Tauranga

 Good morning friends and family!

We thought we should start today with a rundown of what our overall itinerary will be on this trip since we haven't told you yet. But first, you need to envision New Zealand. So picture, if you will, a nice, long crispy piece of bacon. Now hold the bacon vertically in your mind's eye, then turn it to the right 45 degrees. That is how New Zealand sits on a map. It runs northeast/southwest. Next, make a mental east-west cut about a third of the way down. The one-third portion above this cut would be the North Island, and the lower two-thirds the South Island. 

As mentioned earlier, Auckland -where we started yesterday - is at the northern tip of the North Island.  Our cruise will be taking us southward from here along the east coast of both North and South Islands. Then we round the tip of the South Island and steam for two days on the open ocean to Sidney, Austrailia.  From Sidney we fly back to Auckland and then to LAX. 

This morning, we awoke as the ship was pulling in to Tauranga, our first port of call.  Tauranga (Maori for safe anchorage) is a town perched amidst the waters of the Bay of Plenty. When Captain Cook first sailed through this area in 1769, he named the waters The Bay of Plenty because he was so impressed by the friendly Islanders, the mild climate and the abundance of plants and produce the fertile soil provide. 

After a nice breakfast, we went to a short stretching class with some fellow passengers, then got ourselves ready for a busy day.  We scheduled an all-day outing at Lake Rotoiti in the village of Rotorua, approximately an hour's drive from Tauranga. A tour bus picked us up, along with twenty or so other guests, and took us to this beautiful lake for a four-hour kayaking adventure.  David and I had only kayaked once before this for a short spin on Lake Tahoe, so we were pretty interested to see how our bodies would hold up to four solid hours. In fact, the informational packet gave a disclaimer that only the most physically fit should attempt this. I was a bit nervous because I know I am certainly not "the most physically fit," but we both assumed that David could pick up my slack. And he did a very creditable job!  

Photo of dressing for kayak trip

Here's a photo of Lake Rotoiti. It was quite large, with many fingers extending out in various directions.   

Our trek started out quite calmly, and we did a great job of staying with the pack. I made a pretty decent showing for the first half hour, but then I started tiring out, and it was an effort for me to keep paddling. David asked me to stop, and I think it was actually easier for him to do it on his own!  But I felt really embarrassed to sit there without at least trying to make it look good, so I alternated between resting when no one was looking and flapping my paddles about rather awkwardly the rest of the time. Poor David!  I think he will be feeling this tomorrow!  

One very cool thing found on this lake is what is called the "glow worm caves."  In actuality, they are not glow worms at all, but rather a bioluminescent species of larva from the fungus gnat. Yuk!  Glow worm sounds so much better, don't you think?  Our guide brought our kayaks into the cave one by one, as they were very small and dark. The worms favor damp and dark conditions, we were told. Not for the claustrophobic!  But what awaited us inside was nothing short of spectacular.  I wish we could have taken a picture to show you how amazing this was. Unfortunately, we were told not to do so. But I bet if you google, you can find someone who has taken a shot of it. The roof of the cave glowed like something out of Tolkien- a vast, living Milky Way of stars. Breathtakingly beautiful. 

Upon leaving the caves, we kayaked across the lake to a group of thermal pools dotting the hillside of an area formed by volcanic activity. The guide offered us all a bathe in the thermal waters, but David and I decided to dip only our feet in, because the pools were emitting a very strong sulfurous odor. PU!  We didn't want our clothes to get too stinky despite how nice the hot water probably would have felt on our aching muscles. Here's a picture of our kayaks lined up along the beach. 

Photo of kayaks in a row

After  a bit of chatting with other kayakers and a sandwich provided by the guides, we headed back to the starting point. Here's a picture of the pools.

 This is where things started to get pretty dicey, because the wind had begun to whip up, which made for some very rough waves and strong currents on the lake. Paddling got twice as hard with the tougher conditions, and we soon found ourselves lagging behind the pack. One of the guides circled back to us and, much to our surprise, latched our boat into his!  David was really embarrassed by this and had to check his ego, but we were grateful for the assist!  

We were all exhausted on the drive back to the boat and I think most everyone fell asleep. Just before reaching the wharf, the buss driver took us along a beautiful beach that he said is the most popular one in New Zealand. We could see why. 

Back at the ship we took a long, hot shower and then dressed for dinner. It was superb as usual. David had giant prawns and Karen had short ribs. 

All in all another wonderful day. Time for a nice sleep now.