TO TAURANGA & MOUNT MAUNGANUI 🚍 🇳🇿

Kia ora 🦋 

Wednesday, April 24:

Margaret and I took a walk in the lovely park behind their home. Then they drove me to the bus station, stopping at Sulphur Point to see the view of the city of Auckland on the way. 

At the bus station, I bought a Chicken Schnitzel (coleslaw?) sandwich, barbecued chips, and a kiwi fruit for lunch on the bus ride to Tauranga, which took about 5 hours. (You have to eat kiwi fruit when you're in New Zealand! There were 2 kinds. I chose Sungold, and it was delicious!)

Unfortunately, on that bus I didn't get on the upper level, which would have been even better for seeing the views: beautiful countryside full of big ranches. There was a lot of cattle and some sheep. I saw more sheep yesterday than today. Apparently they raise pigs in this area also, but I didn't see any. Bacon is very popular in NZ. It must be cold for horses here at this time of year, because they were all wearing blankets. We went through a lot of towns with interesting names: Bombay, Maramarua, Kopu, Thames, Totora, Turua, Paeroa (Antique Town of New Zealand), Waiti, Katikati, Te Puna, and Bethlehem are some of them.

Kopu

At first it was hilly, but then it got very flat, with mountain ranges in the distance.  As we approached the mountains, the greenery became more dense. And there were more buildings & houses. The road through the mountains reminded me of Hwy 50 to Lake Tahoe,  where the highway goes along the River.

Lots of nice old buildings

Glimpses of the East Coast of the North Island

First view of Mount Maunganui

Emma picked me up at the bus station, and then we went to the Tauranga airport to pick up her exchange student from Switzerland, Luisa, before driving to Mount Maunganui, where the Walkers live. 

Tauranga Airport

The Walkers have a one-year-old Labrador/Huntaway mix dog named Cielo. She is beautiful!