Day 12 - Mission to Mt. Manganui

 

Home
Day 1 - Arrival
Day 2 - Raglan to Urenui
Day 3 - The Long Road to Levin
Day 4 - A Day with Granny
Day 5 - A Wellington Wander
Day 6 - The Tour to Taupo
Day 7 - Rolling to Rotarua
Day 8 - The Redolence of Rotorua
Day 9 - The Beach at Bowentown
Day 10 - Outtrip to Ohope
Day 11 - Meander over McLaren Falls
Day 12 - Mission to Mt. Manganui
Day 13 - Shopping the Strand
Day 14 - Wistful in Whangamata
Day 15 - Cruising to Coromandel
Day 16 - On the Road to Orere Point
Day 17 - Departure

Wednesday, March 27

We got going pretty slowly this morning. Zanada had caught a mouse the previous evening, so we kept the bedroom doors tightly closed - don't want any mouse breath (or worse) in the bed.

While we were puttering about doing our morning chores, the sound of dogs being called and the ATV roaring about brought us outside. Graham had put the cows in the paddocks near the house the previous evening, and now it was time for milking, so we got a good look at how to herd a group of cows.

Graham rides behind the cows, calling to the dogs that run back and forth, driving the cows ahead. The cows in the west paddock move toward the open gate in the corner.
One stray cow sneaks to the other gate, but they'll all end up on that path eventually. Meantime, in the east paddock, the cows peacefully (if somewhat smellily) graze.
But not for long, Graham and the dogs show up and drive them up with the other group of cows. A few minutes later, they show up wandering down the main road. You can see the milking house in the right side of the photo.

After the morning's excitement, we called Virginia and arranged to drop off the linens that Granny Stanton sent with us. We had a short visit with Virginia, she told us that the Stantons were her first friends in New Zealand after immigrating from Samoa. She gave us some idea of where to go and what to see in Mount Manganui, so we left her place and drove around the area. Shortly, we stopped at the "surf side" beach.

A look at the mount from the entrance to the beach. The girls do their usual beachcombing routine along the beach in Mount Manganui.
A little ways down the beach, a kite surfer uses a kite to race across the shallow waters at the edge of the beach. A few minutes later a second kite surfer shows up. Amazingly, they never got tangled up.

We drove further up the beach, closer to the Mount and spotted a small island called Moturiki, which actually connected with the beach. It looked like too good a walking opportunity to pass up.

Walking onto the beach, looking up at Moturiki. Across the beach, we head up the path.
Off to the left of the path, we can see surfers catching waves. On the right of the path is another island, this one is called Motuotau, or "Rabbit" island. Dunno why.
At the edge of the island, looking straight down, there's crashing waves... and fishermen. The girls hang out on the rocks and wind.
From the top of the island, looking east down the beach whence we came. You may be able to spot those kite surfers down there somewhere. And here's the view west... the Mount itself is just to the right of this picture.
Waves smash into the rocks below. Alex poses on the rocks.

We wandered back off the island and drove to the end of the road, right  beside the Mount. There were numerous cafes, offering lots of options for lunch, so we took advantage of the choice. After that, we did a bit of shopping around Mount Manganui, and headed back to the farm.

Later that evening, everyone got together at a tavern near Katikati: Richard, Stacy, Alex, Caitlin, Graham, Jeanette, Ray, Judy, Malcolm, Anna, Alyssa... we enjoyed the buffet dinner and good company, but no photographs because the camera battery was dead and Richard forgot to bring the spare. The next day we'd do a bit of shopping, getting ready to leave Tauranga.