her tales of village life as sulfur-scented steam from the nearby geysers and hot pools swirled through the narrow streets.  We saw the community meeting house decorated with intricate totems and the shops of local craftsmen who perform trades handed down for generations.  Ladies from the cafe opened large vents carved into the rocks near the hot pools and pushed baskets full of meats and vegetables into the steaming voids for a day of slow cooking.  Our favorite spot in the village was the baths featuring tubs carved from the rock and filled through shallow channels where steaming water from the nearby sapphire blue pool bubbled over.

Maori meeting house

Geysers

Sapphire hot pool

Geothermal baths

After the tour, we walked over to the small cafe for some cobs of corn after spotting other tourists walking around with butter smeared all over their faces, and we were just in time for a batch to be pulled from the hot pool.  Deveny and I got a private tour of the world’s largest outdoor kitchen as one of the nice women took us to the edge of the rock cauldron and pulled a muslin bag full of corn out of the angry water claiming the sulfur and other minerals made the corn taste sweeter.  She placed four cobs in clear plastic bags which we took back to the table and slathered with butter and salt and devoured with no attempt at decorum whatsoever.  We finished munching just in time for the cultural dance show which included singing, storytelling, and the famous Maori Haka dance performed with bulging eyes and wagging tongues.  We love places like this, and we’ve visited a bunch on this trip—some aspects are a little hokey, but the bottom line is that we’ve learned about cultures vastly different than our own, and the process has been exceptionally fun.

Sulfur steamed corn - he likes it

Haka dance

Steam rising around the village

The misty rain continued on the drive back to Tauranga. The GPS-suggested route for the return journey took us through countryside even more beautiful than the trip down to Rotorua.  There were more deciduous trees interspersed among the evergreens and silver ferns, many of which were resplendent with the colors of fall.  The hillsides and gorges had runs of yellow, orange, and red and combined with the cool air and the overcast sky, and I experienced that curious sense of longing that comes with autumn until I realized I would be returning to the spring and summer in the northern hemisphere in about a month.

The rain cleared out overnight and the next morning we had a clear view across the river from our house, and the still water held a perfect reflection of the houses along the opposite bank.  The Maori call New Zealand the land of the long white cloud, and we’ve seen plenty of those every morning as covers of fog gradually lift and settle into the the creases of the mountains.  We had a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast and piled into the Corolla headed toward the Bethlehem Baptist Church only a ten minute drive across the bay.  We spent a lively morning of worship with this warm congregation to whom one of the associate pastors, an American from Minnesota, delivered a challenging sermon from Philippians concerning the ability to discern needs and reach out in love in the best way possible.  We spoke to the pastor for a bit after the service and enjoyed a complimentary cup of coffee in the gathering space outside the sanctuary.

After a quick lunch of lamb iskender at the Turkish take-out joint down the street from the church, we headed to the Tauranga city center and the art gallery which is hosting a three-month festival celebrating street art.  There was a private collection on display including exclusive prints of art by Banksy, the mysterious aerosol artist, many of which were signed by the artist.  Deveny is a big fan of Banksy, and the collection display was a surprise that we managed to keep secret. She loved it along with the other funky art on display in the gallery.  Many other famous street artists were commissioned to ply their craft on walls around the city center, and we found several of the large pieces while exploring the streets.  We found an internet cafe/backpacker hostel during our stroll and Deena was able to get some printing and scanning work done while Joseph and I continued our worldwide billiards tournament on the table in the lobby—he’s getting good.  By the time we got home, it was late afternoon and time for coffee and tea overlooking the river. With the end of our journey in sight, we’re doing our best to savor every moment like that.

Banksy's Flower Thrower

More Banksy

On our last day in Tauranga, we had planned to travel north to check out some geological features but determined the time in the car was just too much with three to four hours driving to our next destination the next day.  Instead, we drove about twenty minutes to the entrance of the Tauranga Harbor and spent the afternoon in Mount Maunganui, a suburb at the end of a peninsula marked by the lava dome of an extinct volcanic cone known simply as The Mount.  The peninsula had a shipping harbor on one side with colorful containers stacked and ready for ocean transport and a wide surfing beach on the other side with foamy waves crashing into the shore.  We found close parking to the boardwalk which led to the trailhead for the hike up to the summit of The Mount, donned our windbreakers to combat the stiff breeze coming off the ocean, and set out for a good trek.

The sun was bright and the view across the bay was so clear that we could see the curve of the earth on the horizon as we climbed higher up the rocky path, and the ocean was a patchwork of deep turquoise hues between the evergreen-covered land masses.  We worked up a good sweat on the way to the top, but it felt good to be outdoors in such a beautiful place.  There were people of all ages climbing along with us; and it seemed that the ascent of The Mount was a regular workout for a good number of them.  My huffing and puffing was a sign that I need to get back in shape so I can get on the ladder soon after our return home.  We took our time descending and then drove back to the apartment on the river where we watched a bright red sunset with a final burst of intensity that rimmed the clouds in gold.  The eastern coastal town of Napier in the heart of the Hawke wine region is our next destination on the north island, and we’re hoping for a kiwi sighting there.

Our view in the evening