Hiapo

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.Read more