Tasmania & New Zealand

It’s so peaceful at the cabin, which made for a relaxing start to the day.

After a necessary laundrette stop (🥱), we headed off for Mount Maunganui and arrived in a lovely town, which had a Byron Bay/Airlie Beach vibe. There are beaches on two sides, as the Mount is at the end of a peninsula. Two cruise ships were docked, so the place was pretty busy. The Virgin ship looked huge in comparison to the other, but both would be tiddlers in a cruise ship size comp!

After some threatening rain drops, the sky cleared and it ended up being hot and sunny. We walked around the base of the Mount, winding around its nooks and crannies and admiring the beautiful coastline, all the time serenaded by cicadas in full chirrup. It seems they have a preference for a particular tree, as some are full of chirping and others totally silent 🤔

After a recovery cuppa, we drove through Tauranga on the way back to our cacti haven. Tauranga is a big town and not a seaside place, so we didn’t miss too much by passing through.

We sampled the delights of Pak’n’Save for our shop this time. It’s more warehouse than trad supermarket, great for a weekly family shop, but a lot for us with our small basket and modest shopping list!

Beautiful sunset tonight, and some stars peeped out later to say hello.Les mer

Fab day today, ticked off all the things we wanted to do and only got wet once!

Started with the museum (free entry!) which was great. The basement narrated the 1931 earthquake event which has defined this region for one reason or another ever since. It was well explained, with human interest stories and family memorabilia plus a moving memorial book detailing the people who sadly lost their lives. Most of the region was affected by the 7.3 quake and subsequent fire but the harsh truth is this area is never that far from its next quake. The east coast is right in a subduction zone where the Pacific tectonic plate slides under the Oceanic plate, which NZ is situated on. This means there is often movement, some you feel most you don’t, but the ‘big’ one could always round the corner. There are clear instructions about tsunamis and what to do inc a prescribed ‘grab bag’ should an extreme event occur, and you need to vamoose - fast. Sobering stuff.

It’s pretty normal to monitor seismic activity on a regular basis:
https://www.geonet.org.nz/

The rest of the museum was good too, an eclectic mix of Māori history and modern art works, with a live piano accompaniment. Great morning of culture.

After another tour of some art deco photo ops, we have lunch (or I should say brekkie, as many Kiwi caffs offer a very civilised ‘all day breakfast’). We got wet in a sharp shower on the way to the aquarium but soon dry off as we walk through the tanks and inmates.

A lovely modest sized aquarium with the addition of some reptiles, little penguins and native tuatara (lizards) and a lone kiwi trudging back and forth in its dimly lit enclosure. Wasn’t sure about the latter - it seemed lonely and stressed.

Got back to our cabin for a much needed afternoon cuppa and a preliminary pack, to set off to the central plateau tomorrow.Les mer