The Mount – Part 2 – 20th to 23rd Jan

The day started with all of us going to ‘Coffee Club’ at Bayfair Shopping Centre. At last I got my banana, bacon and syrup pancakes.

After breakfast Irene and I drove up the dreaded HS2 to Katikati Bird Garden. The garden is a large area of walk ways and ponds, including some close to the sea. Some of the birds were in pens and it was difficult to spot many wild birds. It was a pretty place to be.

On our way up we had noticed ‘Quarry Gardens’. These gardens were what they said. A group of volunteers had created them in an old quarry. It was well planted with many walk ways.

We had one more stop to make. This time it was in the car park of a supermarket. The object was to photograph a pharmacy opposite. The pharmacy had a star on top to indicate that it was in the town of Bethlehem. The pharmacy could supply passport photographs – just the thing for travel this area known as Judea to Egypt (sadly or otherwise not to be found near this place).

In the evening all the family went down on to the beach. Emily really enjoyed using her board to ride the waves. There was a bout of castle (spa) building.

The next day was really sunny as Irene and I planned our assault of the Mount. The fire damage to the Mount was obvious. We made a start on the walk to the summit, but gave up at the stone ‘steps’. The walk around the bottom looked more appealing and doable. However, at one point we began to question whether we would get round before dinner. We met up with a couple from the States. They asked us if we were on the cruise. We swapped cameras to take photographs. She of us. Me of them. The waves were spectacular; breaking dramatically on the rocks close by. The wind was strong. As we got round we could see a long island opposite. The wind moderated and in the lee of the Mount the beach had no waves. We could also see the port of Tauranga and the huge cruise ship.

At the road opposite the Mount there were many cafes. Coffee Club was the largest of them. At the end of our walk we had met two ‘senior’ Kiwis and gotten into a conversation. They bemoaned the fact that the Ngāti Tai iwi had put a stop on building a cable car to the summit. We talked about the Maori problem in general and concluded that the demands being made would not benefit the Maori people, in general, but it would benefit those who were already powerful. The reason that this conversation is reported here is that they pointed us to the café near to the ‘Twin Towers’. I did notice gateways to the towers. One was labelled ‘Twin Tower 1’. Guess what the other was called?

In the end we found a very small café where we went to buy cold drinks. We remarked to the Asian owner that it must be good to be close to a lovely. She said that if she was lucky she may get a little time on the beach in winter.

After lunch we all set off back to Te Puke. This time we were to meet Craig at his father-in-laws kiwi farm. We were to meet him at, the imaginatively named, ‘No 1 Rd’. I thought that this would be one of the farm roads. Actually there was normal housing at the town end of the road before it led to fields alongside it. The kiwi farm was some distance along. Once Craig caught up with us and sprayed our shoes with disinfectant we went into the field to learn something about kiwi farming.

Then he took us further down the road to show us where he was going to build his house. It was a sizeable field and he and his wife were in discussions about which life stock they would have. They were also discussing which way the house would face. I agreed with him that I would want the bedroom to face the rolling hill. His wife favoured the gap which gave a very distance glimpse of the sea.

Once back at the holiday house the family packed their car and we waved goodbye as they set off back to Auckland. In the evening we kept up with our evening stroll on the beach.

Friday was our last day at the Mount and we used the morning for more walking on the beach and another walk on the island. 

Leaving the Island

Fire Damage on the Mount

After lunch we again went on the dreaded SH2 to Aviation museum near Tauranga airport. It was an interesting place and there were two highlights. The first was to climb aboard the flying boat. This involved much bending and ducking of heads. It was the first time I had seen such an aircraft; equipped with a galley and bunk beds. The second was a view of some the old planes going through their paces before the air show that would take place on the next day.

Saturday came all too soon and it was our turn to take the journey back to Auckland. This time I would make the three hour drive. We determined that our coffee stop would be Katikati as we had heard that it was a mural town. Having parked we walked down to the information place where a man wanted to sell us a one hour tour. Once we had explained that we did not have one hour he decided to take us for a short walk and talk about the town. Apparently it was the only colony occupied by people from Northern Ireland. He also explained that the mural was a decision of the council to attract tourist to the town. It worked and we bought coffee before leaving.

Once more we failed to park at the Karangahake Falls. 

But we did find one of the Paeroa bottles which was a where we had a toilet stop before having a picnic in the park opposite.

It was so hot that when we got back to the house even mum jumped into to pool. 

After another episode of Master Chef we went to bed thinking how much quieter this place would be than the house at the Mount. However at around midnight there was a lot of noise outside. We thought that it was the young people next door. It turned out to be about 100 drunk, young people who the police were herding along the street. We think that this was the end of a back to school party.