Tauranga, Bay of Plenty

We headed south to Tauranga, Bay of Plenty which was 3 hours south of Auckland. We also stopped to see the views at Mt. Maunganui.

Mt. Maunganui

Fish and chips for lunch at the beach

View from Tauranga, overlooking the side of Mt. Maunganui

A little afternoon dip at the Karangahake Gorge

Goat Island

Goat Island is one of NZ's marine protected islands. We saw kelps and snappers of various sizes. Brodie's interaction with the snappers was quite interesting. The below snorkel video showed that the snappers like human interaction because they rely on us to stir the bottom of the sand and rocks for the crustaceans.

Encounter with the Snappers...

Views en route to Mangawhai Heads

Mangawhai Heads

We camped for the night at Mangawhai Heads. Across our campsite was the estuary and sand dunes.

A little night swim...

Our camp at the Mangawhai Heads. Slept under the stars.

Dome Forest Walkway and Moir Hill Walkway

We trekked for three hours (return) at Dome Forest Walkway. We saw NZ's native tree, kauri.

View from the Dome Forest

NZ's big kauri tree

Moir Hill water falls

Mangawhai Heads, Goat Island, Karangahape River

Goat Island is one of the best snorkelling area in the North Island. The island is marine protected so we saw some huge snappers. The snappers were actually encircling us while we were in the water. Reminds me of how sharks encircle its prey. We thought they were being defensive of their territory. They eat the crustaceans from the bottom of the rocks and sand. Brodie was able to interact with them.

Encounter with the snappers

We visited the nearby Auckland day tramp areas.

1. Dome Forest Walkway took 3 hours to complete. We saw NZ's native tree, a kauri tree.

2. Moirs Hill walkway - it took us about 15 minutes (return) to see the waterfall.

New mapping system

Hey all,

We've upgraded a lil bit, and we're going to try a new mapping strategy. The link to track us will now take you to a google map, that won't 'track' us like it used to with the footprints but we'll show what were to and will have more pix on it... starting tomorrow. Enjoy!

Okura Bush Walkway

Okura Estuary Scenic Reserve

Okura River

Kauri tree

Rock full of oysters

Dacre Point/ Karepiro Bay

The Making of Inukshuk

Mairangi Bay, North Shore City

We met new friends, the Bulmer Family (Cindy (mom), Georgia (daughter) and Matt (son). They are the nicest people we've ever encountered in this country.

Myla and Georgia.

Auckland City at night

Big "Pineapple" tree

Matt and Georgia at Mairangi Beach.

Bro catching the surf at Mairangi Beach.

Mairangi Bay about an hour ago

Headed out into the surf about 7pm