The Mount – Part 1 - 16th to 19th Jan

The day of the long awaited family holiday to ‘The Mount’ came. The Mount is the affectionate name for Mount Maunganui. It is a well-used holiday resort town on the coast at the Bay of Plenty. The bay was named by Captain Cook for obvious reasons. The main town is Tauranga which is very modern with industries and a busy port. The east coast of the resort town is unprotected from the full force of the Pacific. Consequently it is a surfers’ paradise, but has at least 15 miles of clean, golden sand.

The other reason that the resort is popular with Aucklanders is that it the journey has just two main roads; the SH1 and the SH2. In fact the SH2 is the main road in Tauranga.

The cars were loaded up. Ian drove off with me and Zoe. About half an hour out we pulled in for petrol in a large, very crowded service area. I was sent inside for coffee and to my surprise Sally was just ahead of me in the queue. After buying coffee Zoe was transferred into Sally’s car and we set off. At Paeroa we failed to hook up with Sally. They managed to spot two giant Paeroa bottles to our none. In case you do not know already Paeroa is the home of L & P (Lemon and Paeroa) which is said to be ‘World Famous in New Zealand. It appears that the water at Paeroa contains magnesium and so a healthy fizzy drink was born. The brand now belongs to Coca Cola and is now manufactured in Auckland at Mount Wellington.

Just after Paeroa is the Karangahake Gorge which boasts a spectacular waterfall. It was far too busy on both our journey out and our journey back.

After an almost none stop 3 hours we arrive at Marine Parade near The Mount. The stop was for our lunch. As we sat having lunch two fire engines screamed passed. Little did we know, at the time, they were responding to a significant event that would affect some holiday makers. One face of The Mount had caught fire and the paths would not be open again until Wednesday.

We easily found our accommodation. It was some way back down Ocean View Road, but a 10 minute walk from the beach in one direction and the same distance from a large shopping centre in the other and, of course, not far from what was to become; the dreaded SH2. As is generally the case the keys are well hidden. This time they were in the pink watering can in the Wendy House.

The main house was old, traditional kiwi. It stood on low stilts and was mostly surrounded by decking, with veranda. Lawn and garden surrounded this. From the rear, entry door there was a long corridor to the lounge/diner. On the left hand side of the corridor (the back of the house) were four bedrooms. A kitchen opened to the sitting area. I believe that the lady who owned was a photographer with an interesting view on décor. The first book that I found and read concerned making walls interesting. There was another set of books. These were written by Sibella Court. The introduction to one of them read ‘This book is about slapdash styling and deconstructed decorating solutions'. For instance the top of a unit of a large number of small draws was adorned with an old brace and bit and a leather punch. They were tastefully arranged. Every draw had a different handle. There were signs of deliberate and also careless ageing.

Brace and Bit with Leather Punch
Carefully Arranged on Drawers

Having settled in there was just time for Irene and me to have an evening beach walk. This was to become a regular part of the week. The road along the beach is long and for most of Ocean View Road it was lined with houses. However, at regular interval there were beach accesses. They had a number post at the road end of the path through the dunes and a corresponding post at the beach end. This was often the only way to remember where you had accessed the beach.

On Sunday morning Irene and I went down nearer to The Mount and parked as near as we could to main tourist centre. It was a beautiful day and the waves were white and around 10 foot high. We walked to Motoriki Island. It is a highland at high tide and has a well-made path. However it was not pleasant to walk on in bare feet. We resolved to take our sandals next time we visited. This came earlier than we imagined that it would. The family called to say that they were on the beach. We walked back to meet them and I went to the car to collect the sandals.

Ian and Zoe at the end of Motoriki Island 

In the afternoon we all went for a visit to farm animals at Marshalls Animal Park near McLaren Falls. It was a well-run farm. The animals were well looked after and the visitors were sold high quality corn to feed the animals. There was also a ‘flying fox’ which both girls enjoyed. Again we failed to get near the falls.

The next day the weather was predicted to deteriorate and there had been some rain over night. However mum and I decided to pack macs and head for Kaiate Falls. At the car park a man was clearing up his car. For some reason he decided to sleep in his car rather than at home, which was not that far away. It was a steep descent to the bottom of the falls. The dampness and the threat of more rain kept the thrill seekers from having their dips in the mountain water. The advertising showed energetic young people having their fun. This was despite warning signs telling people to keep out because of harmful bacteria. The falls were spectacular.

The rain did come and so in the afternoon we made our way to Tauranga with intention of visiting the art gallery. We found a multi-storey car park offering three hours for $1. Here we parked and walked down to the gallery. It was an interesting place. We were not too enamoured by the work of a local artist. If anything they were not abstract enough, and titles gave too much of a clue. However, we did appreciate the work of another artist who was keen to protect the oceans. His work consisted of blue placards on poles. Each placard was thought provoking. We thought of Emily. This was just the kind of thing to inspire her. Then we went across the road to the visitor centre. After a little moan to the assistant he produced a sheet of things to do on a wet day in the area. After coffee we went to collect the car and; surprise, surprise he only wanted 50c. The rain prevented our beach walk and we ended the day with an Indian take-away.

We had noticed that opposite us a large lorry had been positioned underneath a house. We anticipated that ‘house moving’ would take place during the night. Sure enough at about 4.30 am there was the sound of machinery. Irene and I peered through the window as there was a gale blowing and torrential rain. Despite this the place was flood lit and the house was towed on to a lorry waiting in the street. It was not long before police and other safety vehicles accompanied the slow moving load out of the street. Just so there was no confusion a sign on the back said, ‘House Ahead’.

In the morning mum and I had shopping to do. Before Christmas I had bought myself a nice pair of sandals which are now well worn. The same kind was on offer, so I now have pair for best. When we got back the family had gone and there was a note to say that they had gone off to 'Convita Honey Visitor Centre'. The only information I had was that it was on ‘Old Coach Road’ and so I set the SATNav for this. We passed a sign saying ‘Convita Tourist Experience’. Half an hour later we arrived at the start of the very convoluted ‘Old Coach Road’. After another half hour we were back where we were one hour earlier. The tour had begun but we were taken to join them half way through. After the tour the guide kindly took us to part that we had missed. I did not realise that bees actually eat pollen. I thought that we accidental transfer agents of pollen from one flower to another. We also learned about the restorative powers of manuka. This is a tiny flower but, apparently, honey made from this is used, medically, to help in healing wounds.

On the way back we stopped to eat at Te Puke. Here we met an old employee of Sally called Craig. He now works in kiwi growing. It was arranged that he would take us on a farm visit. Back at Maunganui I did some shopping and had coffee with Sally and in the evening Irene and I had our beach walk.