Mount Maunganui

Someone weaved this from this flax plant. Some of it has died and the rest is still green. We saw it on our way up the Mount. Reminds me of the puti puti Shani made for me.

I've been told by lots of people to go up the Mount and see the view from the top. Was a bit nervous going up, after all, I'd had a chest infection (all gone now!) so wasn't sure how hard it would be on me. But it was so worth it and an easy walk at that! What a beautiful view from the top. On a such a gorgeous day, I couldn't have asked for more!

I've met some cool people at the backpackers and got a chance to go to Mount Maunganui with one of them, Joe from the UK. Without a car, you'd have to take the number 1 bus from outside the Information office to get to the Mount, about a 10 minute drive away from Tauranga.

We first walked over to Pleasure Island and I got some nice shots from there.

From Pleasure Island, looking out at the Mount

Ditto, different angle

Below, a video as we are making our way up the Mount. In the distance, to the left of the short, you can make out Pleasure Island where I took the pictures above.

Views on the way up the Mount

A Sun flower behind strange-looking bulbous plants

Below, a 360 degree view from the top of the Mount

Looking down at part of the path we took to get to the top (you can see the green along the shore; will explain further down)

The fern is the national plant in New Zealand. Some look so prehistoric that it reminds me of the movie "The Land Before Time". Is it beautiful, Ducky? " Yup, Yup Yup!"

On this side of the mountain, you can see steppes carved out of the side. This was an ancient Maori pa site and the steppes were used as a form of protection from enemies. They would scatter crushed seashells on the ground. This would alert them at night, because of the noise and would also injure the enemies feet, making them less agile in battle.

As we came back down to the shore, there was a carpet of the following:

A shore mixing rocks and sand. The best of both worlds.